Abide in Love

Source : http://www.christian-bible.com

"those who abide in love abide in God" (1 John 4:16)

We must abide in love, if we hope to know God.  For if we cannot find God in the love we know, we will not find God.   

The Bible witnesses to this faith.  Written by human beings, the Bible is not the literal, infallible or inerrant word of God.  Our scripture presents the revelatory experience of ancient Jews and first century Christians.  Its witness is historical, so we must test its truth by our experience. 

In the New Testament Jesus of Nazareth challenges Jewish leaders and is crucified for treason by Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Palestine. The first church in Jerusalem is founded by Peter and the disciples, but led by James, the brother of Jesus.  Paul takes the gospel to Gentiles and Greek-speaking Jews in cities throughout the Roman Empire. 

In the first century the Roman emperor Augustus demanded worship as the Savior of the world, and after his death he was remembered as ascending into heaven. Faith in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus was an act of resistance to Roman idolatry and oppression.  In the 60s Paul and Peter were executed in Rome for treason, and James (the brother of Jesus and leader of the Jerusalem church) was killed for denouncing the temple authorities who supported Roman rule.  

Jews in Palestine revolted in 66, but four years later Roman armies captured Jerusalem, destroyed its temple, and crucified thousands of rebels outside the city walls.  These apocalyptic events led Greek-speaking followers of the Way to proclaim among Jews that Jesus is the promised Messiah, and to tell Gentiles that Jesus is the reigning Son of God. 

The church began without the Christian Bible.  The first Christians, like Jesus and his disciples, read as their scripture the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings of their Jewish ancestors.  Paul's letters were written in the 40s and 50s, and the gospels were written in the last quarter of the first century.  Controversy in the early church about what writings should be read as scripture was resolved only in the fourth century after Constantine was converted and demanded that church leaders preach a unifying message throughout the Roman Empire.