Philemon Part 3

The gospel and it's message is designed to transform people by making them right with God through faith in Jesus Christ.

That is the whole point and purpose of the Bible. If you miss this or forget this you will set yourself up to misunderstand sections of the Bible. For example, you might read Proverbs or the Sermon on the Mount and think the Bible teaches moralism or self-improvement. Or you may read the 10 Commandments and think that the Bible is all about rule-keeping.

Well, the Bible does teach morals. It can improve your life and it does reveal commandments to be kept. But all of those things, as well as everything else in the Bible must be understood in light of the overall message and purpose of the Bible, which is to tell the good news of God’s salvation of sinners through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If you fail to turn from your sin and trust Jesus as Lord, it does not matter how many rules you keep or steps to self-improvement you make you will miss God and wind up in hell, eternally separated from Him.

We need to keep this in mind as we come to our 3rd and final study of the little letter of Philemon.