“The Just Shall Live By Faith”

New King James Version                          Written by: David Hicks

 

Romans 1:17 “ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

Galatians 3:11 “But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith."

Hebrews 10:38 “Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."

“Articles of Faith”

 

An Orderly Account Of The Greatest Story Ever Told

(A Study in Luke)

INTRODUCTION:

Author: As is suggested in the title, the author of this narrative is Luke. He is the author of this book as well as the succeeding book of Acts . It is in the book of Acts that we learn that he was an extensive travel companion of the Apostle Paul ( Acts 16:10-17 ; 20:5-15 ; 21:1-18 ; 27:1-28:16 – through the pronouns involved; we, us, etc…).

Apart from this, he is mentioned by name just three times in the New Testament:

Colossians 4:14 “Luke the beloved physician and Demas greet you.”

Philemon 1:24 “as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow laborers.”

2 Timothy 4:11 “Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry.”

There is much conjecture concerning Luke, however, what we know of him that is supported from internal evidence is that he is a Gentile and a proselyte (which is supported in the Hellenistic style of recording things in historic order and his knowledge of the prophecies concerning the Christ). We know that he is a man of education and culture, both by his writings (he is an able historian, having researched eyewitness accounts, and accurately placed them in this narrative) and the fact that he was a physician by trade. His character is best described by the Apostle Paul in the term, “beloved” . This coupled with what we know of Paul would describe an individual of loyalty and extreme faith.

To: The book of Luke is written to the “most excellent Theophilus” . Virtually all that is known about this individual comes from the statement in Luke 1:3 and again in the introduction of the book of Acts (as both books are addressed to him). All that can be surmised by the introduction is that Theophilus is a Gentile name and that he is well known by Luke. In addition, he is included in the pronoun used by Luke in describing all these things being written here as most surely believed among us (thus projecting the image of Theophilus as a Christian).

All the authors of the Holy Scriptures were inspired ( II Peter 1:21 ), however, this did not destroy their individuality. Luke was well equipped to write this orderly account to Theophilus and the Gentiles in general.

Date: Again we find much debate and conjecture concerning the date the book was written. Historically, it is believed that Luke did not live much past the death of the Apostle Paul (suffering martyrdom in Greece ). So, we know that the book was written prior to 66 or 67 AD (as this is when Paul was executed in Rome .

One date however, seems to be supported by the ability of Luke to conduct the necessary research for him to accurately apply to this historical narrative; the period of Paul's imprisonment in Caesarea ( Acts 24:26-27 – approx two years – where he would have access to eyewitnesses and records in close proximity to Jerusalem and brethren there).

Theme: The Gospel of Matthew presents the Christ as the promised King and was written by a Jew, about a Jew, and to the Jews. The Gospel of Mark presents the Christ as the true servant of God and was written primarily to the Romans. Luke on the other hand, presents the Christ as the perfect man.

Luke presents the Christ as coming in the flesh (God in the flesh), thus He is the Son of God and the Son of Man at the same time (being in the flesh after the same fashion as Adam). We will look at some of the things that are peculiar to Luke's Gospel farther down in this lesson. However, in support of the theme of Luke's gospel, we find something rather unique to Luke's gospel not found anywhere else in the Gospels.

• The Genealogy of Life.

The opening discourse of the Bible describes the genealogies of Adam ( Genesis 5 ). This is the genealogy of the beginning of man; however, it describes a genealogy of death. That right! As each generation is transcribed the previous one is described as having died. This is because until sin entered the world through the first man, death was unknown.

In stark contrast to this is the bridge created in Luke's Gospel of the genealogy of life ( Luke 3:23 -38 ). Luke records the genealogy of Jesus the Christ in the flesh (from Mary's father, all the way back to Adam; the first man – in the original Greek text, it was the custom to record the genealogy of the mother by not capitalizing the name of her father, this was done here to show that this is the genealogy of Jesus through Mary).

This is important because it shows Jesus to be the son of God after the same fashion as Adam (not as a King of the Jews or as a descendant of the father of the Jews – Abraham, as described in the genealogy of Joseph given in Matthew, but the genealogy of a man), who by sin brought death to all men (a son of God after the same fashion as Adam – Luke 3:38 ), who in contrast would bring life to all men by death (a countering effect to the sin that kills us all). This is to fulfill the theme of the Gospel of Luke, that by His death (brought about by the first man), He might bring life to all men, note:

1 Corinthians 15:22 “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.”

Romans 5:18-19 “Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.”

Luke is the account of Christ's manhood, come in the flesh and living under the confines we all know as children of Adam (life, sin, and death), yet, overcoming sin to bring life to all. In addition, Luke records that the purpose of Jesus in the flesh is to live towards the single goal of His death, that instead of death, man might know life through the remission of sins.

Luke 22:27 “ For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves . ”

Luke 24:47 “and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem .”

Further promotion of the theme of Luke concerning Jesus come in the flesh, is the universal conclusion that all men may come to God through Christ Jesus on the same terms (Jew or Gentile).

Things Peculiar to Luke's Gospel:

• As we have already discussed in the theme portion of this lesson, Luke focuses on the humanity of the Christ. To this end, he records some things unique to this point:

 I. Luke gives the greatest particulars to the virgin birth – 2:1-20 .

 II. Luke gives the only insight concerning the childhood of Jesus – 2:41 -52 .

•  There are numerous unique teachings and discourses of Jesus within the book of Luke (the rich man and Lazarus, the penitent thief on the cross, etc…), which we will deal with in length in the commentary of these sections.

•  Unique to the Gospel of Luke is the detailed account of the parents of John the Baptist, his birth, circumcision, and the prophecy of his father.

•  Finally, and maybe most important in the book of Luke, that differs from the other Gospels, is that Luke is the only Gospel that claims to be written in an orderly fashion (after the style of the Hellenists – historic). The other Gospels, with the exception of the birth and the events leading to the Christ's death, are topical and not chronological. Here Luke claims to give a chronological account of the events of the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Style of Study: We will engage this study by chapter and only cover the amount of verses that can be commentated on in about three to four pages of text in each lesson. This will allow the simulation of material in small doses, and allow for proper time between lessons to digest. This is a lengthy study, but one of great value for faith and knowledge of the life of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Although it is my intent to maintain brevity, we will dwell in detail on certain subjects and biographies, in order to better understand circumstances surrounding our lessons.

This study, like all our studies will focus on internal evidence and the concept that no single passage of scripture was ever designed by God to stand on its own apart from the rest of scripture!

Important Note: Although the book is written after the establishment of the kingdom of Christ and to Christian Gentiles, it is written concerning events prior to the coming of the kingdom of Christ . One cannot assign instruction pertaining to citizens of the kingdom from the discourses contained within the book, except were certain concepts are re-introduced to Christians through the teaching of the Apostles of Christ (we will highlight this further within the commentary of the text).

This will become particularly important in the teachings of Christ to those who are still under the Law of Moses. In addition, it will help in understanding that the thief on the cross died prior to the kingdom; he was never present for a sermon of the Gospel of Christ as commissioned to the Apostles to give to the world, and cannot be an example of the conditions given by the authority of Christ for entrance to His kingdom!

It is our intent to follow up this study of Luke and the history it gives prior to the coming of the kingdom, with a study of the book of Acts ; which gives the history of the establishment and growth of the kingdom and the commissioned teachings of the Apostles for entrance (completing a study of the two books of Luke).