Thoughts From Galatians 2 - Part 4

  I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing  Gal. 2:20,21

         In Hunger Games, two teens were chosen from each district to battle to the death until only one remained who was the victor. These teens in effect died so their citizens wouldn't have to. Why this horrible judgement on the districts? There were a number of reasons but first and foremost was the fact that the districts started an insurrection against the Capitol and it was their yearly punishment and a warning that the Capitol had ultimate power over them.

       With art imitating reality, we have all rebelled against God. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Since the "penalty of sin is Death.", God chose a sinless representative from mankind to represent us and pay for our rebellion with His death - Jesus on the cross. He died so we wouldn't have to and stood as our representative. Because of His death, we get a brand-new start on life to not be in rebellion.

       What a vivid reminder yearly of the cost of rebellion. If we could be reminded of the cost of our sins, maybe we would flee from them. We recently visited our daughter's church and one thing they do that I like is celebrate communion weekly. This is probably the best reminder to us of the penalty of sin and cost of rebellion - to meditate on the bread which stands for His body, and the wine which stands for the shedding of His blood.

       What does communion represent. First of all, that his body was marred and He physically died. He died in our place as our substitution. Secondly, the blood represents two things; the forgiveness of sins, "Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins", and Lev. 17:17 says,"The life is in the blood". Just like Baptism is the going under symbolizing death and burial and the bread, so coming out of the water symbolizes new life, resurrection, and the wine. The Holy Spirit, because of the resurrection, comes inside and gives us new life. We are born again!

      As all analogies break down, the death of teens did not appease an angry Donald Sutherland, but the wrath of God was appeased once and for all. Hebrews says that the earthly priest had to go in every year, but Jesus, our new High Priest, only had to enter the temple offering His own blood - once. Let's flee from sin and no longer live to satisfy the flesh because that flesh has been nailed to the cross and died. Let's not dig it back up.

Thoughts From Galatians 2 - Part 3

 

11 When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?15 “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles 16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.17 “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.19 “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. Gal. 2:11-19

           My work partner for over 25 years, when he first came to town had a license plate that said GAL 5 1, which when I asked him, he said that he had just come out of the Adventist Church and felt free from all the rules and the verse also warns not do drift back. Over time he did drift back and posts pictures of him and his grandchildren weekly at Church on the Sabbath. I don't believe at all that he has apostatized because he is not trusting obeying the Sabbath or the writings and rules of Mary Ellen White to save him but rather faith in Jesus. He has just found a comfort level in going back to his roots. But, there are a great number of Adventists who do believe that worshipping on Saturday is necessary for salvation and if you worship on Sunday, you have taken the "mark of the beast."

          This is kind of the situation that Paul is describing here. Peter, who actually was given a vision that it was OK to eat unclean food and dine with Gentiles, is exercising that freedom from the law because he now realizes that the law was meant to show we are hopeless sinners and point us to Christ who fulfilled the Law on our behalf. However, when Jews arrive who are still stumbling over salvation by faith alone, Peter starts leaving his freedom and going back to his comfort zone rather than use it as an opportunity to disciple them in the truth of the Gospel.

      At this point it's necessary to distinguish this issue from a Romans 14 or 1 Corinthians 8 issue. This doesn't just deal with matters of conscience; this issue is at the core of the gospel. Remember that all the religions of the world except Christianity teach that you get to Heaven by your works and that is not good news. So, when Peter was once again reverting back to dietary laws, cleanliness laws, and circumcision, even though in his heart he knew salvation by faith was right and hadn't himself apostatized, he was by his actions encouraging others to obey the Law for salvation and to not accept the Gentiles because they weren't obeying the Law.

        My wife and I recently read a note penned by one of the grandchildren that he wrote in school. He told about his grandparents who always taught him about Jesus and even made-up stories that taught him right from wrong. Yesterday, in front of the class, he shared his Christmas traditions, which were at our house, of reading the Bible account from Luke 2 and hiding Jesus out of the Nativity scene and whoever found Him gets to open the first present. Our response to this was - "we can't get lazy." It's easy to get lazy and just hang out and I'm sure to a certain degree, Peter was just getting lazy. Let's just have a traditional Kosher meal like the old times and not confront them with the truth. Unfortunately, if Peter got lazy, who would save them from the error of their ways? And not only that but Barnabas was falling back into obeying the Law because he followed Peter's example.

         Sometimes it's nice to just hang out with unbelievers and just have fun and leave them be. Unfortunately, eternal life of their souls is at stake, and this world isn't a playground but a battlefield and we aren't guaranteed another day, and neither are they. Let's not get lazy but continue to point people to the good news.

Thoughts From Galatians 2 - Part 2

 All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along. Gal. 2:10

           I just read where Trump is selling a "fast-pass" for citizenship to the United States for $5 million. This would insure that the United States gets the "best" of the immigrants while in the meantime ICE continues to arrest and chase out the poor illegal aliens. I sat at a medical staff meeting while the CEO of the hospital brainstormed about what strategies could be put in place to get the "best" patients to come to our hospital and not drive to Knoxville. When I asked what he meant by "best" he said patients that have insurance not Medicaid (the poor).

         I once heard that the definition of being poor was a person with very limited options. For example, if I had a bad tooth, I could go to the dentist or the orthodontic surgeon and get a root canal. If it was really bad, I could have it pulled and get an implant. A poor person might go to the health department on the one day a month a retired oral surgeon donates his time, wait all day, and get his tooth pulled and get a handful of ibuprofen.

         Our sinful nature which is patting us on the backs for achieving the success we have in life so we are the "best", is also telling ourselves that the poor had the same opportunities that we did but just were self-indulgent, lazy, and are now reaping what they deserved. Not to go into depth on that thought because chances are the playing fields weren't equal, but on a deeper level doesn't that go against the whole thrust of the Gospel. What is the Gospel? It is good news that people who didn't deserve anything except judgement could receive grace and mercy and become God's children by a free gift. It leaves out the whole concept of "better" and says we are all poor. It says that no amount of self-effort can attain the status but only a humble admission that we are all equal at the foot of the cross.

          This is why the gospel is so readily grasped and accepted when we go on mission trips to the third world countries. They intuitively "get it" whereas in affluent countries it's counter intuitive. It's Christmas time and I am once again bombarded by the truth that Jesus came to a poor family, was born in a stable, was proclaimed by outcast shepherds, spent his ministry years looking for daily housing, didn't know where his next meal would come from, and the people that accepted His teaching, with a few exceptions, were the poor.

         In this culture where we are being indoctrinated that there are "better" and "worse" people, let's not let that mindset creep into the Church. Of all the things that the leaders of the Church could have told Paul not to forget - their parting words were "don't forget the poor" and we must not either.

Thoughts From Galatians 2 - Part 1

 Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. 2 I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain. 3 Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. 4 This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. 5 We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.6 As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—they added nothing to my message. 7 On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised. 8 For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles. 9 James, Cephas and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised.

               "But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.  As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things"  1 John 2:20,27

Those words were penned by John in his first epistle and to me they mean, when we get saved and have the Holy Spirit inside us, He guides us in discovering truth from the Bible. The problem is, since we still have a fallen brain and sin nature, sometimes our interpretation of the Bible can be wrong. That's why it is still important to check what you are learning with orthodoxy because new truths learned by you after 2000 years of the Church also studying scripture and not discovering what you discovered, probably means that your interpretation is wrong. My Dad used to say, be careful of anyone giving new truths or knowledge. Andy Stanley came out with a series ,"The N Commandments", which were the New Commandments by Christ, and I shared my Dad's warning with him as a message and he responded, "Be a student, not a critic." Haha. At least I got a response, but I do believe that this is a danger when you are individually not connected with other learners or as a church, not under the oversight of a denomination. There was a non-denominational church we used to visit in Knoxville and when the Pastor's daughter got cancer, the church turned into a Charismatic church focusing on healing.

            Paul has studied alone for over a dozen years, yet hearing from God, and his ministry was so countercultural or non-mainstream, that he had to go to Jerusalem to run it by those who spent three years immersed in the face-to-face teachings of Christ. Paul was teaching that gentiles could be saved by faith alone and not doing the Old Testament acts like sacrifices, feasts, and circumcisions and frankly not going to the temple and observing the Sabbath. Paul did not get it wrong, in fact Peter through his encounter with Cornelius had paved the way for this meeting with Paul and they encouraged him that his teaching was "on point."

            It's good to have an old Christian as a mentor. I remember reading the biography of Keith Green, No Compromise, and Keith was always getting radical words from the Lord in his Bible study and quiet times and sometimes they were a little "out there." Fortunately, he had a mentor in Leonard Ravenhill who would speak truth into his life and attempt to correct error. I say "attempt" because Keith could be kind of hardheaded. I look at the young Christian teachers and artists out there today who get quite a large audience due to social media, and I hope that they have an old mentor who they can run their "words from God" through. If Paul didn't trust his hearing from God, how much less should we.

Thoughts From Galatians 1 - Part 4

  Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. 20 I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie.21 Then I went to Syria and Cilicia. 22 I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they praised God because of me.   Gal. 1:18-24

       Has your encounter with Christ changed your life or was it just a part of your life's story like graduating High School? Paul encountered Christ on the road to Damascus and it was the turning point of his life.

      First, the people he hung out with changed. We see him here meeting James, the brother of Jesus and the leader of the fledgling Church. We also see him meeting Peter, the lead disciple. All his old friends wanted to kill him! I highly doubt that when you got saved all your friends wanted to kill you, but try as you might, chances are that they hung out with you less and less because as Peter would say in 1Peter 4;

"you do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. 3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4 They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you."

My guess is that if your friends didn't change after coming to Christ, you never really "came".

        Second, his residence changed. Does that mean we need to move when we find Christ? Not necessarily but maybe? Maybe you will want to go to a Christian school or University if God is telling you to. When you get saved you go where He tells you to go. You may need to move out if you are living together. You may have roommates that you shouldn't live with anymore. Your career path may change to a field that you feel glorifies God instead of a self-serving one which might require a move. The writer of Hebrews describes our "putting down roots" in this way in chapter 11;

" By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."

Paul lived as a nomad. He had no home except Heaven. That was where he had put down roots. If you feel like Earth is your home you probably didn't really encounter Christ.

          Lastly, people knew he was a Christian. Do people know you are a Christian or are you undercover? Maybe you see yourself as a Secret Agent Christian. You are a "mole" in the world. If so, it's time to "come out". Your social media, house, car, office, countenance - everything people see should scream "I'm a follower of Jesus." Everyone knew Paul had changed. Do they know you've changed. If not, you probably haven't. Paul said in Romans 1;

 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile."

              Has your friend group changed? Has your citizenship changed? Has your identity changed? Everything changes if you are truly born again because you are a new creation. Old things have passed away- the new has come! (2Cor.5:17)

Thoughts From Galatians 1 - Part 3

  I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. 17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.    Gal. 1:11-17

                When I picture God talking with a person, I think of Moses going to the tent, a cloud would come over the tent, Moses would meet with God for hours and then Moses would come out with a glowing face. Those were probably the times when God would give him instructions on leading the people, insight into dealing with problems, but also the words to the first 5 books of the Bible. Think about it; how could anyone tell the creation account when no one except God was there unless the creator told someone (Moses) how it happened.

             I tend to forget that for 3 years in the Arabian desert, Paul got some direct interaction with Jesus giving him insight that he would need for his future ministry to the Gentiles along with how the Old Testament pointed to and was fulfilled by Christ, the Messiah. Paul pens insights and doctrines into his epistles that we can only get from him, so we have to assume, during his 3 years, God answered Paul's questions so much clearer than His recorded answers to the other disciples' questions. I have to believe it is because now Paul had the indwelling Holy Spirit opening his mind to the truth. We see the disciples, in their last recorded interaction with the risen Jesus in Acts 1, asking Jesus when He was going to deliver them from the Romans. They still didn't get it. Jesus' response was kind of funny. He basically says, stay in Jerusalem and don't talk to anyone until the Holy Spirit comes. Paul, now filled with the Holy Spirit could actually ask questions and get answers.

          When you read 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, you see that Paul has insights into the second coming, rapture, antichrist that he couldn't have gotten anywhere except from direct revelation.  Paul explains Justification by faith especially in Romans and Galatians in a way that the Jews had totally missed. In Ephesians and 1 Corinthians he discusses the Church as the body and bride of Christ and also lays out the concept of spiritual gifts which must have been revealed to him. The whole concept of being indwelt by the Holy Spirit was talked about in John but Paul unpacked it in his epistles which must have been explained to him divinely. The qualifications of deacons and elders and roles of women in the Church sounds a little like Jethro instructing Moses on how to lead the people. Lastly, the whole inclusion of Gentiles and the limited duration of the Church age with the Jews then coming back to God had to be divinely revealed to Paul.

        Some skeptics like to discount Paul's writings and say that they are just filled with his opinions. Some theologians say that they are inspired but take the "Red Letters" of Jesus in higher regard. My thought is that God talked "face to face" with Paul like He did with Moses so treat Paul's words with the utmost respect that we give Moses'. Will God talk to you the same way He talked to these 2 if you are committed and desirous enough? My thought is no. Why? Because the Bible is written and everything we need to know is in there. However, God will speak to you through His word "face to face" anytime you call on His name, come into His presence and sincerely desire to hear from Him. How badly do you want it?

Thoughts From Galatians 1 - Part 2

 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. Gal. 1:10

           I'm always amazed on Twitter or X, that someone will make a post and get thousands of "likes". I'm thrilled when I get one like, only to find it to be a bot of a sexy woman who is probably a male scammer trying to catfish me. Paul would not be going for "likes" if he was around today. He was out to tell the Truth of the Gospel, and if people didn't like it, that didn't matter because God did and that's the only "like" he cared about.

Blessed are you when people hate you,
    when they exclude you and insult you
    and reject your name as evil,
        because of the Son of Man.

Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,

 for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets. Luke 6:22,26

What was Jesus saying here in Luke? He was saying that if you follow Jesus, believe the Bible, share the gospel, call out evil when necessary - you may get more "dislikes" than "likes." Our goal shouldn't be that everyone likes us. That doesn't mean that our goal should be for people to dislike us. For me, at my newish "job", I'm amazed how much people like me and that thrills me. One of my goals is to show people that Christians can be likeable in this day of us vs. them that politics, Covid, and whatever else has divided us. But if they like me, it can't be because I have hidden my faith or compromised the truth to get along or be liked.

I've got to say that at this point, I've shared the gospel a lot and still am liked. I wonder if I have presented it in a way that doesn't say, it's one or the other but rather, "here's what I believe, what do you believe?", almost in a way that's "Here's my truth, what's yours?" It's certainly something to be considered because one thing Jesus never promised is that everyone will like me.

Paul was chased out of every town he went to and eventually killed for his faith. When he would leave town, he would be "bad mouthed" and slandered by false teachers. Yet he never backed down or watered down the gospel and when he entered eternity, I imagine the first person he saw was Jesus saying "Well done my good and faithful servant. Enter the kingdom I've prepared for you." That would have been the only "like" he needed.