Galatians 3: 1-5
You foolish Galatians,
Paul uses the word anoetos, which refers to one who is not using his intelligence, in contrast to the word moros, one who is mentally deficient.
He's saying to use their powers of thinking to not be so irrational.
who has bewitched you,
It's as though someone has magically cast a spell on them.
before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?
Jesus submitted to execution by crucifixion because there was no other way He could save us. Otherwise, He wouldn't have had to even come.
This is the only thing I want to find out from you:
This is the basic question, that everything else flows from.
did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
Were they saved by works or by grace? There's no combination here, it's either one or the other.
Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
Let's think this out here, if we come into God's family by the Spirit, then does it make sense to try to live as God's child by the flesh? By trying to obey the Mosaic Law?
Did you suffer so many things in vain--if indeed it was in vain?
Did you painfully experience so much stuff on your way to faith in Christ for nothing? Wasn't it all worth it?
So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
So is God working miracles through the power of His Spirit in you because you believe He will, or because you've obeyed some rule?
These Galatians were influenced by the Judaizers who came from Jerusalem, to try to make these new Christians into practicing Jews, bound to obey all of the Mosaic Law. But Grace and works are opposites.
We are saved by grace through faith, not because of anything we can do, but just trusting that Jesus already did all the work of Salvation for us. Now that we are born spiritually into God's family, we must live our lives by faith, listening to His quiet voice deep in our spirit, trusting that He has only the best planned for us.
All the Law and rules and precepts and ordinances are now only guidelines as to how we are to love God and love one another as He has Loved us. Loving one another will have us obeying all the laws, because we won't want to do anything harmful or hurtful to one another.
But we are no longer bound to have to obey proscribed rules. We are not slaves to rules, but servants of God.
O my Father, You planned all along, from before the beginning, how You would lead Mankind down the path of History. How You would show us that there is nothing we can do to become perfect enough for Your Presence to dwell in us, and for us to be in Your Presence without being destroyed by it.
You showed us everything our Savior would do, would accomplish for us, and how He would fulfill and finish all You said He would do, so we would recognize Him. So we could be cleansed and renewed and reborn spiritually into Your family.
Father, You planned from the beginning that the human race would be Your children. So now You are teaching us how to be Your Royal princes and princesses, so we will be skilled and equipped to govern all the Universes You plan to make, as Your family business, Your Kingdom.
Help us, Father, to grow up as Your children. Strengthen us against all the forces of evil that are arrayed against us. And send us out boldly carrying Your precious Seed of the Gospel to sow in all the fields prepared for the planting; and to reap all the fields ripe to harvest, gathering all the souls into Your barn.
And may Your house be full, every place at Your banquet table filled, to feast with you neverendingly.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord God Almighty, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, December 5, 2019
Wednesday, December 4, 2019
Law Versus Grace
Galatians 2: 15-21
We are Jews by Nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles;
The "we" here refer to Paul and Peter, who as Jews possessed the advantages of a privileged birth and a revealed religion; and in Jewish speech, the term "Gentile sinners" was used seriously as an opposite concept to all that being Jewish implied.
nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus,
Even with all these advantages, they still needed to trust in Christ's work on their behalf, not any following of Law, to be justified.
even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ Jesus and not by the works of the Law;
Here is the kernel of the Faith: to believe in Christ Jesus, to trust Him, not any adherence to rules, that His payment of our debt would be complete, so God can declare us justified, a legal term that means "to declare righteous or innocent."
since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
Because no one can perfectly follow every law all the time.
But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be!
Paul's accusers have said that to put aside all rules and standards for just trusting Christ to have already done it all, would promote a godless lifestyle without boundaries. This is antinomianism, the heresy that God's grace frees us from the moral laws.
For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor.
If I have to restore what I destroyed, then I admit I was wrong to destroy it in the first place.
For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.
I have been crucified with Christ;
Paul identified with Christ's fulfillment of the Mosaic Law in His life and death, as though he died with Christ on the Cross.
and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;
Since I died, it's not me who is living, but the life of Christ living in me.
and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,
The life that is living in my body is my depending on the Son of God, that His Spirit is in my spirit.
who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
He loved me, and gave His body in death in substitution for mine.
I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.
If it were possible for us to be saved by following the Law, then Jesus didn't need to die at all. Jesus prayed three times in the Garden, that if it were possible for us to be saved any other way than through His death, then to not make Him have to go through with it (Matthew 26: 39-44; Mark 14: 35-40; Luke 22: 41-44). But there was no other way, and He knew it. So He submitted to the Father's will and allowed them to nail His body to the Cross in our place.
Jesus had to be God to be the eternal Person who could pay our eternal debt in time; and He had to be genuinely human to qualify to take our place in dying a human death for each of us. He is the sacrificial Lamb of God, the perfect Sacrifice, to fulfill the sacrificial Law for us.
This is the only way He could wash us clean with His Blood, sprinkled on the sides of His altar, the Cross. The blood of bulls and goats could never wash away sins, only cover them. The sacrificial laws were given to show what our Messiah would accomplish for us when He came, so we would recognize Him.
Our sins had to be completely washed away without a trace in order to fit us to be able for God to live in us by His Spirit. And His Spirit in us gives us His authority over the power of sin. So we now can live lives of love and compassion and kindness, as His own sons and daughters.
O my Father, I praise Your greatness, Your goodness, Your wisdom, Your compassion, Your wonderful Plan of the Ages! You have created everything that exists, and You have made it all for Your pleasure. You have designed everything to work together, for the good of Your own family, and You made the human race to be Your children. Let every living person hear and understand how much You Love them, to make an informed decision to seek You or reject You.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, Lord God Almighty, King of the Universe, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever, Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
We are Jews by Nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles;
The "we" here refer to Paul and Peter, who as Jews possessed the advantages of a privileged birth and a revealed religion; and in Jewish speech, the term "Gentile sinners" was used seriously as an opposite concept to all that being Jewish implied.
nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus,
Even with all these advantages, they still needed to trust in Christ's work on their behalf, not any following of Law, to be justified.
even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ Jesus and not by the works of the Law;
Here is the kernel of the Faith: to believe in Christ Jesus, to trust Him, not any adherence to rules, that His payment of our debt would be complete, so God can declare us justified, a legal term that means "to declare righteous or innocent."
since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
Because no one can perfectly follow every law all the time.
But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be!
Paul's accusers have said that to put aside all rules and standards for just trusting Christ to have already done it all, would promote a godless lifestyle without boundaries. This is antinomianism, the heresy that God's grace frees us from the moral laws.
For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor.
If I have to restore what I destroyed, then I admit I was wrong to destroy it in the first place.
For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.
I have been crucified with Christ;
Paul identified with Christ's fulfillment of the Mosaic Law in His life and death, as though he died with Christ on the Cross.
and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;
Since I died, it's not me who is living, but the life of Christ living in me.
and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,
The life that is living in my body is my depending on the Son of God, that His Spirit is in my spirit.
who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
He loved me, and gave His body in death in substitution for mine.
I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.
If it were possible for us to be saved by following the Law, then Jesus didn't need to die at all. Jesus prayed three times in the Garden, that if it were possible for us to be saved any other way than through His death, then to not make Him have to go through with it (Matthew 26: 39-44; Mark 14: 35-40; Luke 22: 41-44). But there was no other way, and He knew it. So He submitted to the Father's will and allowed them to nail His body to the Cross in our place.
Jesus had to be God to be the eternal Person who could pay our eternal debt in time; and He had to be genuinely human to qualify to take our place in dying a human death for each of us. He is the sacrificial Lamb of God, the perfect Sacrifice, to fulfill the sacrificial Law for us.
This is the only way He could wash us clean with His Blood, sprinkled on the sides of His altar, the Cross. The blood of bulls and goats could never wash away sins, only cover them. The sacrificial laws were given to show what our Messiah would accomplish for us when He came, so we would recognize Him.
Our sins had to be completely washed away without a trace in order to fit us to be able for God to live in us by His Spirit. And His Spirit in us gives us His authority over the power of sin. So we now can live lives of love and compassion and kindness, as His own sons and daughters.
O my Father, I praise Your greatness, Your goodness, Your wisdom, Your compassion, Your wonderful Plan of the Ages! You have created everything that exists, and You have made it all for Your pleasure. You have designed everything to work together, for the good of Your own family, and You made the human race to be Your children. Let every living person hear and understand how much You Love them, to make an informed decision to seek You or reject You.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, Lord God Almighty, King of the Universe, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever, Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
How Vulnerable Even The Best Of Us Are!
Galatians 2: 11-14
But when Cephas (Peter) came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.
Now after the Jerusalem counsel concluded, Peter came to Antioch, where Paul had had such a fruitful ministry with the Gentiles. Now Peter knew the Truth, that we are not saved by any following of Law, but by the Grace of God, giving freedom from the Law. Even knowing this, Peter still was to blame for what happened there.
For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles;
Evidently the church in Antioch had both Jewish and Gentile believers, who all lived as brothers and sisters in Christ, even having their meals together.
but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision.
But when these "false brethren" came to Antioch from Jerusalem, supposedly sent by James, they put pressure on the Jewish believers, and even Peter was caught up with not wanting to offend them, considering their opinions over what he knew God had done for them.
The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.
Peter was a very influential leader in the church, and the rest of the Jewish believers followed his example, even Barnabas was carried away by this "saying one thing and doing another" hypocrisy.
But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the Truth of the Gospel, I said to Cephas (Peter) in the presence of all,
Paul here asserted his authority as a true Apostle in calling even Peter to account in this. It is not a trivial thing to cast aside the Truth of the Gospel in order to not be criticized by some group of people! And since Peter had openly done this, then Paul called him out publicly.
"If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?"
Peter had been enjoying the fellowship of both the Jewish and Gentile believers, free from having to follow the Mosaic Law. Then when the Judaizers came, and he withdrew from eating with Gentiles, he was teaching the Gentiles by his actions that the Mosaic Law was still to be followed.
This is very serious. Peter had understood and accepted the Gospel, even receiving the vision of the sheet being lowered three times showing him that God had cleansed the Gentiles and their food (in Acts: 10). And Peter had defended Paul at the Jerusalem Council (in Acts: 15).
But understanding and defending isn't enough--a Christian must also practice the Gospel Truth in his everyday life and attitudes, consistently following God's Truth rather than falling back into old patterns, to not be criticized by the World.
This is why Paul confronted Peter. He realized the importance of maintaining the purity of God's Good News, and because he did, we now have the unadulterated message to carry on even today.
Church history records that other dilutions and additions have mangled this simple Truth so often, as false brethren worm their way into the church to spoil it and draw people away from knowing the beauty of the simplicity of the freedom we have in the Gospel. Satan hates that we could even be saved, so he has been working constantly to change and twist God's Truth all through the time since it's founding.
We all need to be aware of the tactics of our enemy, for even the best of us have been known to be drawn away. If Satan and this World can't keep us from being saved, then he will work to destroy our testimony, as he tried to do with Peter. If even Peter was so vulnerable, how much more are we, am I, who is just one of the Father's many Blood-bought children.
We must all be aware of the ones we listen to, the ones we allow to teach us, that what they're teaching is free from additions or watering down of the pure Truth of the Good News that Jesus fulfilled all the written laws, freeing us from bondage, and washed us pristine clean in His Blood sprinkled on His altar the Cross.
We each need to learn to hear the Holy Spirit's whispers in our spirit, to "walk here, this is the path." And to do our own research to make sure that what we're being taught is True.
If ever you find disagreement with anything I have written anywhere in this whole Blog, please let me know. I think and certainly hope that what I write is True, but I am still human and vulnerable to error and mistakes. I will do further research on your points, and ask my Father for clarity, as I do over every entry.
O my Father, You have been so clear and distinct, more so than human intelligence is sometimes willing to accept. Please keep our thinking processes aligned with Your thoughts, Your purposes, and not clutter it up with complications or requirements.
Help us, Father, to believe You, trust You, and depend on You for our everything, for You are our Source.
Father, strengthen us and send us out into every fertile field to scatter Your precious Seed of the Gospel, and to reap those fields ready for harvest, to grow Your family, Father, to populate Your Kingdom, and to mature us all to lead Your lambs as under-shepherds with our Good Shepherd.
And every eye shall see, every knee shall bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Lord God Almighty, King over all Creation, to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
But when Cephas (Peter) came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.
Now after the Jerusalem counsel concluded, Peter came to Antioch, where Paul had had such a fruitful ministry with the Gentiles. Now Peter knew the Truth, that we are not saved by any following of Law, but by the Grace of God, giving freedom from the Law. Even knowing this, Peter still was to blame for what happened there.
For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles;
Evidently the church in Antioch had both Jewish and Gentile believers, who all lived as brothers and sisters in Christ, even having their meals together.
but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision.
But when these "false brethren" came to Antioch from Jerusalem, supposedly sent by James, they put pressure on the Jewish believers, and even Peter was caught up with not wanting to offend them, considering their opinions over what he knew God had done for them.
The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.
Peter was a very influential leader in the church, and the rest of the Jewish believers followed his example, even Barnabas was carried away by this "saying one thing and doing another" hypocrisy.
But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the Truth of the Gospel, I said to Cephas (Peter) in the presence of all,
Paul here asserted his authority as a true Apostle in calling even Peter to account in this. It is not a trivial thing to cast aside the Truth of the Gospel in order to not be criticized by some group of people! And since Peter had openly done this, then Paul called him out publicly.
"If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?"
Peter had been enjoying the fellowship of both the Jewish and Gentile believers, free from having to follow the Mosaic Law. Then when the Judaizers came, and he withdrew from eating with Gentiles, he was teaching the Gentiles by his actions that the Mosaic Law was still to be followed.
This is very serious. Peter had understood and accepted the Gospel, even receiving the vision of the sheet being lowered three times showing him that God had cleansed the Gentiles and their food (in Acts: 10). And Peter had defended Paul at the Jerusalem Council (in Acts: 15).
But understanding and defending isn't enough--a Christian must also practice the Gospel Truth in his everyday life and attitudes, consistently following God's Truth rather than falling back into old patterns, to not be criticized by the World.
This is why Paul confronted Peter. He realized the importance of maintaining the purity of God's Good News, and because he did, we now have the unadulterated message to carry on even today.
Church history records that other dilutions and additions have mangled this simple Truth so often, as false brethren worm their way into the church to spoil it and draw people away from knowing the beauty of the simplicity of the freedom we have in the Gospel. Satan hates that we could even be saved, so he has been working constantly to change and twist God's Truth all through the time since it's founding.
We all need to be aware of the tactics of our enemy, for even the best of us have been known to be drawn away. If Satan and this World can't keep us from being saved, then he will work to destroy our testimony, as he tried to do with Peter. If even Peter was so vulnerable, how much more are we, am I, who is just one of the Father's many Blood-bought children.
We must all be aware of the ones we listen to, the ones we allow to teach us, that what they're teaching is free from additions or watering down of the pure Truth of the Good News that Jesus fulfilled all the written laws, freeing us from bondage, and washed us pristine clean in His Blood sprinkled on His altar the Cross.
We each need to learn to hear the Holy Spirit's whispers in our spirit, to "walk here, this is the path." And to do our own research to make sure that what we're being taught is True.
If ever you find disagreement with anything I have written anywhere in this whole Blog, please let me know. I think and certainly hope that what I write is True, but I am still human and vulnerable to error and mistakes. I will do further research on your points, and ask my Father for clarity, as I do over every entry.
O my Father, You have been so clear and distinct, more so than human intelligence is sometimes willing to accept. Please keep our thinking processes aligned with Your thoughts, Your purposes, and not clutter it up with complications or requirements.
Help us, Father, to believe You, trust You, and depend on You for our everything, for You are our Source.
Father, strengthen us and send us out into every fertile field to scatter Your precious Seed of the Gospel, and to reap those fields ready for harvest, to grow Your family, Father, to populate Your Kingdom, and to mature us all to lead Your lambs as under-shepherds with our Good Shepherd.
And every eye shall see, every knee shall bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Lord God Almighty, King over all Creation, to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
Monday, December 2, 2019
The Significance Of The First Church Council
Galatians 2: 1-10
Paul is continuing to tell his own story.
Then after an interval of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also. It was because of a revelation that I went up;
So it had been three years after he was saved before he even went to Jerusalem to consult with any of the other apostles, so what he preached was only and purely what Christ had revealed to him personally.
Now it's been another fourteen years, and the Lord revealed to him that he needed to be in Jerusalem again for the church council that was to be held to determine what the Christian faith would be. (See Acts 15: 1-29.)
and I submitted to them the Gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain.
So he met privately with the leaders first, instead of the whole council, to make sure that the faith he was preaching was the same faith that they were also preaching, because if there were differences, then they would not even be the same church.
But not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.
Circumcision was the big issue of the day. All the first Christians were Jewish, so they were circumcised. But Paul was preaching to Gentiles, who had never had that requirement. The big question was, were they genuine Christians if they weren't circumcised?
Now Titus was a Greek, so he wasn't circumcised, but he was a Christian, and the original leaders of the church didn't make him get circumcised, so this was an encouragement to Paul.
But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage.
He realized that if a man had to be circumcised, then he would also have to obey the whole Mosaic Law, and no one had been able to do that since it was given! That would be bondage.
But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the Gospel would remain with you.
If he had yielded to them, then he would have had to change the message he had preached to them, and it would not be the pure Truth any more. But he didn't give them an inch.
But from those who were of high reputation (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)
This "high reputation" were of those who had set themselves up as authorities, without God's calling them to that position. And whatever the status someone has in the World makes no difference to God, He looks at our hearts, not our status. So their titles also made no difference to Paul.
--well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me.
Even though they held worldly esteem, they didn't have anything to add to Paul's message.
but on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the Gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised
They were counter-parts in God's program, specifically gifted to minister to these two different populations for the furtherance of God's Plan in choosing the whole human race to be His children.
(for He who effectually worked for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles),
The same God the Holy Spirit was working in both Peter and in Paul to send them to these different people so that everyone would be able to hear the Good News.
and recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Peter (Cephas) and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
James was the Lord's brother, and both Peter and John were in Jesus' "inner circle" of three while He conducted His itinerant ministry before His death. So they were the main guys in the original Jerusalem church. And they recognized Paul's faithfulness to the Truth of the Gospel.
They only asked us to remember the poor--the very thing I also was eager to do.
God's children will always have compassion on those the Father cares about, so they (we) will (super)naturally help those who we are able to help to meet their needs.
So we read here again the same history we read in Acts, as Paul is recounting everything he went through during the early days of the church, as the foundation was being laid. This is a very pivotal time, as the whole World was changing because of people coming to faith in the True God and leaving all the corrupted and twisted attitudes they had had previously, changing their lives, families, clans, cities, and nations.
We even reckon our time according to when Jesus was born, grew up, and died and was Resurrected. He really did change the World!
O my Father, You have done everything possible and impossible to draw us to Yourself, to make us members of Your own family.
But we are so quick to leave the simplicity of Your Gospel! Father, it is our pride and self-sufficiency that leads us away from just letting You do it all and trying to save ourselves. Or even thinking that we can do anything without You that You would be able to accept.
Even when we've been saved by our faith in what Jesus has finished for us, we tend to try to live by our own wits, instead of still trusting You to do it through us. We must go from the faith to be saved to the faith to live this supernatural life.
Father, please help us, keep us strong in our dependence only on You, that we would be available for Your use to promote Your Kingdom Your way in Your time and place of Your choosing for us.
Send us out, Father, into Your fields that are ripe for harvest, into Your fertile fields prepared to receive Your Seed.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus of Nazareth is our Lord God Almighty, our Savior and Redeemer, the King of the Universe, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Paul is continuing to tell his own story.
Then after an interval of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also. It was because of a revelation that I went up;
So it had been three years after he was saved before he even went to Jerusalem to consult with any of the other apostles, so what he preached was only and purely what Christ had revealed to him personally.
Now it's been another fourteen years, and the Lord revealed to him that he needed to be in Jerusalem again for the church council that was to be held to determine what the Christian faith would be. (See Acts 15: 1-29.)
and I submitted to them the Gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain.
So he met privately with the leaders first, instead of the whole council, to make sure that the faith he was preaching was the same faith that they were also preaching, because if there were differences, then they would not even be the same church.
But not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.
Circumcision was the big issue of the day. All the first Christians were Jewish, so they were circumcised. But Paul was preaching to Gentiles, who had never had that requirement. The big question was, were they genuine Christians if they weren't circumcised?
Now Titus was a Greek, so he wasn't circumcised, but he was a Christian, and the original leaders of the church didn't make him get circumcised, so this was an encouragement to Paul.
But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage.
He realized that if a man had to be circumcised, then he would also have to obey the whole Mosaic Law, and no one had been able to do that since it was given! That would be bondage.
But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the Gospel would remain with you.
If he had yielded to them, then he would have had to change the message he had preached to them, and it would not be the pure Truth any more. But he didn't give them an inch.
But from those who were of high reputation (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)
This "high reputation" were of those who had set themselves up as authorities, without God's calling them to that position. And whatever the status someone has in the World makes no difference to God, He looks at our hearts, not our status. So their titles also made no difference to Paul.
--well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me.
Even though they held worldly esteem, they didn't have anything to add to Paul's message.
but on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the Gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised
They were counter-parts in God's program, specifically gifted to minister to these two different populations for the furtherance of God's Plan in choosing the whole human race to be His children.
(for He who effectually worked for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles),
The same God the Holy Spirit was working in both Peter and in Paul to send them to these different people so that everyone would be able to hear the Good News.
and recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Peter (Cephas) and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
James was the Lord's brother, and both Peter and John were in Jesus' "inner circle" of three while He conducted His itinerant ministry before His death. So they were the main guys in the original Jerusalem church. And they recognized Paul's faithfulness to the Truth of the Gospel.
They only asked us to remember the poor--the very thing I also was eager to do.
God's children will always have compassion on those the Father cares about, so they (we) will (super)naturally help those who we are able to help to meet their needs.
So we read here again the same history we read in Acts, as Paul is recounting everything he went through during the early days of the church, as the foundation was being laid. This is a very pivotal time, as the whole World was changing because of people coming to faith in the True God and leaving all the corrupted and twisted attitudes they had had previously, changing their lives, families, clans, cities, and nations.
We even reckon our time according to when Jesus was born, grew up, and died and was Resurrected. He really did change the World!
O my Father, You have done everything possible and impossible to draw us to Yourself, to make us members of Your own family.
But we are so quick to leave the simplicity of Your Gospel! Father, it is our pride and self-sufficiency that leads us away from just letting You do it all and trying to save ourselves. Or even thinking that we can do anything without You that You would be able to accept.
Even when we've been saved by our faith in what Jesus has finished for us, we tend to try to live by our own wits, instead of still trusting You to do it through us. We must go from the faith to be saved to the faith to live this supernatural life.
Father, please help us, keep us strong in our dependence only on You, that we would be available for Your use to promote Your Kingdom Your way in Your time and place of Your choosing for us.
Send us out, Father, into Your fields that are ripe for harvest, into Your fertile fields prepared to receive Your Seed.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus of Nazareth is our Lord God Almighty, our Savior and Redeemer, the King of the Universe, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, December 1, 2019
Paul's Story
Galatians 1: 10-24
For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men?
Paul has said that he would become like whoever he was preaching to, to gain common ground with them so they would hear his message and be saved, in I Corinthians 9: 23. But he was not doing it to please them or make them like him, but to win them for Christ.
If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.
His focus was not on the people, but on Christ, to serve Him by serving those He loves.
Now he will set forth his own story, the path he was on before, and the path he is now walking.
For I would have you know, brethren, that the Gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.
He's making a formal pronouncement here. He wants them to be aware of his Source, where his message came from, and that it was not made up by any man.
For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
So nobody taught it to him, he received it by revelation directly from Christ Jesus Himself, so there can be no mistake that what he preaches is Truth.
For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it;
His life was always an open book, everyone knew his lifestyle before his encounter with the Lord; how he tried to wipe out this new little sect that he thought was dangerous.
and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.
He was always a very determined and passionate person, and he was pushing himself to accomplish more and more in promoting what he had been taught in the Hebrew religion of obeying the Law of Moses, beyond many others of his peers.
But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb
Since he was a child he's always been a go-getter, and was given by God the natural inclination to passionately pursue whatever he was after.
and called me through His grace, was pleased
to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles,
So God graciously turned him around completely, to preach the faith he was destroying, going the opposite way from the path he had been on, even going to all the people who were outsiders to his previous religion.
I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood,
This total change in direction didn't have him talking about it with anyone.
nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me;
He didn't even try to talk with the others who were the leaders in this new faith.
but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus.
Instead he went to a completely different place, to be alone with the Lord.
Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days.
He waited a whole three years before he decided to meet Peter, so he went and stayed with him for two weeks getting to know him.
But I did not see any of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother.
Paul wants to be specific about which James he was talking about here, and says he was "the Lord's brother." Jesus' brothers didn't believe in Him until after His Resurrection, I think when He had Mary Magdalen tell them they were also invited to the meeting He had scheduled with His Apostles in Galilee (see Matthew 28: 10). And having grown up with Jesus as a big brother, they finally realized why He had never gotten in trouble for disobedience, that He really is who He claimed to be, and followed Him faithfully after that.
The Lord's brothers are named in Matthew 13: 55-56 and Mark 6: 3, as James, Joseph, Simon, and Jude, and "all His sisters" are not named. So He grew up in a big family, and His brothers, James and Jude, both wrote Epistles that are in our Bible now as Scripture.
James was the leader, the pastor, of the church in Jerusalem. Being Peter's pastor, he probably stopped by sometime while Paul was there, so he got to meet him, too, but he didn't go out to seek him, only Peter.
(Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.)
He wants to make sure that these Galatians know that he's not exaggerating anything here, just the bare-bones truth of how everything happened.
Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
Then he still didn't converse with any other church people in Jerusalem, but he went far away from Judea altogether (Acts 9: 30; 11:25-26).
I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ;
Wow, this "bigger-than-life" Apostle of Christ is content to be "unknown" to the central core of the whole "church movement"! Would that we all who seek to serve the Lord would be content to be "unknown" rather than self-promoting, wanting to be popular and well-liked!
but only, they kept hearing, "He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy."
He never even met the rest of them, they only knew him by hearsay, the gossip that spread about this persecutor who became a promoter of what he had been trying to destroy!
And they were glorifying God because of me.
Only God could turn around a person to do that, it is not possible humanly to change that dramatically instantly!
This is what happened to me. God came to me, and turned my thinking around completely. I had been an idolater, an adulteress, a liar, a thief; and He Loved me so much that He had His own Son take my Death sentence upon Himself! This extreme Love that enveloped me that day, changed me completely.
That is the power of God's Grace! His Love! His authority over us to do with us as He wills, when we let Him.
He is not willing that any of humanity would be destroyed; He chose us to be His own children, in His own family. But He will not violate the free will He gave us to choose. If we don't want Him, He won't force His way onto us.
But I think that He will "jiggle our willer" to want to come to Him, even if we don't know it's Him we're seeking, when people pray!
O my Father, Your Love is so far beyond anything I can imagine! It's so deep, so high, so wide, so far, so thick, so all-encompassing! Even though You know we are only dust, with defective DNA, damaged goods!
You take us just as we are, but You don't leave us there. You do a supernatural work in us to re-mold us into the very image, the character, of Your Son. I don't understand this, either, but I see Your working in me and in others of Your children, in growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord.
O Father, continue to help all Your children; remind us to be in constant prayer, continual conversation with You, remembering all of our loved ones and friends and acquaintances and neighbors and others we may not even know personally.
Keep us always firmly in Your hand, constantly aware of Your closeness with us, and your power in us to do Your good and gracious will. Use us as Your hands and feet to promote and finance Your great Kingdom, Your Family Business, which we are learning how to manage for You when we graduate.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Lord God Almighty, King of the Universe, to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men?
Paul has said that he would become like whoever he was preaching to, to gain common ground with them so they would hear his message and be saved, in I Corinthians 9: 23. But he was not doing it to please them or make them like him, but to win them for Christ.
If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.
His focus was not on the people, but on Christ, to serve Him by serving those He loves.
Now he will set forth his own story, the path he was on before, and the path he is now walking.
For I would have you know, brethren, that the Gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.
He's making a formal pronouncement here. He wants them to be aware of his Source, where his message came from, and that it was not made up by any man.
For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
So nobody taught it to him, he received it by revelation directly from Christ Jesus Himself, so there can be no mistake that what he preaches is Truth.
For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it;
His life was always an open book, everyone knew his lifestyle before his encounter with the Lord; how he tried to wipe out this new little sect that he thought was dangerous.
and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.
He was always a very determined and passionate person, and he was pushing himself to accomplish more and more in promoting what he had been taught in the Hebrew religion of obeying the Law of Moses, beyond many others of his peers.
But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb
Since he was a child he's always been a go-getter, and was given by God the natural inclination to passionately pursue whatever he was after.
and called me through His grace, was pleased
to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles,
So God graciously turned him around completely, to preach the faith he was destroying, going the opposite way from the path he had been on, even going to all the people who were outsiders to his previous religion.
I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood,
This total change in direction didn't have him talking about it with anyone.
nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me;
He didn't even try to talk with the others who were the leaders in this new faith.
but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus.
Instead he went to a completely different place, to be alone with the Lord.
Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days.
He waited a whole three years before he decided to meet Peter, so he went and stayed with him for two weeks getting to know him.
But I did not see any of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother.
Paul wants to be specific about which James he was talking about here, and says he was "the Lord's brother." Jesus' brothers didn't believe in Him until after His Resurrection, I think when He had Mary Magdalen tell them they were also invited to the meeting He had scheduled with His Apostles in Galilee (see Matthew 28: 10). And having grown up with Jesus as a big brother, they finally realized why He had never gotten in trouble for disobedience, that He really is who He claimed to be, and followed Him faithfully after that.
The Lord's brothers are named in Matthew 13: 55-56 and Mark 6: 3, as James, Joseph, Simon, and Jude, and "all His sisters" are not named. So He grew up in a big family, and His brothers, James and Jude, both wrote Epistles that are in our Bible now as Scripture.
James was the leader, the pastor, of the church in Jerusalem. Being Peter's pastor, he probably stopped by sometime while Paul was there, so he got to meet him, too, but he didn't go out to seek him, only Peter.
(Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.)
He wants to make sure that these Galatians know that he's not exaggerating anything here, just the bare-bones truth of how everything happened.
Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
Then he still didn't converse with any other church people in Jerusalem, but he went far away from Judea altogether (Acts 9: 30; 11:25-26).
I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ;
Wow, this "bigger-than-life" Apostle of Christ is content to be "unknown" to the central core of the whole "church movement"! Would that we all who seek to serve the Lord would be content to be "unknown" rather than self-promoting, wanting to be popular and well-liked!
but only, they kept hearing, "He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy."
He never even met the rest of them, they only knew him by hearsay, the gossip that spread about this persecutor who became a promoter of what he had been trying to destroy!
And they were glorifying God because of me.
Only God could turn around a person to do that, it is not possible humanly to change that dramatically instantly!
This is what happened to me. God came to me, and turned my thinking around completely. I had been an idolater, an adulteress, a liar, a thief; and He Loved me so much that He had His own Son take my Death sentence upon Himself! This extreme Love that enveloped me that day, changed me completely.
That is the power of God's Grace! His Love! His authority over us to do with us as He wills, when we let Him.
He is not willing that any of humanity would be destroyed; He chose us to be His own children, in His own family. But He will not violate the free will He gave us to choose. If we don't want Him, He won't force His way onto us.
But I think that He will "jiggle our willer" to want to come to Him, even if we don't know it's Him we're seeking, when people pray!
O my Father, Your Love is so far beyond anything I can imagine! It's so deep, so high, so wide, so far, so thick, so all-encompassing! Even though You know we are only dust, with defective DNA, damaged goods!
You take us just as we are, but You don't leave us there. You do a supernatural work in us to re-mold us into the very image, the character, of Your Son. I don't understand this, either, but I see Your working in me and in others of Your children, in growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord.
O Father, continue to help all Your children; remind us to be in constant prayer, continual conversation with You, remembering all of our loved ones and friends and acquaintances and neighbors and others we may not even know personally.
Keep us always firmly in Your hand, constantly aware of Your closeness with us, and your power in us to do Your good and gracious will. Use us as Your hands and feet to promote and finance Your great Kingdom, Your Family Business, which we are learning how to manage for You when we graduate.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Lord God Almighty, King of the Universe, to the everlasting glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, November 30, 2019
So Easily Drawn Away!
Galatians 1: 6-9
I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel;
Paul is astounded and dismayed that these precious believers are already succumbing to other beliefs so contrary to the simple trust in Jesus, that it has drawn these Galatians completely away from our Lord Christ!
which is really not another;
This is really not good news, because it isn't good. It takes away the confidence they had in the Lord.
only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the Gospel of Christ.
There were Jews from Jerusalem who had come in and insisted that believing in what Christ has done for us wasn't enough, that we also have to do something to save ourselves, by following the Law of Moses.
This is very serious, because it denies that Jesus' death and resurrection is sufficient. It's so serious that it has actually pulled them away from Christ.
But even if we, or an Angel from Heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!
Paul is very strong here, declaring that even if he himself or even one of God's Angels is telling them anything different to dilute or pollute the original message he had originally preached to these people--the complete sufficiency of the Lamb of God's Sacrifice on our behalf, and his rising from the dead as proof that God the Father accepted His payment in full for our sins--then God's eternal curse is upon that person.
As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!
Paul is so strongly convinced of this, he repeats it, he calls down the curse of God on anyone who would contradict God's Truth in this basic, fundamental fact. Without this foundation, of Christ Himself having done all the work of our Salvation, we don't have the Christian faith at all, but something else. And anyone who says that anything else is needed is leading people away from God, and is therefore under God's curse!
Generally, Church history tells us that the Dark Ages came when the Christian church leaders had declared that they were the only ones God could teach His Truth to, and they brought in other ideas, like having to work for your own salvation, and led the people away from Christ.
That's why the Reformation happened, when people who were true Christians and educated to be able to read the Scriptures, realized what the official Church had done, and some of them wanted to bring it back to the simplicity of the Gospel. But the leaders refused to debate the issues, and simply threw them out of the church.
When these Christians taught others God's Truth from Scripture, then the Protestant denominations arose, and education spread from just the aristocratic and noble of the people to the common population, the Enlightenment happened.
(All this history is just a generalized overlook of the whole historical period.)
Paul is writing to the churches in the Galatia area, and was amazed at how soon they left the simplicity of the Truth. This shows us how easily the World and our enemy and our own sinful hearts can lead us astray, if we are not vigilant in maintaining our trust in Christ alone for our Salvation.
The history of the church all through the centuries since Pentecost has shown that the official Christian Church has undergone various iterations; but we can rest assured that God's true children have persisted throughout all of this Church Age, whether inside or outside the "official" (according to the World's history) church.
Even today, we must consider God's Word as He has given it to us in the Scriptures must take precedence over any "church doctrine." As far as I can see, it looks like all the "high churches" of the denominations have lost their way to some greater or lesser degree, so we must be very careful who we listen to, what church we need to attach ourselves to, and who we consider our counselors and teachers of God's Word.
I do not even trust myself, in sharing my musings here, to always be absolutely right in everything I say, as I am still living in my flesh and therefore susceptible to error. If any of my readers ever find that they can dispute any pronouncement I have made, I ask that you would be bold to comment and let me know where I have gone to the right or to the left of God's pure Truth, so I can investigate further.
My purpose in sharing here in every one of my blog entries is to help you, my reader, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, that we all, as God's children, would be strengthened and prepared to stand our ground on the Solid Rock when the storms of life and current history will rage against us.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will proclaim the Lordship and Kingship of Christ Jesus the Son, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel;
Paul is astounded and dismayed that these precious believers are already succumbing to other beliefs so contrary to the simple trust in Jesus, that it has drawn these Galatians completely away from our Lord Christ!
which is really not another;
This is really not good news, because it isn't good. It takes away the confidence they had in the Lord.
only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the Gospel of Christ.
There were Jews from Jerusalem who had come in and insisted that believing in what Christ has done for us wasn't enough, that we also have to do something to save ourselves, by following the Law of Moses.
This is very serious, because it denies that Jesus' death and resurrection is sufficient. It's so serious that it has actually pulled them away from Christ.
But even if we, or an Angel from Heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!
Paul is very strong here, declaring that even if he himself or even one of God's Angels is telling them anything different to dilute or pollute the original message he had originally preached to these people--the complete sufficiency of the Lamb of God's Sacrifice on our behalf, and his rising from the dead as proof that God the Father accepted His payment in full for our sins--then God's eternal curse is upon that person.
As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!
Paul is so strongly convinced of this, he repeats it, he calls down the curse of God on anyone who would contradict God's Truth in this basic, fundamental fact. Without this foundation, of Christ Himself having done all the work of our Salvation, we don't have the Christian faith at all, but something else. And anyone who says that anything else is needed is leading people away from God, and is therefore under God's curse!
Generally, Church history tells us that the Dark Ages came when the Christian church leaders had declared that they were the only ones God could teach His Truth to, and they brought in other ideas, like having to work for your own salvation, and led the people away from Christ.
That's why the Reformation happened, when people who were true Christians and educated to be able to read the Scriptures, realized what the official Church had done, and some of them wanted to bring it back to the simplicity of the Gospel. But the leaders refused to debate the issues, and simply threw them out of the church.
When these Christians taught others God's Truth from Scripture, then the Protestant denominations arose, and education spread from just the aristocratic and noble of the people to the common population, the Enlightenment happened.
(All this history is just a generalized overlook of the whole historical period.)
Paul is writing to the churches in the Galatia area, and was amazed at how soon they left the simplicity of the Truth. This shows us how easily the World and our enemy and our own sinful hearts can lead us astray, if we are not vigilant in maintaining our trust in Christ alone for our Salvation.
The history of the church all through the centuries since Pentecost has shown that the official Christian Church has undergone various iterations; but we can rest assured that God's true children have persisted throughout all of this Church Age, whether inside or outside the "official" (according to the World's history) church.
Even today, we must consider God's Word as He has given it to us in the Scriptures must take precedence over any "church doctrine." As far as I can see, it looks like all the "high churches" of the denominations have lost their way to some greater or lesser degree, so we must be very careful who we listen to, what church we need to attach ourselves to, and who we consider our counselors and teachers of God's Word.
I do not even trust myself, in sharing my musings here, to always be absolutely right in everything I say, as I am still living in my flesh and therefore susceptible to error. If any of my readers ever find that they can dispute any pronouncement I have made, I ask that you would be bold to comment and let me know where I have gone to the right or to the left of God's pure Truth, so I can investigate further.
My purpose in sharing here in every one of my blog entries is to help you, my reader, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, that we all, as God's children, would be strengthened and prepared to stand our ground on the Solid Rock when the storms of life and current history will rage against us.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will proclaim the Lordship and Kingship of Christ Jesus the Son, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Friday, November 29, 2019
The Constitution For Christianity
Galatians 1: 1-5
This letter to the Galatians is like the Constitution for Christianity. Our Founding Fathers in America gathered to amend the Articles of Confederation, to fix all the issues it had that made it unfit to undergird the new government, and everyone had a different idea, not one agreed with anyone else on anything.
So they decided to pray about it and meet in the morning. They did, and came out with a whole new document.
The only comparison I wish to make here is that God led our American Founding Fathers to draft the Constitution that brought this Nation into the greatest prosperity any Nation of the World had ever enjoyed.
And God is the One who called Paul and taught him and led him to found all these churches.
Some Jews came from Jerusalem and brought in the idea of following the Mosaic Law in order to be a Christian, and Paul wrote this Epistle to set the record straight.
Paul, an Apostle
An Apostle was a "founding father" of the Christian faith, to lay the foundation of Christ for succeeding generations to build on. Now that the foundation is laid, no more "founding fathers" are needed.
(not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead),
Paul was not sent from any human agency, but was called directly by Jesus Himself on the Damascus road, and taught directly by Him when he went to Arabia (see Vs. 11, 16-17).
and all the brethren who are with me,
He is saying that all the believers who are with him, in particular the teachers, agree with his stance on what constitutes true Christianity.
To the churches of Galatia:
There is more than one congregation here, Paul is writing to several churches he founded in this geographical area.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
Paul is already laying the groundwork for the arguments he will set out. Grace is the opposite of works, and peace comes from God, not what we do.
God had Paul write to these believers so that all of us, all the way down to today, would have the proper foundation to our faith; so as he refutes these Jerusalem legalizers, he is also refuting all the other wrong ideas that have come into the church through the whole time of this church age.
who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
Jesus gave His own life "for" us, and this word, hyper, denotes "substitution," as our Sacrificial Lamb of God He took our place individually in death, fulfilling the personal sacrifice of Leviticus 1, paying off our sin-debt for us.
This is to "rescue" or "deliver" us, exeletai, which denotes not a "deliverance from" but a "rescue out of" the power of evil and the values of this evil World-system around us through the power of the risen Christ in His Holy Spirit within each Christian. (We will one Day be delivered from the very presence of the evil, when He returns as King.)
This is all according to what God planned before He made anything.
to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.
Paul usually puts a doxology like this at the end of his letters, but he puts it here at the beginning to set the preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ and his work above any human criticism or praise.
O my Father, I pray that You would show us what You want us to know, how to lay the basis for our faith in You, and to have Your Truth undergirding everything we think, say, and do.
Help me, Father, as I read Your letter to me, to draw out of Your words the meanings and understanding that I will share with those who come here to read them. I pray for them, as they read, to consent with Your Word; and if I have misconstrued any point, that they would have the boldness to call me on it, so that I will be able to study further to extract the fullness of the extent of Your Truth that we need to apply today to our attitudes and lifestyles, to promote Your Kingdom.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
This letter to the Galatians is like the Constitution for Christianity. Our Founding Fathers in America gathered to amend the Articles of Confederation, to fix all the issues it had that made it unfit to undergird the new government, and everyone had a different idea, not one agreed with anyone else on anything.
So they decided to pray about it and meet in the morning. They did, and came out with a whole new document.
The only comparison I wish to make here is that God led our American Founding Fathers to draft the Constitution that brought this Nation into the greatest prosperity any Nation of the World had ever enjoyed.
And God is the One who called Paul and taught him and led him to found all these churches.
Some Jews came from Jerusalem and brought in the idea of following the Mosaic Law in order to be a Christian, and Paul wrote this Epistle to set the record straight.
Paul, an Apostle
An Apostle was a "founding father" of the Christian faith, to lay the foundation of Christ for succeeding generations to build on. Now that the foundation is laid, no more "founding fathers" are needed.
(not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead),
Paul was not sent from any human agency, but was called directly by Jesus Himself on the Damascus road, and taught directly by Him when he went to Arabia (see Vs. 11, 16-17).
and all the brethren who are with me,
He is saying that all the believers who are with him, in particular the teachers, agree with his stance on what constitutes true Christianity.
To the churches of Galatia:
There is more than one congregation here, Paul is writing to several churches he founded in this geographical area.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
Paul is already laying the groundwork for the arguments he will set out. Grace is the opposite of works, and peace comes from God, not what we do.
God had Paul write to these believers so that all of us, all the way down to today, would have the proper foundation to our faith; so as he refutes these Jerusalem legalizers, he is also refuting all the other wrong ideas that have come into the church through the whole time of this church age.
who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
Jesus gave His own life "for" us, and this word, hyper, denotes "substitution," as our Sacrificial Lamb of God He took our place individually in death, fulfilling the personal sacrifice of Leviticus 1, paying off our sin-debt for us.
This is to "rescue" or "deliver" us, exeletai, which denotes not a "deliverance from" but a "rescue out of" the power of evil and the values of this evil World-system around us through the power of the risen Christ in His Holy Spirit within each Christian. (We will one Day be delivered from the very presence of the evil, when He returns as King.)
This is all according to what God planned before He made anything.
to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.
Paul usually puts a doxology like this at the end of his letters, but he puts it here at the beginning to set the preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ and his work above any human criticism or praise.
O my Father, I pray that You would show us what You want us to know, how to lay the basis for our faith in You, and to have Your Truth undergirding everything we think, say, and do.
Help me, Father, as I read Your letter to me, to draw out of Your words the meanings and understanding that I will share with those who come here to read them. I pray for them, as they read, to consent with Your Word; and if I have misconstrued any point, that they would have the boldness to call me on it, so that I will be able to study further to extract the fullness of the extent of Your Truth that we need to apply today to our attitudes and lifestyles, to promote Your Kingdom.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
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