It is in Acts 19 that the Gentile Church is formed much like it had been in Jerusalem 20 something years earlier.  This time Peter was not their leader, but their former persecutor, Paul, had been ordained by God to lead them instead. His 12 young disciples had been baptized and received the Holy Spirit and now spread the Word of God, not on the steps of the Temple where the One, True, Living God was worshipped, but in Ephesus- the Capital City of the Province of Asia, where the temple of the pagan goddess of the world stood instead.   And it was to the city of Ephesus that pilgrims from all over the Roman world came to worship the goddess Artemis, where this Church was planted and flourished as they faithfully preached the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ their KING!  But this Good News would bring with it the persecution Jesus promised and in our study of Acts 19 this week we look at how the Church of Christ responded and how it impacted the way they operated in the community around them.

Acts 19C 11:15:23

Romans 5:12-21 is a comparative description of the two communities of people that comprise mankind.  The first live under the headship of Adam, through whom they inherit a sinful nature and the penalty of death imputed to them as an inheritance of the seed of the first man, Adam.  Those whose names were written in the Lambs Book of Life before the foundations of the earth were laid, are redeemed from their life of sin and death and are imputed with the righteousness of God through grace by the gift of faith in Christ' and are born again to eternal life, living under the headship of Jesus Christ, the last Adam.

Romans 5B 3 - 27 - 24

Romans 6 begins with a fundamental question from Paul to believers in Rome.  "Do you not know?"  They did know!  Paul's question was rhetorical.  Of course these believers knew that when they were baptized into Christ, they were baptized into His death.  To be baptized "into Christ" was a given in the 1st Century.  But do those of us who know Jesus as Lord in the 21st Century understand this concept of living "In Christ" as clearly as we should?  We take a closer look at Romans 6A this week to make sure that we do.

Romans 6A 4 - 3-24

This week we reviewed again the words of Paul in Romans 6:1-14, this time from the perspective of our baptism 'in Christ' and what this baptism into His death means in our fight against sin, as His righteousness is applied to our account unto eternal life.  The power of sin has been broken and what once had dominion over us no longer has it's hold as we are raised to life with Christ in His resurrection and empowered to walk in the inheritance given to us as proclaimed over us in our baptism... the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Romans 6B 5

In Romans 6:11-23 Paul ends this rich chapter by teaching his hearers what it means to live as those "dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."  Sin no longer has authority over us, therefore we are free to offer ourselves as slaves to God who offer our bodies as instruments of righteousness, "working out our salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in us to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose." (Philippians 2:13)

Romans 6C  4 - 17 - 24

Romans 7:1-6 is an introduction to a life lived apart from the law that has bound us as sinners since birth.  Paul uses the analogy of marriage and as a women's study, we can clearly relate to this union and what it means to live in it until death ends its bond.  Through Christ our marriage to Adam has ended in death and we are no longer bound to bear fruit to sin but to marry another (namely Christ) and bear fruit unto life eternal.  Our lives have been redeemed from a marriage unto death to one that leads to life everlasting!

Romans 7  4 - 24 - 24

In Romans 7:7-25 Paul revisits the role of the Law in the believers life, building on his teaching in Romans 2 that it is the "embodiment of knowledge and truth".  It is this TRUTH opposed to the LIES of the enemy still at work in our sinful flesh that Paul addresses here, pointing to the Law of God not as an instrument of death, but as LIFE, having been delivered through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Romans 7B   5 - 1-24

SWATwomen Bible Study Fall 2025 Hebrews 11

Hebrews 11:1-2 9-10-25

Hebrews 11:3 9-17-25

SWATwomen Bible Study 25/26  Hebrews 11:4

Hebrews 11:4 9-24-25

SWATwomen Bible Study 2025/26  Hebrews 11

Acts 19C 11:15:23

SWAT Women

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