Chapter # 3 Paragraph # 3 Study # 2
March 11, 2012
Dayton, Texas
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<157> Thesis: Covenants are universally recognized as the way to create harmony. Introduction: In our last study we focused on Paul's characterization of his readers as "brethren" and raised the question as to both what constitutes a "brother" and, to a lesser degree, why Paul decided to move in that direction. A "brother" is one who actually believes in justification by faith in the faithfulness of Christ as the only way to be acceptable to the Father. Paul calls his readers "brethren" because it is a way to get/keep them inclined to give his arguments a fair hearing. This evening we are going to look into Paul's approach to the "brethren" regarding the critical issues of God's commitment to Abraham in "promise" and His reason(s) for the institution of the covenant of Law. The first issue is the question of why he deliberately starts with "human reasoning". He writes of "speaking according to the standards of men" and of "even men" using "covenants".