Part 74 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series  David Pawson says that many Christians love the letter to the Galatians while others don’t like it. Paul was emotional about its subjects. Galatians ‘strips off all spiritual veneer’.  It was this book which triggered Luther’s Reformation. David says that we need to talk together about our differences. In Galatians, Paul tackles ‘fundamental issues without which you lose the Christian Gospel’. Peter and Paul had a...

Part 73 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series  David Pawson says of Galatians, that it is the Magna Carta of Christian Liberty. It wrestles with issues caused by the differences between Judaism and Christianity in the early church. It came to a head with the issue of whether a person is saved by faith or by works. The Judaisers were saying that they needed to start with faith and then go on to keep the Law. So Paul asked the Galatians: having started in the Spirit, are...

Part 72 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series  David Pawson points out that Corinth was a Greek city & the ancient Greeks separated the spiritual from the physical. The West has taken that & it has infiltrated the Church. Hebrew thinking is quite different, and the Corinthians needed to be helped to understand God’s way of looking at things. Greeks thought of the body 3 ways: they indulged them because they thought it wouldn’t affect their soul, they ignored them...

Part 71 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series  David Pawson shows from 1 & 2 Corinthians that the early church, as in every other era, was not perfect. But seeing how their problems were handled is a help for us. Corinth was a port city with its attendant sins which had to be dealt with in the church. Without these letters from Paul we would not have the song of love in chapter 13 or the record of Jesus’ earliest resurrected appearances in 15. David says the biggest...

Part 70 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series  In Part 1 of Romans, David Pawson showed that the reason for Paul to write to the Roman church was the tension between Jew and Gentile within the fellowship. Because of their different backgrounds, he deals specifically with the issues confronting them – whether to eat food offered to idols, keeping one day special each week. David shows that the keyword in Romans is ‘God’, occurring more than any other. Paul had to discuss...

Part 69 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series  David Pawson says that Paul’s letter to the Romans is the longest letter we have from the ancient world, and is very important. Paul is obviously countering arguments. Paul has never met the Roman church so why did he write to them?  David believes that chapters 9 to 11, where Paul speaks so much about the Jews, are the key to the whole letter. David asks what the need in Rome was. There were serious social issues there and...

Part 68 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series  David Pawson shows the book of Acts is a vital part of our Bibles. Having looked at the original intention in the writing of Acts, David now shows how it can be applied to our lives. The early church wasn’t perfect, but had life and power of the Holy Spirit. The growth of the early church is the most astonishing phenomenon and we need to learn from it. David gives wise advice and says that Paul’s conversion and some other...

Part 67 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series  In looking at the book of Acts, David Pawson says that most of the Bible was written for human reasons but was ‘edited’ for divine reasons. In this first talk, he looks at the human side. The author, Dr. Luke is the only Gentile writer of scripture. Medics were trained to be observant, careful and analytical and this comes out in how Luke wrote his gospel and Acts. In Acts he recorded how the good news of the Gospel went...

Part 66 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series  In this 2nd talk on John’s gospel, David Pawson shows that he was correcting misunderstandings which had developed after Jesus’ death. He had to correct ancient Greek thinking. They divided the sacred from the secular so had difficulty in seeing that Jesus was both God and man at the same time. So John emphasizes Jesus’ full humanity and his prayer life as well as his full divinity. John introduces 7 witnesses to Jesus’...

Part 65 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series  David Pawson, in looking at the gospel of John, speaks about the variety and yet the unity of scripture which had 40 human authors and one divine Editor. The authors retained their personalities. The book of John has a difference from the other 3 gospels. David says it’s as though John is looking at the ‘inside’ of Jesus – what was he like, what was his real Person. Of the 12 disciples, John was the closest to Jesus. He...

Part 64 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series  David Pawson says that while Luke’s gospel is the best loved because of some of its stories, it is the least well known. He is the only Gentile writer in the Bible and was a doctor. Because of his medical background he provides unique details. David compares Luke’s parables. He wrote for one man, Theophilus, possibly to gain freedom for the Apostle Paul who was at that time released and able to continue his missionary...

Part 63 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series  David Pawson says that the gospels are essentially news bulletins, better read aloud. Mark was the first gospel written and he is primarily telling us what Jesus did. The 4 gospels together give us a 4-dimensional portrait of Jesus because they had different readers in mind. Mark and Luke wrote for unbelievers. Though Mark was never a leader in the early church he was an assistant and/or interpreter to no fewer than 4 men at...

Part 62 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series  Two of the 4 gospels were written for sinners (Mark & Luke) and two for Christians. Matthew is a manual of discipleship, the best book of the New Testament to take a new convert through. “You disciple someone by teaching them how to live in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.” The expectations of Jew and Christian regarding the Messiah and the Kingdom differ. We are living in the overlap of the “present evil age” and the...

Part 61 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series  David begins by speaking about how God meant us to read the Bible. He says that somebody has damaged our Bibles by adding chapter and verse numbers and we have become ‘text people’. The gospels are not strictly biographies as more than one-third of the text describes the death of Jesus. David says that they are more like extended news bulletins. The writers had witnessed events and they reported on them. Why are there 4...

Part 60 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series  In studying Malachi, David Pawson points out 3 aspects of God we need to understand: He is the Creator from whom we come, the King under whom we live & the Judge to whom we go. David says the loving Father side in the New Testament supplements this, but doesn’t substitute for this. Malachi challenges the priests. Faulty sacrifices were being made; sermons were given for popularity rather than the truths of God; they were...

Part 59 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series  David Pawson begins the study on Malachi by discussing Replacement Theology which sees blessings promised to Israel (but not the curses) as now transferred to the Church. David says, ‘this seems to me a bad case of prejudice’. Malachi was a prophet to the returned exiles in Israel. Rebuilding had taken place, but times were hard. The people were blaming God and, though they didn’t return to idolatry, were becoming...

Part 58 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series  Continuing his study on Zechariah, David Pawson looks at the question brought to the priest/prophet by the people regarding fasting and feasting which were part of their religion. They were wondering how long they needed to go on fasting to please God. Zechariah quoted the enlightening words of Isaiah which show that food fasting is not the principal kind that God requires, but rather ‘fasting’ from mistreating others, and to...

Part 57 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series  David Pawson says that Zechariah overlapped Haggai by one month, and had some similar prophecies but it is not an easy book to understand. It has apocalyptic prophecies. David explains that describing something in the distant future requires pictures and symbols such as Revelation, Ezekiel and Daniel have. How would you describe television to somebody who lived a thousand years ago? Whereas Haggai dealt with the current...

Part 56 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series  While some prophets had a lifetime of prophesying, David Pawson says that Haggai spoke for only 3 months. He came after the exile, so his job was to encourage Jews who had returned. Not all Jews returned to Israel as they had become established in Babylon. The returnees had problems because the land had not been cultivated for 70 years, the walls had been torn down, there was opposition from the Samaritans and financial...

Part 55 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series  David Pawson says that Zephaniah was a descendant of the last good king, but now, after evil kings, there was a boy king on the throne, Josiah. What kind of king would he become? The whole nation was in chaos, having had bad examples on the throne, and God sent Zephaniah as his prophet. His job was to try to pull the nation  of Judah back to God before He would have to exile them as He had the northern 10 tribes already....

Part 54 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series  David Pawson looks at Habakkuk and finds that the prophet sometimes argued with God because his view of Him wasn’t quite accurate. But he clung to God until he got his answer. At first, he is disturbed by what is happening and calls on God for justice. When God gives his answer, he is further disturbed because He isn’t going to do what Habakkuk expects. David reminds us that we often come to God and want him to fit in with...

Part 53 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series  In looking at the book of the prophet Nahum, David Pawson says that time had run out for Assyria. Jonah had preached a warning from God 150 years earlier with great success. But now it was time for judgment. David warns that today people think that God will never be angry, because he is slow to anger, offering mercy first. Judgment on Assyria was good news for the Jews who were living under Assyrian occupancy. Chapter 1 of...

Part 52 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series  “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” This is a beautiful verse from Micah. In this study of Micah, David Pawson points out that the Bible is unique in that it is a book of history and geography, not just words and thoughts. God unfolded his revelation at particular times and places, and it is helpful to understand...

Part 51 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series  As David Pawson looks at Jonah, he says that God would give a message to a prophet in either words or pictures and it would become like a burden within them until delivered. The message could be of challenge when people were doing wrong, or of comfort when they were on the right track. Sadly, most of the prophets, like Jonah, had to challenge. Jonah came from the same village as Jesus, Nazareth. He was called to go to...

Part 50 of the David Pawson 'Unlocking the Bible' Podcast series  David Pawson looks at what God was doing in the 8th Century B.C., in particular with prophets Amos and Hosea. God’s great plan was to win the world back to himself through his people, the Jews. But his people did not have the same plan. He had made a covenant with them and planted them in the crossroads of the world, promising to bless them as they were obedient to him. The choice was theirs and to disobey would bring curse...