Talk of JESUS . com

Tag: Luke

The Apostles Creed 3- Christ Conceived by the Holy Spirit
The Apostles’ Creed is foundational to our Apostolic Christian faith (even though Jesus’ Twelve Apostles did NOT write it).

Creeds and Credo

How do we know if our fellow worshipers also believe what we do?

Although creeds were originally individual (credo from the Latin, I believe), they shortly became statements of doctrine in which groups set forth their essential beliefs.

Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, Tenney, v.1,p.1025

Talk of JESUS .com
- YOU witness publicly in worship of the LORD GOD that WE believe in this.
- So, DO YOU?
Structure of Christian CREEDS

We believe in…

Here’s a brief outline of the fundamental objects of our faith found in The Creed:

I BELIEVE or WE BELIEVE IN:
1. God
2. Jesus Christ
3. the Holy Spirit
  - and the Virgin Mary
The Apostles’ Creed and other affirmations of faith were adopted corporately by the Church to refute permeating heresies plaguing believers since the time of the Apostles.

Roger@TalkofJesus.com

I believe in

God the Holy Spirit

What do we believe about the Holy Spirit?

Q36 of the New City Catechism

Kid’s Answer:

That he is God, coeternal with the Father and the Son.

Of course any simple or complex answer falls short of describing the Eternal God. A reminder about God and Trinity:

As Scripture states:

GOD IS ONE IN ESSENCE,

and as the Gospel reveals,

THREE IN PERSON.

More on Trinity from R.C. Sproul

The Nature of Spirit – (Holy and familiar)
```
Define God. 
It's the question unanswerable that could lead us far beyond a limited glimpse of the Holy Spirit.
 
But note Scriptures and definitions which attempt to show the unseen. (God, of course, is unseen and so is spirit.) 

Picture, if you will, the ether of a non-existant creation described in Genesis 1. 
```
.. and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Genesis 1:2b KJV

rûaḥ ĕlōhîm – the Spirit of God – וְרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים
- wind, breath, mind, spirit
7. Spirit of God, the third person of the triune God, the Holy Spirit, coequal, coeternal with the Father and the Son..

G. never referred to as a depersonalised force.

Source: BlueLetterBible.org Lexicon :: Strong’s H7307 – rûaḥ

Yet no man explains the Holy Spirit (or the Father) better than JESUS, to whom the Father IS personal.

Jesus answered [the Pharisee Nicodemus],

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit.

Gospel of John 3:5-6 LSB

πνεῦμα – pneuma – Spirit is spirit
```
Much more to study in the link above from Strong's G4151 
```
Now the esteemed Pharisee Nicodemus would know both the Hebrew and Greek application of spirit. Yet here the Son of God instructs Nicodemus about the Holy Spirit.

The Lord Jesus continues by describing spirit in general, referring to ‘wind‘,’ as does Moses in his Genesis 1 description of creation:

“The wind G4151 blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who has been born of the Spirit G4151.”

Gospel of John 3:8 LSB ref. Strong’s G4151 pneuma
```
Most Bibles capitalize "Spirit" to mean the Holy Spirit and use "spirit" [small 's'] for the spirit of man, an angel, etc. 
```
A Singular Role of the Spirit

Think for a moment about the incarnation of the Son of Man.

Can the LORD God not create whoever and whatever He wants in whatever manner God has desired?

God has created spirit beings – angels – in which some do not believe.

The Lord God has also created spirit beings who have (like adam) also sinned against God.

(Scripture confirms such demons and devils wielding some influence over man. So does Jesus also speak of such unseen spirits of evil.

And yet, just like the Person of the Holy Spirit some of you do NOT believe, neither do you believe in evil angels and demons exist.

Jesus Christ, Who was Conceived by the Holy Spirit

So what heresy is the Apostles’ Creed addressing here?

Some deny that Almighty God —Father of all creation and all generations of adam — is capable of conceiving the Son of God as a second adam in the womb of a daughter of adam.

Do you believe the account of Luke’s Gospel?

But Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her,

Born of the virgin Mary

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High
will overshadow you;
and for that reason the holy Child
shall be called the Son of God.
Gospel of Luke 1:34-35 LSB

The Christ is born of a virgin, as prophesied — a humblest of births in a place also prophesied — providentially raised as a son of man.

From the King James Version:

And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

For with God nothing shall be impossible.
```
Mary believed the angel. 
Do YOU believe that? 
```
I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary…

Beginning of The Apostles’ Creed

And Mary said,

Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.

And the angel departed from her.

Gospel of Luke 1:38 KJV

Next: a Savior who Suffered

Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
December 23, 2025
a Roman Conclusion – Acts of the Apostles
All roads lead to Rome

Who has not heard the expression recalling a time of glory for the Roman Empire of the A.D. first century.?

But this second account of the Hellenist physician Luke records that the Gospel is sent out from Jerusalem and then Antioch.

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts of the Apostles 1:8 CSB – words of the risen Jesus to His disciples

The apostles and the brothers and sisters who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.

Acts 11:1 CSB

For a whole year they [Barnabas and Paul] met with the church and taught large numbers. The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.

Acts of the Apostles 11:26 CSB

Paul’s Previous 3 Missionary Journeys
```
READ MORE about the timeline of Paul's missions with numerous maps of the Roman world of the A.D. 1st century. 
```
ACTS on Mission Paul and other Apostles

An Apostle known by his Letters

Epistle of Paul to the Romans

As did Peter, John, James and others, the Apostle Paul communicates with converts to Christ frequently by letter, in addition to their Apostolic missions to live and worship with these believers for a time.
- AD 49
  - Galatians
- AD 50-51
  - 2 Letters to the Thessalonians
- AD 55-56
  - 2 Letters to the Corinthians
Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians – Featured Series
- AD 57
Two years BEFORE Paul is brought to Rome on spurious charges of the Jews and the Apostle’s appeal to Caesar Nero (as a Roman citizen), Paul writes his masterful theological Epistle to the Romans, instructing his fellow Roman citizens in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
```
We will read more of the Apostle's personal joy in meeting these Romans shortly. 
```
- AD 60-62
  - From Rome (and possibly other cities away from Rome) the Apostle to the Gentiles writes to the church in:
    
    Ephesus, Philppi and Colossae
    
    a letter concerning Philemon
- AD 62-66
  - Paul writes a first pastoral letter to Timothy
  - and also to Titus
- July 19, AD 64 – Caesar Nero burns Rome, blames and persecutes the Christians, Apostle’s under house arrest face execution at Nero’s command
- AD 66-67 – Facing imminent execution (as does the Apostle Paul, now in Rome), Peter writes a second and final pastoral epistle to Timothy to encourage and guide the Church.
Paul brought to Rome

Previously, we left the Apostle having survived a shipwreck in Malta.

The Centurion Julius, the Apostle Paul and now more than 300 men witness the power of God in Christ’s Apostle to the gentiles delayed in a violent storm on his way to Rome.

In these few verses THREE MONTHS PASS.

ACTS of the Apostles 28 – Conclusion

After three months we set sail in an Alexandrian ship that had wintered at the island, with the Twin Gods as its figurehead.

12 Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed three days.

13 From there, after making a circuit along the coast, we reached Rhegium. After one day a south wind sprang up, and the second day we came to Puteoli.

CSB

Where we found brethren, and were desired to tarry with them seven days: and so we went toward Rome.

Acts 28:14 KJV

140 miles (225 kilometers) southeast of Rome. “Puteoli” literally means “little wells” in reference to the many hydrothermal wells that were in the city, which was well-known as a large port that could accommodate big ships.

In fact, adjacent to Puteoli was Misenum, the Roman naval base that housed the largest naval fleet in the ancient world. Earthquakes have since sunk most of Puteoli under water.

Source: Bibleversestudy.com

And the brothers, when they heard about us, came from there as far as the Market of Appius and Three Inns to meet us.

When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

And when we entered Rome,

Paul was allowed to stay by himself,

with the soldier who was guarding him.

Acts 28:16 LSB

Paul Addresses Prominent Jews of Rome

And it happened that after three days Paul called together those who were the leading men of the Jews,

and when they came together, he began saying to them,

“Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.

And when they had examined me, they were willing to release me because there was no ground for putting me to death. But when the Jews [spoke against me], I was forced to appeal to Caesar, not that I had any accusation against my nation.

Acts 28:17-19
```
Note two points from Paul's self-introduction to the Roman Jews: 
```
The Apostle refers to himself as a brother of these Jews, also referring to OUR people, customs and fathers [patrōos].

Paul had identified with the fathers of the faith in defense of the Gospel before:

“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia.. instructed .. according to the strictness of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today,

Acts 22:3 excerpt LSB

And hear Paul’s defense in his first Trial Before Felix:

“But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect,

so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets.

Acts 24:14 NKJV

Ethnos

The APOSTLE and ROMAN CITIZEN parenthetically adds:

.. not that I had anything of which to accuse my nation.

Acts 28:19b NKJV

Paul has NO extra-judicial accusation against his accusers with whom he identifies by calling them: ‘MY NATION” — ἔθνος – ethnos —
- a multitude [together]
- the human family
- tribe, nation, people group
- Gentiles [OT]
- Paul uses the term for Gentile Christians
Source: BlueLetterBible.org Strong’s G1484 – ethnos

HERE in his defense to the Jews, Paul uses ethnos to describe OTHER Jews including his Jewish accusers in Jerusalem AND those in Rome whom the Apostle has summoned.
```
Luke opens Acts of the Apostles telling readers: 
```
Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation – G1484 – ethnos – under heaven.

Acts of the Apostles 2:5 LSB

For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you: because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.
Acts 28:20 KJV

O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night?

מִקְוֵה יִשְׂרָאֵל מוֹשִׁיעוֹ
Jeremiah 14:8a -yirmᵊyâ יִרְמְיָהוּ

Understanding you (Paul) for ourselves
```
These leading Jews of Rome of course know Scripture and realize that Paul preaches about the Messiah.
```
And they said to him,

“We have neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brothers come here and reported or spoken anything bad about you. But we desire to hear from you what you think;

for concerning this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere.”

Acts 28:21-22 LSB

And when they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers..

and he was explaining to them by solemnly bearing witness about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets,

from morning until evening.

And some were being persuaded by the things spoken, but others were not believing.

And when they disagreed with one another, they began leaving after Paul had spoken one word,

Acts 28:23-25a LSB

“The Holy Spirit rightly spoke

through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, saying,
```
And He said, “Go, and tell this people:
‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ 

“Make the heart of this people dull,
And their ears heavy,
And shut their eyes;

Lest they see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart,

And return and be healed.” 
```
Isaiah 6:9-10 (quoted by Paul) NKJV

Paul’s final word for the Roman Jews

“Therefore let it be known to you
that the salvation of God
has been sent to the Gentiles,
and they will hear it!”
Acts of the Apostles 28:28 NKJV

And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves.

Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him,

preaching the kingdom of God

and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.

Acts 28:30-31 NKJV

Thus ends ACTS of the Apostles –

second account of Luke, the physician .

Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
December 10, 2025
Peter’s Steadfast Purpose and the coming Day of the Lord
Steady as a Rock – Steadfastness in writing again

WHY is the Apostle so steadfast in his calling to insist that the Church obey commands already given to them?

Could it have to do with how the Lord Jesus restored Peter’s faith and recall of what Christ had taught the Apostles all along?

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Gospel of Matthew 16:15-18 NKJV

Why does the Apostle Peter write a second epistle to the church?

Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder)..

2 Peter 3:1 NKJV

Here in the conclusion of his letter Simon Peter is about to tell us, as the Apostle refers to BOTH epistles included in this reminder.

But his motivation certainly recalls his own solid steadfastness in the risen Christ Jesus in several encounters.

Jesus asked a third time, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?”

Peter was deeply hurt that Jesus had asked him a third time, “Do you love Me?” “Lord, You know all things,” he replied. “You know I love You.”

Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.”

Gospel of John 21:17 BSB

Simon Peter needed encouraged.

And so must believers be reminded of our faith in the midst of teachings from many false teachers.

στηρίζω – stērizō –
- to make stable, place firmly, set fast, fix
- to strengthen, make firm
- to render constant, confirm, one’s mind
Are you a stable Christ-follower?

Is your faith steadfast?

Peter’s second epistle to the church mirrors what the Lord had prayed prior to His crucifixion:

“But I have prayed earnestly for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, once you have returned, strengthen^G4741 your brothers.”

Gospel of Luke 22:32

The Apostle had recently written to these same believers:

For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God;
and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?
1 Peter 4: 17 NKJV [in context: vs. 12-19]

Resist him [the devil], steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

1 Peter 5:9 NKJV [in context: vs 8-10 ]

2 Peter 3:

God’s Promise Is Not Slack
```
Reads the Heading from the New King James Version:
```
.. I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder,

The Apostle of Jesus Christ makes TWO points to the Church. This is the first:
```
3:2  μνησθῆναι τῶν προειρημένων ῥημάτων ὑπὸ τῶν ἁγίων προφητῶν 
```
- that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets
A single greek word for ‘that you may be mindful’ is the same word of remembering used frequently in the gospels.

And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So he went out and wept bitterly.

Matthew 16:75 NKJV

Peter emphasizes the subject matter spoken before by the ‘holy prophets,’ referring to the major and minor prophets of Old Testament Scripture from Isaiah to Malachi—pointing to them as Holy [ἅγιος – hagios – (an awful thing)] and certainly in contrast to the misleading false prophets and teachers against whom the Apostle has already warned.

Secondly, Peter equates Apostolic authority in this reminder mentioning the Holy Prophets speaking God’s word even before Jesus instructed them in Person.
- and of the commandment of us,the apostles of the Lord and Savior..
  - commandment of the apostles of your Lord and Savior
  - or commandment of your apostles of the Lord and Savior.
ἐντολή – entolē

– an order, command, charge, precept, injunction;

– a commandment

The commandment of the LORD in Old Testament Scripture IS the same as the commandment of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Apostles!

“I and the Father are one.”

Gospel of John 10:30

The Last Days – ἔσχατος – eschatos

knowing this first:

that scoffers will come in the last days,

walking according to their own lusts,

You’ve heard of it (even if you hesitate to think about THE END) — eschatology – study of the last things or the end times.
```
Are we in them? 
```
And [the scoffers] saying, Where is the promise of his coming?

“What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again?

“Where is his promised return?

2 Peter 3:4a – various translatrions
```
The end was neither 
— the incarnation of JESUS the Son of God nor 
— resurrection of JESUS the Son of David hoped for by some of the Jews. 

And don't Common Era scoffers also want a conquering King 
— bringing victory without cost and proclaimation without persecution, 
also saying:
```
… all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”

2 Peter 3:4c NKJV

And so they do, Peter suggests, but these [scoffers and doubters of Christ] are without excuse.

For this they willfully forget: that

by the word of God the heavens were of old,

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

and the earth standing out of water and in the water,

by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.
```
A clear reference to Noah, who Peter has just mentioned. 
```
2 Peter 3:5-6 NKJV

But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word,

are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition [apōleia – the destruction which consists of eternal misery in hell]

of ungodly [ἀσεβής – asebēs – destitute of reverential awe towards God]

men [anthrōpos – men or women].

2 Peter 3:7 NKJV
```
Has your Common Era Pastor preached this Apostolic caution? 
```
And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: …

And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.

Genesis 7:21, 9;11 KJV

The Apostle’s Timeless Response
```
agapētos HEAR THIS: 
```
But, beloved, do not forget this one thing,

that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us [or you]

not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:8-9 NKJV

“Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance..
Gospel of Matthew 3:8 – a caution of JESUS to the religious

The DAY of the LORD

In the year of the Lord 2025 — dismissed by scoffers as: 2025 of the Common Era [2025 CE] — Do you fear the wrath to come when Christ returns?

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night,

in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise,

and the elements will melt with fervent heat;

both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

[literally, utterly burned up and consumed by fire!]

2 Peter 3: 10 NJKV

Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along.

On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.

2 Peter 3:11-13 New Living Translation

The Apostle’s command to look ahead may not appeal to you anymore than considering your inevitable death of the flesh.

Ah, but what of your spirit, the resurrection of our familiar flesh and the judgment to come?

Peter assures Christ’s true followers — the saints of the Chruch which may include you:

And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen,

make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.

And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved.

2 Peter 3:14-15a NLT

Might the Apostle actually be calling YOU, beloved member of Christ — in need of repentance for your impure fruit, to reject those easy false teachings which oppose the Lord Jesus Christ?

The APOSTLES, including Paul

NEXT, we will briefly study just one Epistle or Letter of the Apostle to the Gentiles [or Hellenists or Greeks], Paul.

Here Peter now mentions the Apostle Paul, due to an already developing false teaching in the early church broadly known as gnosticism [a Greek word meaning “knowledge.”]

Gnosticism

Such ‘knowledge‘ often accelerates into a down-hill slope into the pit of error. Therefore a brief summary here from BibleHub.com
- Dualism: Gnosticism is marked by a strong dualistic worldview,
  - The material world is often seen as the creation of a lesser deity,
    
    sometimes identified with the God of the Old Testament,
    
    who is distinct from the true, transcendent God.
```
This, of course, is NOT SCRIPTURAL from either Jewish Scripture 
OR the Gospel of the New Testament.
```
- Gnostics believe that.. salvation involves awakening this divine spark through gnosis.
- Some Gnostic texts depict Christ as a purely spiritual being .who did not truly suffer or die.
- Gnosticism generally views the physical world as corrupt or illusory.
  - This belief often leads to ascetic practices or,
  - conversely, to libertine behavior, as the material is deemed irrelevant to spiritual salvation.
Peter confirming Paul

So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking of this as he does in all his letters.

There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.

You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, beware lest you be carried away with the error of lawless men and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Second Epistle of the Apostle Peter 3:16b-18a RSV

Doxology

αὐξάνετε δὲ ἐν χάριτι καὶ γνώσει τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα καὶ νῦν καὶ εἰς ἡμέραν αἰῶνος ἀμήν

Grow, urges the Apostle — connecting our growth in faith to ‘our kyrios [lord] and sōtēr [savior]

iēsous christos

— and referring to Him, a traditional doxology as the Apostle’s final words in his final letter and will for the church:

autos ho doxa

To him be the glory

kay nyn

both now

kai eis hēmera aiōn

and to the day of eternity.

ἀμήν amēn
- so it is, so be it, may it be fulfilled.
- firm: a metaphor for faithful
2 Peter 3:18

Thus ends the epistles of the Apostle Simon Peter, the Rock upon whom Jesus began the building of His Church.

Talk of JESUS . com

Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
December 8, 2025