“You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am” (Jn 13:13). [446-451, 455] The early Christians spoke as a matter of course about the Jesus as “Lord”, knowing that in the Old Testament this title was reserved as a form of addressing God. Through manyContinue Reading
When Jesus calls himself “God’s only-begotten Son” and Peter and others bear witness to this, the expression means that of all men only Jesus is more than a man. [441-445, 454] In many passages of the New Testament Jesus is called “Son”. At his baptism and his transfiguration, the voiceContinue Reading
The brief formula “Jesus is the Christ” expresses the core of the Christian faith: Jesus, the simple carpenters’s son from Nazareth, is the long-awaited Messiah and Savior. [436-440, 453] Both the Greek work “Christos” and the Hebrew word “Messiah” mean the “Anointed one”. In Israel kings, priests, and prophets wereContinue Reading
Jesus means in Hebrew “God saves.” [430-435, 452] In the Acts of the Apostles Peter says, “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12) This is essentially the message that all missionaries brought to people.Continue Reading
Without the Gospels we would not know that God sent his Son to us men out of his infinite love, so that despite our sins we might find our way back to eternal fellowship with God. [422-429] The reports about the life, death, and the Resurrection of Jesus are theContinue Reading
God does not just look on as man gradually destroys himself and the world around him through the chain of reaction of sin. He sends us Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer, who snatches us from the power of sin. [410-412, 420-421] “No one can help me” – this maximContinue Reading
No. Man is deeply wounded by original sin and is incline to sin. Nevertheless, with God’s help he is capable of doing good. [405] In no single case are we obliged to sin. In fact, however, we sin again and again, because we are weak, ignorant, and easily misled. AContinue Reading
Sin in the strict sense implies guilt for which one is personally responsible. Therefore the term “Original Sin” refers, not to a personal sin, but rather to the disastrous, fallen state of mankind into which the individual is born, even before he himself sins by a free decision. [388-389, 402-404]Continue Reading
At the core of sin is a rejection of God and the refusal to accept his love. This is manifested in a disregard for his commandments. [385-390] Sin is more than incorrect behavior; it is not just a psychological weakness. In the deepest sense every rejection or destruction of somethingContinue Reading
God does not want men to suffer and die. God’s original idea for man was paradise: life forever and peace between God and man and their environment, between man and woman. [374-379, 384, 400] Often we sense how life ought to be, how we ought to be, but in factContinue Reading
