Is the Great White Throne only a death sentence?

Posted on 12/30/2017 by remso

My father recently went to the hospital for brain surgery; fortunately, it was successful, and he will regain, in time, motor skills that the tumor had taken from him. We went to visit him after the surgery while he was still in intensive care. Though groggy from the anesthesia and morphine they were giving him for pain, and still he had the awareness to fire off a statement/question at me about the end of time, specifically, the Great White Throne. He said something that is a common belief among those at the Monday morning Bible Study. He opened with, “I know you don’t agree with me, but, I believe that everyone who presents themselves before that throne is non-Christians and that they are all sent to the fires of hell.” Considering what he had just come through, it was good to have him back.

I, however, after reading my Bible, have concluded, that my understanding is in complete opposition to theirs. And, I believe I can prove my point through some logical reasoning amidst scriptural backing. With that being said, let’s tackle this false notion about the Great White Throne judgment from several directions.

First, he used the term belief.

So, what is a belief? Webster’s dictionary conveys a generalized explanation of belief that has more to do with a feeling; however, it also has more concise definitions, which I will address shortly.

Feelings do not buy you anything, and our relationship with Christ and the Father, are through faith alone.

Feelings are solely yours, and, though your beliefs may be based on truth, they are most often anchored upon how someone made you feel. In this case, the Bible study leader either, made the men feel good about sending everyone to hell, or, because he raises his voice unnecessarily and slams his hand down on the table he intimidated the men into thinking he was correct in his assumptions, or, they have become inculcated simply because of the repetition of his false teachings.

What I just described is precisely what false teachers do, and you can find this defined for you in 2 Peter chapter 2.

Continuing with Webster’s definitions. A belief is:

  1. A state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing.

    There it is, the basis for the belief of many. Since many Church members won’t open their Bibles and read them for themselves, they are compelled to accept, as truth, anything the Pastor, or, in this case, Bible study leader, tells them. In doing so, they have placed their belief in a person, trusting that the teacher has their information correct, and their best interests at heart.

  2. Something believed; especially: a tenet or body of tenets held by a group.

    Sadly, most of the men at morning Bible Study, agree, (almost with a stupor,) with the convictions of the leader and the former elder, who is allegedly keeping false teachings restrained. Since the old elder rarely ever disagrees with what is being said, then he too must believe this garbage. So, what do I gather from this? That the group, in the majority, hold to false beliefs and refuse to accept the truth from the Word, when it is set out before them.

  3. Conviction of the truth of some statement or the reality of some being or phenomenon especially when based on examination of evidence.

    To have a conviction of the truth of some declaration does not work for me, especially in our morning Bible study. The leader can speak with confidence, and yet because he does not apply the notion of context nor allow for similar passages to help define questionable matter, he rarely has a shred of evidence to back his statements. The men sitting there may feel some sort of conviction of the truth (typically some misplaced sense of justice.) But again, he has no evidence for his brash statements.

I won’t burden you with any more examples, but suffice it to say that most of these men fall under all these categories in some way. Sadly, this is the way far too many people acquire their belief systems. Once it became possible for me to attend on a regular basis, I did, and it is because of that involvement, that I can speak from first-hand experience about what is said there.

The leader(s) declare that everyone going before the Great White Throne is sent to hell. Note that I wrote leader(s) and not the leader. That is because one man, (the former church elder,) has been involved with the church in a teaching role, for over 50 years, and never challenges false teachings.

What is their basis for thinking that God would send all before the Great White Throne, to hell?
I can tell you from experience that this comes uniquely from Revelation chapter 20. So, what do we see in this chapter?

Revelation 20:11-15 NASB 11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Verse 11 refers to “Him who sat upon it” (“it,”is the Great White Throne.)

So, who is the Him being referred to? Since we have conclusive evidence, let’s look at that.

Revelation 1:1 tells us that the entire book of Revelation is The Revelation of Jesus Christ,

The whole book of Revelation is about Jesus, even if we perceive Him to be God, for that is who He is. So, the person sitting on the throne, doing the judging, is Jesus Christ.

In Revelation 20:12 we are told that John saw, “the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne.” As a student of scripture, you have seen the dead popping up at every turn. It becomes necessary to sort this all out, and we will attempt to do that.

Revelation 20:4-5 NASB Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.

All this takes us to the next point.

While God’s wrath will be more than enough to get people’s attention, there will be a secondary reason for the deaths of people on the earth, and that would be the wrath of Satan, as displayed through those who still choose to serve him. Currently, Islam and your neighborhood bully sufficiently fit those descriptions. Revelation 20:4 portrays an innumerable amount of people, who stand their ground, refuse all three aspects of worshiping the beast, and are beheaded because of their refusal. All these components feed into the dead.

But there is one catch. All those beheaded for their testimony, are deemed to be the martyred, saints and are raised to life again upon the return of Jesus to the earth, this is spelled out for us and called the first resurrection. These martyred saints are not reckoned among the numbers brought before the Great White Throne but sit in judgment over the planet during the thousand-year reign.

So, who then is left to be judged when the Great White Throne gets set up?

There is no good way of approaching this without scripture, so here goes. There has already been a game-changing event, and it happened when Jesus voluntarily put himself on that cross and died as the price necessary for the redemption of the entire world. Paul, in Ephesians 4, gives us a small glimpse into what happened during those three days we “thought” Jesus was dead.

Ephesians 4:8 KJV Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

What does Paul mean when he says, “When he ascended up on high.”? He is talking about Jesus dying. Hung on the cross until dead, and then speared by a Roman soldier to make sure, he was declared dead and put in the grave. Then the amazing happened, for He went into hell, stripped the keys to death, hell and the grave from Satan, set the captives free, and apparently took them into heaven with Him when He rose from the dead.

Captives? I can look at this two ways:

First, no one, including Israel, received Jesus as their savior, as we can. Israel only had the option of making sacrifices for their sins. Lacking this personal relationship, is it possible that these old testament saints may have been included among captives? Most religious zealots would consider this idea preposterous, so let’s ignore that feasibility for a moment, and assume that God somehow included the Old Testament saints among the church, and caught them up in the rapture.

If the possibility of catching the Old Testament saints up in the rapture is valid, then they would not have been included among those captives that Christ set free. The captives then were those that died from the beginning of time, as we know it. But then this logic also creates problems, for Christ, as we saw in Ephesians 4:8, preached to the captives. If the old testament saints, and anyone else there were capable of hearing His voice, you would think that they would have accepted Him as the Messiah, and therefore received Him. So, by this logic, they too would no longer be included among the dead, but be in heaven already.

As you ponder the logic of a situation, what do you do with the person who, when confronted by the slain Messiah, God himself who now lives, and yet still chooses to ignore His voice, perhaps thinking that there will be another opportunity? This is unimaginable, and yet a possibility. And, what of Judas Iscariot, a man who most send off to a fiery hell for his betrayal. Wouldn’t he too have heard the voice of the Messiah?

This only leaves us with the second option, and that is the dead who have died out of a relationship with the Father since His resurrection. Since we have had over two-thousand years to supply that number, it could be quite significant.

So, an aspect of this belief that everyone called to the throne of judgment is sent to a fiery hell lies in the terminology “dead.”

In 1Thessalonians 4:13, Paul, in trying to bring some comfort about the dead and our being caught up to heaven, explains by calling those that have died, asleep.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 NASB 13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.

Just to make sure that you associate asleep with death Paul uses the Greek word nekros for dead instead of koimáō meaning asleep. It is just a few sentences later, in verse 16, that he conveys that those are the “asleep in Christ” he just spoke of, are simply dead. Dead or asleep, it is all the same, and at the catching away of the Church, those “dead” will rise first.

1 Thessalonians 4:16 NASB 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

Revelation 20:5 Tells us,

The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed.

The word dead, used here in Revelation 20:5 is nekros. The Prophet Daniel conveys an alternate view,

Daniel 12:1-2 NASB “Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. 2 “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.

Sleep, as used in verse 2, is the Hebrew word yāšēn: An adjective designating someone as sleeping. It refers to persons in a sleeping state or condition of seemingly sleeping, being inactive. When I apply this understanding to Daniel 12:2, where many are sleeping in the dust of the ground, then it lends itself to the idea of involuntary inactivity.

In a state of inactivity, the dead, we are told, have no thought.

Ecclesiastes 9:5 CJB For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing;…

Psalms 6:5 NASB For there is no mention of You in death;…

Whether they be dead from the origin of time, or merely those since Christ’s ascension into heaven, does it really matter? Many will not go up in the rapture as those who have died in Christ. Therefore, our immediate assumption would be that they will only go to hell. Others will come later, in the form of those who choose to fight against God at the end of the seven-year period. While more will die during the thousand-year reign, there is the uncountable number of deceived, who attempt to kill Christ in the last battle at the end of the thousand-year reign. Once again, the assumption is that they all go straight to hell, as those who have died without Christ. But then you now have another problem as Matthew 25 verses 31-46 describe an entirely different scenario; one in which, Christ, seems like a gracious shepherd who still cares about the flock, and judges the crowd,  gathered here, the nations. While we don’t have the process explained to us, He is showing mercy to some because of their small acts of kindness. In a sense, those He calls sheep have acted as Jesus would have, and in so doing, displayed the nature and character of the Father, God. A benefit, we the religious community apparently cannot give them, because they did not jump through all the religious hoops that most of us have. In acting this way, we have set ourselves up as harsh judges, in opposition to the Father’s wishes and character, which we are supposed to display.

A contrast and comparison between the Great White Throne of Revelation 20 (the judgment of the dead,) and the Final Judgment of Matthew 25, (the Judgment of the Nations.)

Revelation 20 – The Great White Throne – The gathering of the dead.

Matthew 25 – The Glorious Throne – The judgment of the nations.

Great White Throne – Great is the Greek word mega meaning large, or physical magnitude. White means white, and Throne is the Greek word thrónos; A seat, usually high and having a footstool, a throne as the emblem of royal authority.

Glorious Throne – Greek, the word is doxa; glory (as very apparent), in a wide application (literally or figuratively, objectively or subjectively): – dignity, glory (-ious), honour, praise, worship.

Revelation 20:12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne.

Since we have learned that the dead are merely asleep and know nothing, that does not exclude them from the nations. The nations are merely those outside of a relationship with God. John, in Revelation 20, unlike the strictly Jewish crowd that Jesus was speaking to, John was writing to Jewish believers. We now have a third people group to consider, the church. Anyone out of the original two groups who accepts Christ into their life moves into the group called the Church. Setting aside such prejudices continued to be difficult for the early church, which for many years was a Jewish one.

Matthew 25:32 “All the nations will be gathered before Him

The understanding we apply to Matthew 25 comes from the idea that Jesus was speaking to a strictly Jewish audience. His audience only concerned itself with two people groups, the Jews, and the nations, for at this time there was no church. Since the Jew deemed those among the nations to be idolaters, those from the nations were utterly lost as far they were concerned. The Law and the prophets considered the dead as knowing nothing, while the righteous were understood to have a reward. So, for Jesus to describe the nations before this throne was a given. And the Jews saw no difference between a live gentile and a dead one.

In Revelation 20, although it appears to be God, it is Jesus. Revelation 1:1 tells us that the entire book is a revealing of Jesus. Therefore it is Jesus on that throne.

In Matthew 25 the judge is presented a gentle shepherd. In John 10:11 Jesus said, I am the good shepherd. Do we believe that? Many do not, and anxiously look for an ominous, wrath-filled God, which they seem to find in Revelation 20, as they choose to ignore that this is Jesus alone.

In Revelation 20 we see books opened. Among those books is the book of life. From all these books the dead were judged.

In Matthew 25 there is no mention of books from which to judge. There is, however, this: Matthew 25:32 “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. What does he use as the basis for separation? I think it is rather apparent even if the passages do not speak of them. These are not indistinguishable cattle, they are people; people of every race and color. In reality, no real distinction, and yet He, finds a difference and separates them, calling some sheep and the others goats.

People from this group were judged according to their deeds, nothing more.

People from this group were judged according to their deeds, nothing more.

Revelation 20 focuses on those not found in the books

Matthew 25 focuses primarily on those who were found in the books. We know this because their deeds were recorded.

In Revelation 20, those not found in the books were sent to a fiery hell. While it makes no mention of anyone that might have been found in the books. Does that lack of mention exclude some from not being found in the books, like we see in Matthew’s account? No, and it points out the preposterous attitude we convey when we speak of a God that opens such “useless” books, if He, the one who knows the beginning from the end, knows full well whose names are written and where. It merely promotes the idea of a mockery on God’s part, and that is not an aspect of His nature.

In Matthew 25, the sheep were given entrance into the kingdom of heaven because of their acts of kindness (works.) While the goats were sent off to eternal punishment.

Something to consider: Both of these groups were judged according to their deeds (we could probably use the words, works, or acts of kindness, instead of deeds.) And, there is entirely NO mention of judgment for sins. Why would that be? Because all sins were forgiven on the cross; and, as much as we might say it from a pulpit, we do not believe it. I know this because we employ the word sin perpetually in religious gatherings, and the terminology is always used as a motive and method of control. Not even God needed to do that. Whether you believe that these two events are the same matters not to me, but what does matter is our flagrant regurgitation of distorted and false teachings that misrepresent the nature and character of God. This is the garbage drives people away from the one thing our hope is based in, the God of grace and mercy. If we are going to make nervy statements, then keep them based in truth. And by the way, the only basis we have for truth is the Word of God, not what you feel or believe simply because your companions believe someone’s garbage.

Posted in Apostle Paul, bible study, Daniel, End times, false teaching, gentiles, God's character, grace, Jews, judgment, Matthew's gospel, Millennium, Revelation, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

An extremely ludicrous example. Gal 2:19-21

Posted on 12/26/2017 by remso

Although I might have used other translations as I wrote about Paul’s transition out of legalism into the grace of God we find in Christ; the CJB seems to convey what I perceive Paul is saying, the best.

Galatians 2:18-19 CJB Indeed, if I build up again the legalistic bondage which I destroyed, I really do make myself a transgressor. 19 For it was through letting the Torah speak for itself that I died to its traditional legalistic misinterpretation, so that I might live in direct relationship with God.

Operating as Saul the Pharisee, he enforced the legalistic bondage. Although the transition to freedom in Christ began while he was stilled called Saul, his references to the time in which he started destroying the legalistic bondage, started about three years after his conversion to being a follower of the Way, on the road to Damascus.

The idea that he could or would make himself a transgressor by teaching legalism once again is an intentionally ludicrous example; one which would never happen.

Previously I wrote about Paul’s statement, “For it was through letting the Torah (Mosaic law) speak for itself that I died to its traditional legalistic misinterpretation.” While this may sound appropriate to me, it might not seem right to you, because it is foreign to your ear. The NASB translates the same sentence like this.

Galatians 2:19 NASB “For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.

Allow me to point out the obvious. There is a huge and drastic difference between the two translations. I am assuming that, as a student of the Bible, you would, of course, want to dig enough to find out what the original Greek is, for the phrase “legalistic misinterpretation.” Here is where our problem lies; there is no direct wording for the phrase “legalistic misinterpretation.”

If I show you the NASB with the Strong’s numbers, perhaps you will understand better.

Galatians 2:19 NASB+ “For throughG1223 N1the LawG3551 I R1diedG599 to N1the LawG3551, soG2443 that I might liveG2198 to GodG2316.

  • “For through” – The word “for” is presumed, however, it makes grammatical sense; but, it is not included in the Greek. The word through, on-the-other-hand, is a straightforward word in the Greek meaning “through, on account of, or because of.”

  • “the Law” – Strong’s gives us this: nomos; from nemō (to parcel out); that which is assigned, hence usage, law.

    So, what was assigned to Israel? You have to think back to Moses receiving the law (the ten commandments) on Mount Moriah. When you read through Exodus and Leviticus, you find it was not just ten simple commandments, but somewhat detailed laws about cleanliness and sacrifices for sins.

    Why would God need these people to hold fast to rules? Because they had been, with few exceptions, entirely assimilated into Egypt’s idolatrous ways and culture. Proof of this shows up when Moses descends from the mountain with the tablets, and Joshua says to him, it sounds like war. Have you ever thought to yourself, what does a battle sound like? It sounds like screaming, horn blowing, crying, and perhaps, dancing; all of these things may well be what they were doing. In the New Testament, it was Stephen, that gives us, and the Jewish council before him, a history lesson as he describes the idolatrous images they had made.

    Sadly, one of those “images” was Moloch, half man – half bull, that was hollow so that fire could be placed inside of it. With the upright hands of a man, babies were roasted on it to some Egyptian god. And, Aaron, the brother of Moses, made this ghastly thing for the children of Israel.

  • “I died” apothnēskō to die off (literally or figuratively): The NASB with Strong’s numbers, has an added dimension, as it references three scriptures indicated by R1. (I R1diedG599)

    Saul, on the road to Damascus, died that day. How is that possible? Having read the story myself, I know that he became blind and had to have someone lead him to the home of Ananias. Ananias prayed with Saul; baptized him; taught him a little, and introduced him to other followers of Christ.

    Nowhere in this process did Saul quit breathing. So, the act of dying has to take on another role in our life, one which we cannot immediately see.

    Romans 6:2 NASB May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?

    I am not clear how this applies to the theme, however, there the concept of dying to sin, something which we, as believers, have done.

    Ponder this. The statement conveys that in Christ, we have died to sin. And yet, we are highly capable of rolling around in this “sin.” How does that work?

    Romans 7:4 NASB Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.

    1 Corinthians 9:20 NASB 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law;

    Consider what verse 20 is saying. To the Jews, I became as a Jew. Since Paul was born to Jews – Pharisees, his becoming a Jew was not a question. I would imagine it was more of demand and an aspect of his heritage. However, he is telling us that he enacted these roles with one purpose, to win those who are under the Law. That goal, it seems, was to win those under the Law. Time for some questions:

    – Wasn’t Saul initially under the Law?

    – Who won him over, freeing him from that Law, and how did that happen?

    – Seeing as Paul verbally accosted Peter for his hypocrisy, why does it seem that Paul is now doing the same?

    – Considering how dramatic God was with Saul on the road to Damascus, what would it take to win over the Jew, one under the Law?

  • “the Law” – Here it is again, and nothing has changed. Strong’s gives us this: nomos; from nemō (to parcel out); that which is assigned, hence usage, law.

  • “so that I might live to God.”

    “so” is merely a conjunction.

    “that I might live,” Live is the Greek word, zao meaning to spend one’s existence. The additional words are merely presumed.

    “to God.” God – Theós; Originally used by the heathen, but in the NT as the name of the true God. The heathen thought the gods were makers and disposers (thetḗres, placers) of all things. [Word Study Dictionary]

    Strong’s concordance merely tells us that theos means of uncertain affinity; simply, a diety.

I like to plug in the other possible words and see what it looks like, so here goes.

Galatians 2:19 in its original condition – “For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.”

And here it is rewritten – On account of that which is assigned, the Law. I have had to die off, in a sense, to the law – that thing which I used and it used me. This dying off all happened so that I might spend my existence living a life before the maker of the universe instead of living because of rules.

Eugene Peterson’s message conveys the same verse in this manner,

Galatians 2:19 MSG What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man.

Moving on slowly, let’s look at verse 20.

Galatians 2:20 NASB “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

In contrast, the Message states,

Galatians 2:20 MSG Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

How simple Eugene Peterson’s version makes this whole idea of being crucified with Christ seem, and it is; what makes life in Christ difficult is that the enemy is continually attacking through the primary point of entry, your thoughts.

If you, like Paul, chose to step away from religious legalism, then you can anticipate family attacking you. In some communities, you are disowned or treated as dead. What if your choice to follow the grace and life found in Christ, causes you to suffer verbal abuse at work and you lose your job or social position in life over your commitment?

Peterson’s version emphasizes, “My ego is no longer central.” Is that because somehow, in this process of becoming a follower of Jesus Christ, you understood that you were now placing your life in the hands of God, and taking on a new identity, His identity? With our standard pleas for salvation, most of which include an escape plan from hell’s flames, there is little talk of this crucifixion of self, and the taking on of a new identity. I do not think most of us understand this process at all. If you can’t accept that statement, go to a recovery group and listen, as people will verbalize their struggle to figure out who they are. Most still identify with that aspect of their person, that lived on the streets; or, they had a high paying job and could afford a constant stream of drugs and alcohol. Their minds, which have yet to be changed, still think there is nothing more than the quietly tortured life they led.

Don’t think for a second that Paul did not understand this concept, for most Pharisees were married. Ask yourself, do you see much in the way of details about Paul’s life, before the Damascus event? Not unless he tells us. It is possible that the impact Jesus had on him, and the trauma associated with Paul’s expulsion from the Jewish, Law bound, religious council, may have played a role in Paul’s rarely speaking of his past? Maybe. Lacking definitive documentation we have to go on presumption and what others have written about the Jewish social life.

Presumption itself is not that bad, especially when it makes sense and somehow associates itself tightly with God’s design and plans. In our case, His plan of action was to redeem the world, and He prearranged to do it through His own Son, Jesus. Well, that happened, and the only demand placed upon us was to accept His mercy and grace, by recognizing that Jesus, the Son, is the Messiah. The Jewish community calls Jesus the Gentile Jesus, and will have nothing to do with him; however, the day will come when the blinding veil will be lifted, and Jew and Gentile will be able to see. The problem with that is that it happens immediately after the catching away of the Church, during the seven-year period that far too many like to call the Tribulation period. This period I speak of is the time of God’s wrath being poured out on the earth, the Jews, and the nations (Gentiles.)

In church, I find a multitude of opinions, false teaching, and an exhausting lack of grace and mercy. The general theme of the messages has more to do with works than anything else. These “works,” it seems, are done to maintain your standing in God’s grace, or, they are some presumed requirement that proves you are a follower of Christ. Is this what Paul was trying to get across to us? Hardly. Eugene Peterson explains it like this:

“It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God.”

Why would Paul have this kind of determined purpose and freedom? Because he knew without a doubt that Christ lived in him.

What was the consistent pattern that we see, as Paul came into villages and looked for their synagogue? Almost immediately he began to inform them, from the Law, about, not only the Messiah who lives, but the grace found in Him.

Let’s finish chapter two by continuing with the Message version.

Galatians 2:21 MSG I am not going to go back on that. Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.

Paul says, “I am not going to go back on that.” People make statements like this right after making some definitive assertion about what they believe, or, what they will do, primarily with their life. If you look at verse 20 and compare translations, the life statements are there. A change had come, and it has allowed me to bring change to others; what did that, was the obtaining of Christ’s life inside himself and taking on that identity; it is this knowledge that seems to motivate Paul’s statement, “I am not going to go back on that.”

I am going, to be honest with you. I have moments when I find myself asking, is this heaven thing is for real, because if it is not, and I am merely trying to find some way through this land of the walking dead, then I won’t play by the restraints of decency (scripture calls these restraints of decency, the perfect law of liberty, and it includes loving people.) I think Paul may well have had these moments; but then, there was that vision, or let’s just call it an event, Paul had on the road to Damascus, the one where he saw Jesus. That extraordinary vision changed him and how he looked at the things he had learned from the Law, and about God.

The voice in my head that confronts the decency in me (perhaps that is an inferior way of saying that there is someone out there, called Satan,) incessantly tries to persuade me that I am wasting my time and that none of this is real. It also says, “beside that, there is no hope of an eternal life with the Father, and you will merely become worm fodder when you die.” In moments like this, I cherish the words found in a worship song we used to sing a couple of years ago, which says, I remind myself of all that He’s done, and the life I live, I live in the Son.

I mentioned this song and how it had integrated its way into my life, to someone close to me. Surprisingly, they became adversarial and asked why I would feel that way since I have Jesus in my life. If I, for whatever reason, am being attacked with doubts, does that mean I do not have a firm grasp on what God has done for me and why? Not at all, but ignoring that we have an enemy certainly does not make your life better; it just makes you ignorant. Jesus told us that in this life we would have tribulations. If those trials come in the form of haranguing doubts, they still have to be dealt with, and not through the Law.

As Eugene Peterson’s Message put it, “If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.” This entire second chapter of Galatians has been an effort on Paul’s part to demonstrate this concept. The Law, we are told, never brought anyone to Christ. However, mercy and grace have.

If you have ever read about the dreams and visions that many Muslims are having, you never hear them say, Jesus came and condemned me; Jesus, merely told me to follow him, and why. Since many of you live in areas where a flood of Islamic refugees has entered, then you know how violent many of them have been. The legalistic, judgmental side of our nature, demands justice and punishment. Sadly, many of us, expect God to be the same way (this is why many religious zealots will falsely tell you that everyone brought to the Great White Throne is sent to hell.) These zealots want judgment. The problem is that God has forgiven all sin, and will judge no one at that throne based on sin (something we all do, every day.) But, he will judge them according to what they did with His Son, Jesus. And that is why Paul’s final comments are important and vital to this life we lead as followers of Christ.

“The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

It is all through faith in the Son; nothing else.

Posted in bible study, false teaching, Freedom from sin, Galatians, gentiles, God's character, grace, hypocrisy, Islam, Jews, judgment, recovery, The Word was God, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s not because we followed the law. Galatians 2:16-19

Posted on 12/19/2017 by remso

Yes, I am aware, I already covered 2 Galatians 2:16, but there is always that one last thing, and I am trying to keep the posts relatively short. Read this verse from one of the standards like the NIV, and you get a very impersonal feel. I feel as though I have to read it several times to understand the meaning.

Galatians 2:16 NIV 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.

So I opted to try the Easy to Read Version and found that it makes the point without all the religious doublespeak.

“So we have put our faith in Christ Jesus, because we wanted to be made right with God. And we are right with him because we trusted in Christ—not because we followed the law. I can say this because no one can be made right with God by following the law.”

Why would anyone want to put their faith in another?

Perhaps out of necessity; possibly their words were convincing; or maybe, they were charismatic and dressed nice. Short of some miraculous vision, one in which you see Jesus (It happens daily,) few of us have seen Him. No one could describe him as a well dressed, handsome man.

Isaiah 53:2 NASB For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.

There is a method of approaching others about the gospel in which you, in a sense, defend the message of Jesus with good, solid arguments. This approach is referred to as Apologetics. While I find it interesting that someone can stand toe to toe with some argumentative blowhard, it is not my cup of tea, that and I see my memory to be borderline useless anymore.

As I have read the Bible I never really saw God finding a need to play the Apologetics card. Instead, He merely said, “As for me”; after making that statement He just went on to fulfill the promises made, regardless of what the person He made the covenant with would do. (And yes, I get it, that many of those promises took hundreds of years in some cases.) If you were to ask me, why do you trust God, or, how could you put your faith in Him? I would have to say because He has consistently stayed faithful to His Word. Simply put, He is believable. Take Jesus, for example; He told the disciples what He was going to go through and why. It’s evident that most of those who traveled with Him did not understand what He was telling them, but it did not slow Him down. He still rose from the dead, and many witnessed to the fact that He appeared to them, alive.

All these things give me reasons to believe Him, and I have.

Paul says,

“So we have put our faith in Christ Jesus, because we wanted to be made right with God.”

I think, in some way, I wanted to be right with Him. Growing up in church, we went down front to pray, and there repented every week, as though the power of God never took root in us. See, this is what I am talking about when I tell you that religion is filled with false teachings. Sure, the pastor may stand in front of and say you are forgiven, but then you wait for next week because they will tell you what a sinner you are. Understand something. When you put your faith in Christ Jesus, it is a permanent gesture on your part. The Father engraves you on his hand, and you are ever before Him.

I contend that this book we carry around, (at least some of us do,) is a profoundly Jewish book. The subject matter carries a Jewish style at every turn. Galatians 2:17 is one of those places we can see this.

Galatians 2:17 NASB “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!

“if, while seeking to be justified in Christ,”

The Jews considered the Gentiles to be wholly idolatrous and lost causes to God. Why then would a phrase like this be associated with a Gentile? It wouldn’t. It would most definitely be attributable to the Jew, as their lives were little more than efforts to be justified, but not in Christ. If you take the phrase on step farther, and consider how the early church was primarily Jewish, up to the point that they balked at the possibility of Gentiles joining in without enduring Jewish rituals found under the law of Moses, such as circumcision.

So, Paul writes as a Jewish believer, that had experienced the concept of trying to be justified in Christ, while performing what constitutes works for redemption religion/faith.

“we ourselves have also been found sinners,”

Keep in mind that the sentence effectively starts with the word “if.” This phrase continues to play a huge role in our understanding of what Paul is saying.

  • “we ourselves” – The Jewish community of believers.

  • “have also been found sinners,”

    Wait a minute. Since we like to read this letter as though it was written to Gentiles, people who as new believers, only have an understanding and background in the newly appreciated grace of Christ, then this idea of having been found sinners, doesn’t make sense. It does, however, make sense when applied to a Jewish community that thought their righteous acts (acts mandated by law, and tradition) made them holy and acceptable to God. It did not.

    I told you that the Jewish community deemed outsiders to be godless pagans. There must have been a realization in some of the Jews that without a relationship with Christ Jesus, there was no acceptance, and therefore no righteousness.

  • “ is Christ then a minister of sin?”

    This statement could only apply if one had accepted the extraordinary sacrifice offered by the Father, and performed by the Son. The implication then would be that the acceptance of Yahshua as the Messiah sent by the Father, as the prophets foretold, caused many Jews to see precisely how unrighteous they indeed were.

    If acceptance causes this kind of effect, then the presumption is that Christ is the administrator of sin. Is that true? Hardly, as He merely shines a light into your soul through the Holy Spirit; that light shows you the sin.

    Stop here for a moment. Focus on the truth that “sin” is simply your missing the mark of the target at which you are shooting. We have these opportunities to hit the mark multiple times on any given day.

The Greek word for minister is diakonos and means an attendant or waiter. Christ then, would be thought of as being God’s waiter? Sin is the Greek word hamartia, meaning offense or sin. So, Christ would be the waiter that brings you a variety of infractions to use? Don’t be ridiculous.

Galatians 2:18 is a continuance of Paul’s thought and theme, so pay attention. I am going to give you three versions, starting with one of the most difficult.

Galatians 2:18 KJV For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.

If I was not paying attention, nor reading with purpose, I could readily be asking what buildings did Paul destroy? The obvious extension of such thought is that committing a crime, such as the destruction of property, makes you a transgressor; a criminal. The problem, however, is that what Paul destroyed was people; in particular, Jewish believers and their desire to trust and cling to things such as tradition and bad religion. (Stop. Am I saying that Judaism is a bad religion? Only if it tries to circumvent acceptance of the Messiah, through a multitude of added on rules and laws, which is exactly what they did.)

Galatians 2:18 CJB Indeed, if I build up again the legalistic bondage which I destroyed, I really do make myself a transgressor.

The Complete Jewish Bible states the case rather bluntly when it says, “if I build up again the legalistic bondage which I destroyed.”

Question? Did Paul destroy Judaism? No! But, he did have a considerable influence on many Jews; and, this impact included the Gentiles toward the end of his life. So, when he refers to something which he destroyed, he is speaking then of changes in individual lives.

One more version, the Easy To Read version.

Galatians 2:18 ERV But I would be wrong to begin teaching again those things that I gave up.

The ERV translation makes it personal and prompts us to consider that the legalistic bondage Paul felt was primarily internal. The destruction, on the other hand, was more about what he gave up. If I were to try and figure out what Paul/Saul gave up that day, on the road to Damascus, it is all wrapped up in personal history, Jewish traditions, community status, acceptance on an intellectual level with the Pharisees, and entirely possible that monetary and family issues were impacted.

Vincent’s Word Studies declares,

“Peter, by his Christian profession, had asserted that justification was by faith alone; and by his eating with Gentiles had declared that the Mosaic law was no longer binding upon him. He had thus, figuratively, destroyed or pulled down the Jewish law as a standard of Christian faith and conduct. By his subsequent refusal to eat with Gentiles he had retracted this declaration, had asserted that the Jewish law was still binding upon Christians, and had thus built again what he had pulled down.”

I also like what Finis Jennings Dake tells us.

“If I act like a Jew, and enjoin the observance of the law upon Gentiles, which I have repeatedly asserted and proved to be abolished by the death of Christ (Eph_2:14-15; Col_2:14-17; 2Co_3:6-15; Hebrews 7:11-10:18), then I build again the things I destroyed and thus make myself a transgressor, undoing my justification by faith in Christ.”

Moving forward into more muddy water; we look at Galatians 2:19.

Galatians 2:19 NASB “For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.

How did that come about? I am not sure, using this translation that I even understand. So, again, I indulge in alternate translations.

Galatians 2:19 CJB For it was through letting the Torah speak for itself that I died to its traditional legalistic misinterpretation, so that I might live in direct relationship with God.

In the CJB I get the sense of something I had suspected for a long time. The Torah contained the freedoms that Paul taught. Paul, who was well trained in the Torah, expounded this new freedom from example and a fresh understanding, that he obtained directly from Jesus (in a vision.) It was this understanding alone, for over ten years, that has opened my eyes to what I see in the Old Testament, a knowledge of where, Jesus, as a human, obtained the truths and freedoms He taught.

Our Monday morning study leader invited a lady to give a brief testimony. Raised a Catholic, she somehow meets a Pentecostal young man, and attempts to date him. That young man, whom I know personally, got her to come to our Holy Spirit and fire inspired church; at least it was back then. She said that during the prayer time, at the end of the service, that her now-husband said, I am going down front for prayer. Someone nearby told her, you should go down also; and, she did. That night she received the baptism in the Holy Spirit and spoke with other tongues. Apparently, she was sixteen at this point and wanted to please her parents. So when she went home and told them that she was now filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues, they exploded on her. She was taken to the priests to bring her back to some form of normalcy for their family. She said, the priest talked with for a time and then stepped out to tell the parents that in time she would be back to normal. When the priest returned she began to describe to him about the love of God, and how he too should be teaching this (at which point she showed him out of Corinthians. As she spoke, she could feel the presence of God fill the room, and she began speaking to the priest in tongues. He again excused himself so that he could talk with her parents. He told them that she just spoke to me in perfect Latin. It would be important to note that she did not know Latin. Well, you might think that everything went great for her, but it did not. The parents restricted her from seeing this young man for two years; however, at the end of that time, the two got married.

What’s the point of this information?

Somehow, this young lady stepped out of God’s way, without realizing what she was doing, and let the “Torah” speak for itself. When it did, several lives were, in time, dramatically changed. That priest and a nun from the school she went to went on to become Holy Spirit filled Catholics (These are known as Charismatics.) As this dear lady finished her “testimony,” one of the men in our group asked a legitimate question; he said, “as a Catholic, did you read the Bible? To which, she answered rather emphatically, NO. We were taught not to, as we would misinterpret what it said.
Interesting, I have heard far too many teach a version of that very thing, in spite of sound bible teachers instructing us to let the scriptures interpret scripture. Sadly, most Christians seem to think no one can understand the Bible and therefore must have someone to teach them. This kind of thought is in opposition to what Paul tells us here in Galatians 2:19.

“For it was through letting the Torah speak for itself.”

I perceive from this statement that Paul was able to gain access to the scrolls that were so few and costly that they were only maintained at the Synagogues. There is an alternative possibility, and that would be that Paul relied upon the training and memory of what he learned as an up and coming Pharisee. In reading these scrolls, he was this time, given new and fresh insight. These words were no longer laws to govern, but guides to freedom. As I write these words, images of Jephthah crossed my mind. I have I ever seen him, no, but my mind, as I read the story in Judges 11, paints a vivid picture of someone who would fit the imagery of a motorcycle gang member. Short tempered and harsh as they could come, thanks to childhood abuse at the hands of half-brothers, he frees Israel from its oppressors and goes on to become listed as a hall-of-famer. When you read the story, you see a man guided more by grace and muscles than law (the Torah.) Even in God’s story (if I may call it that,) grace and mercy shine like the sun at every turn.

Posted in Apostle Paul, bible study, Galatians, gentiles, Jews, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

With the purpose of getting his family back. Galatians 2:15,16

Posted on 12/10/2017 by remso

In Galatians 2:14 we see Paul, recapping his aggressive challenge of Peter’s actions; over an event that may have happened 18 years prior.

But when I saw that they were not behaving consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “If you, although you are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you try to force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” Galatians 2:14 NET.

It may be a translation issue, but the manner in which this is stated is an aspect of what I saw as directed confusion.

Let me explain. “But when I saw that (those gathered with Peter) were not behaving consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all,” The allusion is that Paul had been there with Peter and witnessed the hypocrisy. We have nothing to substantiate that assertion; therefore it is an unprovable conclusion. I could also infer from this, that Paul is seeing the affects of Peter’s hypocrisy show up in Antioch.

Biblically, we are only shown two interactions between Paul and Peter. One at the end of the first three years of Paul’s preaching. You can find this in Galatians 1:18 where it says, I stayed with Peter for fifteen days to become acquainted with him.

The second interaction comes years later after Paul has endured much at the hands of Jews who believed much like Saul did, and at the hands of Gentiles, the Jews were able to rally against Paul. Take a moment of your time to read 2 Corinthians 11:23-28, where these abuses are detailed by Paul.

With that in mind, where can we find Paul, having enough contact with Peter to witness such hypocrisy?

One of the things to consider, is that we are not given the time frame surrounding his visit to Antioch, and, it may have been that he was there long enough to enjoy the freedoms of grace before others, of the Jerusalem community that still held to Mosaic law, came to visit the Antioch church and Peter as well. This would explain many things. It could easily have worked this way. But we do have some solid evidence in Acts 11: 1-3. What we see here is directly related to Peter’s interactions with Cornelius and his family. Perhaps we will have to ask God for an answer to this question when we see Him in the eternal kingdom.

A commentary or two, tells us that this may not be the Peter we understand to be the Apostle. “When Peter was come to Antioch – There has been a controversy whether Πετρος, Peter, here should not be read Κηφας, Kephas; and whether this Kephas was not a different person from Peter the apostle. This controversy has lasted more than 1500 years, and is not yet settled.” [Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible; Adam Clarke, LL.D., F.S.A., (1715-1832); Published in 1810-1826; public domain.]

Since I am not a grammarian, and the things we read are not so black and white, I then have to fight my way through the language and context to sort out what has happened. And, good or bad, you have been a part of that process over the last few years. I feel very confident that all this came out of Peter’s interaction with Cornelius, many years before this letter was written, and I shared that with you previously.

What Paul said to Peter also impacts me, as occasionally someone shares something with me, that causes my religious hairs to stand up. In moments like this, I am reminded, that I have done those very things and I need to back off the judgmental attitude. Knowing that I too operate in an ever-present outpouring of mercy and grace how can I try to force somebody to live like a religious zealot when I could not do it myself! (I changed the wording a bit, so it applied more effectively to me.)

You cannot just attack someone, as Paul did, without giving them some definition of how we are supposed to act and who we are. Without a doubt, a statement like this evokes an excess of questions.

Who then are we, as followers of Christ, and how are we supposed to act?

Ultimately, we look to Jesus as our example, but then he was not provoked by internal brokenness as we are; so living like Jesus doesn’t often seem like an achievable goal.

What then is the definitive pattern for us?

It all boils down to the letters we find in the New Testament; letters that describe who we are and how we should act, such as walking in love – something that I failed at recently.

If, or since, we are in Him, then these attributes are who the Father considers us to be, even when we don’t look or feel like it. In this example, I am pulling excerpts from Ephesians 1:3-15.

  • Blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ.

  • Chosen in Him.

  • Holy and unblemished in His sight.

  • We have redemption through His blood.

  • Through that same blood, we have forgiveness of our trespasses (sins = merely missing the bulls-eye on the target of life.)

  • We are God’s possession.

  • All this was done so that we would be to the praise of His glory.

    Many, will find this a very self-serving statement. And yet, for me, it is filled with joy and freedom. Freedom because I don’t just feel trapped by this life, I am trapped; trapped in a world of stress and destruction. In Christ, I find acceptance, mental peace, and a hope no one has ever been able to give me.

In the process of believing, we were set aside and protected in our spirit by the Father, until He could redeem His own – (This is the theme of the Revelation and a recurring theme throughout many books of the Bible.)

Why would I say, you are protected in your spirit, and not mention your flesh?
Because Jesus himself told us, that in this world we would have tribulation. Tribulation includes stress, pain, beheadings, and other common and daily events. Sorry, there is no escaping those things; and, there is no denying that most of them will come at the hands of others; many under the guise of “religion.”

As I read those attributes that scripture assigns to me, I get a sense of nobility, as though I had been knighted at some royal gathering of the Kings court.

Lacking all the pretense of nobility, then how am I to act?

As one set aside for the conveyance of the Kings needs, with the understanding that this King loves and cares for those under His charge. If my scenario was real, then what would become of one who refused the orders of the king?

In the natural world you would, at the minimum, be demoted; at worst, killed. Fortunately, for those who are His own, God does not operate that way.  First, we seem to forget daily, that our sins are forgiven and as scripture puts it, cast as far as the East is from the West. That by the way, is an unlikely and infinite number.

Are you then punished for disobedience?

His patience with us never runs out. Here again, the religious, natural mind cannot think of anything but punishment. I suppose they do that out of some twisted sense of justice.

What happens then to the person who refuses to listen to God?

Their mind becomes clouded. Thinking that God is now humiliated by the mention of their name, they create a separation in their mind and turn their backs on God, not the other way around; and that is what most of us do.

An obvious factor, and hopefully you picked up on it, is that while God so loved the world; becoming one of His own through adoption, requires that you accept that He is a benevolent Father. And, that He gave His only Son to die a bloody and violent death for the specific purpose of redeeming us back to the Father (In case you find this a cruel choice, then remember that the Son, willingly gave His life for us.) Don’t believe that? Then read it from Jesus’ lips.

Paul, having gained Peter’s attention, says, to Peter and those listening,

“We are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.” Galatians 2:15-16 NET.

But this statement, “we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ,” indicates that Paul had caught on to something that would change everything, including the narrow, prejudiced world in which he had been raised. This message of grace, was, without a doubt, for all. It was no longer just another Jewish thing or religion; this was God exploding upon the world with the life of Christ. And it was all done with the purpose of getting His entire family back; a family, which now happened to include adopted Gentiles.

What did Paul say?

  • “ we have come to believe in Christ Jesus,”

    And so have I. If you consider yourself a follower of the risen Christ; the Son of the living God, then so have you.

    They were taught to do anything but accept and believe in the “son of Mary” as the Messiah. What we do not have clear is that the hatred, name-calling, and bigotry ran deep and was present throughout Jesus life. A possible example could come from –

    John 8:39 NASB They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus *said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham.

    There would be only one reason to make a retort like this, and that’s because Jesus, according to them, could not prove who His Father was. This takes us back to Mary. A woman with a backbone of steel, who operated under the endorsement of an angelic messenger. And when Jesus was about to be born. Joseph, who has come to his hometown, where all the relatives are, is not given the grace of a place to stay. He finally has to beg for the use of a small stable area. Prejudice, rejection, and bitter feelings? You bet there were, and Jesus dealt with it all His life.

  • “ so that we may be justified”

    Justified is the Greek word dikaioō and means to render, show, or regard as innocent.

    This idea of making things right is precisely what Jesus did on the cross for us. Think about this; Christ dies all those years ago, with the express purpose of giving salvation to all. Nothing or no one was is being held back from that salvation, as all the benefits involved in this redemption are freely given to all who accept this grace and freedom.

    Ah, but then I was born, and I have done everything wrong.

    Sure, I received His grace; but sinning, I do that every day. The catch is, that forgiveness was granted to me, without regret, over two thousand years ago. I, nor you, will ever be judged for sin, and yes, this is contrary to what many teach; and, I will be condemned for saying it. But, like Paul, I don’t answer to the critics, as they speak in opposition to the Word of God. Besides that, they are not the judges, no matter what they say. What people will be judged for is, what did you do with Jesus the risen Messiah. That’s it. In my case, I accepted Him. What did you do with Him?

Posted in bible study, false teaching, Freedom from sin, Galatians, gentiles, God's character, grace, Hope, hypocrisy, In Christ, Jerusalem, Jews, judgment, Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

When Peter came to Antioch. Galatians 2:11

Posted on 12/05/2017 by remso

When those of us who did not go Seminary, read the Bible, we tend to glaze over passages like the one we see here in Galatians 2:11. I think we do that because there are aspects of it that make little sense to us, and, it is difficult at times to find the events that explain why Paul is so angry with Peter, and when this all happened.

As a visual learner, I have become quite obsessive when it comes to studying the Word of God. I have to be able to visualize the event or chronology for things to make sense to me, and this passage is one that frustrates me. Thank God for perseverance and the freedom of time to keep digging, because I have been looking as intently as one might hunt for gold.

So allow me to point out some approximations. The letter written to those in the region of Galatia was written from Rome about 68 A.D., about the same time as the letter written to the Hebrews (Jews in general.) The book of Acts is the second part of a two-part set beginning with the publication of Luke’s gospel. It is understood that these two books were written about two years after Paul’s imprisonment in Rome, around 62 A.D. At this point and with this information you cannot make any assessment as to the timing of Peter’s actions that caused Paul to become so hostile toward Peter.

Other events that may give us clues about Peter’s infraction(s).

  • In Acts 9:10 we find Ananias baptizing Saul, and Saul, then stays for some days in Damascus with the disciples (Jewish followers of the way) there. Acts 9:31 demonstrates that with Saul now a changed man, the church began, once again, to have peace and be built up.

  • The interaction with Cornelius comes about in chapter 10 of the book of Acts.

In my Chronological Bible, the authors show us a “time capsule.” In this time capsule, they indicate that Peter’s meeting with Cornelius (Acts 10:25,) happened in 35 A.D. It was this same year that Saul begins preaching Christ as the risen Messiah in Damascus.

  • Herod, on the other hand, becomes prominent in our story in chapter 12 of the book of Acts.

Josephus places Herod in the time range of 37 A.D. – 44 A.D. During which time he has James killed, and Peter arrested, with the intent of killing him also.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary explains Acts 12:20 in this manner, “On the appointed day when Herod was delivering a speech, the people honored him as a god, and the Lord God judged him with death, in A.D. 44. This account parallels that given by Josephus in his Antiquities of the Jews (19. 8. 2).”

Why would this information be important to us? With Herod gone, those who want Peter killed are effectively gone. Peter then could return to Jerusalem, if he so chose to. That information alone still does not answer the question as to when Peter acted so hypocritical.

It was Paul who told us that he did not interact with others, with the exceptions of spending some time with the local disciples; three years in Damascus, and, after finally going to Jerusalem he spent 15 days with Cephas (Peter), and some brief interaction with James. All of this provided ample time for Peter to tell Paul of his indiscretion, and yet, that apparently did not happen.

Galatians chapter 2 opens with,

Galatians 2:1-2 NASB Then after an interval of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also. 2) It was because of a revelation that I went up; 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.

If Paul is holding to a chronological timeline, then up to this point he does not indicate that Peter acted hypocritically. When I think about how information transferred from person to person, then I can’t exclude Barnabas as one of the messengers. Regardless of how Paul learned of what Peter did, he was not going to let it go, and hence we see Paul confronting Peter about something which Peter probably has to be reminded.

Galatians 2:11 NET. But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he had clearly done wrong.

This passage makes me uncomfortable on several levels.

  • First, there is Paul’s aggressive and point-blank approach with someone we assume should be given respect.

Peter might deserve respect only because he seems to be part of the Jerusalem council; if not for that reason, one might think he commands a bit of respect simply because he walked so closely with Jesus; apparently, this means very little to Paul.

  • The other aspect that makes this difficult is that I was not raised to be disrespectful to people in authority. Lying in bed, not sleeping, I was thinking about this scenario. The Holy Spirit reminded me to consider the Jewish culture; a culture that still pervades their communities today. They, love to debate. To me, this looks like people on the edge of a fist fight, but to them, it is just another day. I have to force myself to set aside assumption frequently, and one of those assumptions has to do with, how long has it been since Peter has done this wrong? With what I perceive as fury on Paul’s part, I assumed this event just happened yesterday. The reality is that it may have been 14+ years ago.

Because life takes you on unexpected paths, you can develop a gruff persona as a defense mechanism. Sadly, that persona impacts the way you react to people in your life. I have described my persona as being bear-like. Add to this rough imagery the peculiar gift of being a prophet (I say peculiar because after all these years I have no real definition of what a prophet does; I just know that I admired the Prophet Samuel and he hacked up king Agag.) The combination can be rather explosive at times, as I frequently find myself fighting the desire to call fire down from heaven on people. NO, that has never happened, it’s just how I feel, and it comes on especially strong when my pastor unjustly attacks me and then demonstrates how human he is through some false teaching. While you may not be able to relate to what I am saying here, I can see this type of behavior in Paul. Keep in mind that Paul told us that he had this continuing thorn in the flesh, a person or thing that continued to keep him humble. Do you think a man that went around zealously trying to kill those who chose to set aside the traditional ways of Judaism, could have anger issues and hence a thorn in his flesh? I think we can see this in his interaction with Peter.

Try to find any other allusions to Peter/Cephas coming to Antioch; you won’t.

There is only one reference, and it is Paul that gives it to us. In my pursuit of answers, I searched for significant words such as Peter; believer; Gentiles, and finally, Antioch. As a side note, the word Antioch, using the NET translation, located only 18 references to the name in the New Testament (This is where our focus is centered.) The first occurrence is in Acts 6:5.

Since I already pointed out, from the Chronological Bible, that there were established timelines, and how that in some cases they paralleled Saul/Paul’s life with Peter’s. And, I have given you that information above.

Lacking someone else to do a timeline for us, all we have is scripture.

Where is the scriptural proof of this happening? The only place in scripture where this possibility arises is in Acts chapter 10, where Peter goes to the house of the Roman Centurion Cornelius (A Gentile; but an oddity appears in the description of the man, for it calls him devout. Devout could imply he had quietly become a Jewish convert. Practicality says no, but then how would one be able to make an assessment of a man like this, a man said to be devout?)

Scriptural evidence, or proof, is the one thing we should always have when trying to present an informative, intelligent study or Apologetic (A defense.) And, we have a mandate that nothing should be judged without two or more witnesses. In our case, the witnesses are scripture. Well, the answers are out there (as Mulder and Scully used to say on the X-Files television show,) and I thought for a moment that I had found some evidence of Peter in Antioch, but alas, the majority of translations and commentators indicate that Acts 12:17 is speaking of Herod going to Caesarea, not Peter.

Acts 12:17 NASB But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Report these things to James and the brethren.” Then he left and went to another place.

Although many have commented on this verse, it still brings some confusion because of what Peter says in his instructions to those gathered at the house of Mary. Mary is John Mark’s mother, and, according to commentator John Gill, John Mark is the nephew of Barnabas (That makes sense as Barnabas is a significant promoter of John Mark to be on the missionary trips.) Peter tells those gathered at the home that night, that they were to report these things to James and the brethren. Why, because Peter was getting out of town quickly.

Acts 12:17, as I noted above, tells us that, “he left and went to another place.” The obvious question is, where did he go? We are not told that he shared this location with any of the others, quite probably because it could cost them their lives. I would think that in time it would become apparent that Peter had left town.

I thought for a moment that I had found Peter going North as I followed verses 18, 19. However, this is where grammar comes into play, as Herod, not Peter, is the focus of attention.

Acts 12:18-19 NASB Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter. 19) When Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they be led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and was spending time there.

Note how it says, “When Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they be led away to execution.” Those Roman soldiers had clues as to where Peter might be found, and I imagine they brutishly questioned and challenged all they spoke with. If Peter was still there, they would have found him. Not obtaining Peter would surely mean their deaths. So the guards had a strong motivation to do a thorough search, and yet, not a trace of Peter was found. What do I make of that? Peter was no longer in Jerusalem.

Still, presuming I have no timeline, then I have only circumstantial evidence. Since the book of Acts is somewhat chronological, then it makes sense to have Peter moving quickly North toward Damascus, where we are about to find a young man named Saul. But, if you were paying attention, you would have noticed that this Herod episode and Peter fleeing, happened in chapter 12, and here I am in Acts chapter 11, where Jewish followers are verbally accosting Peter for eating with Gentiles. This verbal attack has some similar properties to Paul’s criticism of Peter, which we see in Galatians 2.

Acts 11:1-3 CEV The apostles and the followers in Judea heard that Gentiles had accepted God’s message. 2) So when Peter came to Jerusalem, some of the Jewish followers started arguing with him. They wanted Gentile followers to be circumcised, and 3) they said, “You stayed in the homes of Gentiles, and you even ate with them!“

From the viewpoint of a former Gentile; now grafted into the vine. I desire to understand these relatively new Jewish roots of mine. Maybe that is why I find the conversation the Jewish followers are having with Peter so offensive.

Peter explained his actions and this attack against him in Acts 11:4-17.

Acts 11:4-17 CEV Then Peter told them exactly what had happened: 5) I was in the town of Joppa and was praying when I fell sound asleep and had a vision. I saw heaven open, and something like a huge sheet held by its four corners came down to me. 6) When I looked in it, I saw animals, wild beasts, snakes, and birds. 7) I heard a voice saying to me, “Peter, get up! Kill these and eat them.” 8) But I said, “Lord, I can’t do that! I’ve never taken a bite of anything that is unclean and not fit to eat.” 9) The voice from heaven spoke to me again, “When God says that something can be used for food, don’t say it isn’t fit to eat.” 10) This happened three times before it was all taken back into heaven. 11) Suddenly three men from Caesarea stood in front of the house where I was staying. 12) The Holy Spirit told me to go with them and not to worry. Then six of the Lord’s followers went with me to the home of a man 13) who told us that an angel had appeared to him. The angel had ordered him to send to Joppa for someone named Simon Peter. 14) Then Peter would tell him how he and everyone in his house could be saved. 15) After I started speaking, the Holy Spirit was given to them, just as the Spirit had been given to us at the beginning. 16) I remembered that the Lord had said, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” 17) God gave those Gentiles the same gift that he gave us when we put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So how could I have gone against God?

This vision was a green light to freedom in God’s grace, and Peter’s call to be a missionary to the Gentiles. Having had this rather enlightening experience Peter passed on the opportunity. Why? Because of peer pressure? 

In summary, Peter’s hypocrisy may well have happened at the home of Cornelius where for several days Peter enjoyed the freedoms of grace. How and when Paul found out about it is unknown. But, even with the improbabilities of Paul maintaining an intense anger over Peter’s actions for as much as 18 years, it is clear that Paul still dealt with his thorn, which may well be anger.

Posted in Apostle Paul, bible study, false teaching, Galatians, gentiles, hypocrisy, Jerusalem, Jews, Revelation, Things I have never noticed before, Thoughts, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Entrusted with the gospel to the Gentiles. Galatians 2:6-10

Posted on 11/26/2017 by remso

We pick up Paul’s oration in Galatians 2:6 having described, in the previous five verses, three years in Damascus with only momentary influences from Peter and James. Paul then tells us that after fourteen years of preaching he is now making a second trip to Jerusalem, to visit the church council of the believing world, which primarily consist of the Apostles.

All the while Paul, who had been a Pharisee, engrossed in the law, and a strict holder of Jewish tradition, has been made aware that the Torah and Tenach (the law and the prophets,) held the freedoms we now understand through Jesus Christ. This insight came strictly from conversations with Yeshua himself. What that conversation looked like is unknown; for example, was it a vision, or a very realistic dream, such as Abram had.

You will find God appearing to Abram several times, once in Genesis 12, and here in Genesis 15. Take the time to study this, and you will see a fascinating detail that most seem to miss. Abram is asleep!

Genesis 15:12-21 NASB Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. 13) God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. 14) “But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions. 15) “As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. 16) “Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.” 17) It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces. 18) On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants, I have given this land, …

Pay attention to the title Amorite. The ISBE tells us the name Amorites is always in the singular like the Babylonian Amurrū from which it is taken. Israel was taken captive by the Babylonians, who had ties with the Assyrians.

Let’s take a quick side trip in the book of Acts so that we can see the specifics of what Paul was doing for fourteen years. Without it we only have assumption to fill in the details behind it all. Some might think Paul just sat on his behind and did nothing? Hardly!

  • In Acts 9 Saul meets Jesus on the road to Damascus.

  • Acts 9:8-18 introduces us to Ananias who prays for Saul and asks that he be filled with Holy Spirit.

  • When many days had elapsed, the Jews plotted together to do away with him, but their plot became known to Saul. They were also watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death; but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket. Acts 9:23-25 NASB

  • “When he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. And he was with them, moving about freely in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord. And he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death. But when the brethren learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.” Acts 9:26-30 NASB

With Saul now a changed man, there was peace. The church began to grow and be built up. Moving forward in the fear of the Lord and the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase. And everyone said, Amen.

Galatians 2:6 NASB But from those who were of high reputation (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)–well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me.

“But from those who were of high reputation (what they were makes no difference to me.)” Paul knew well that elders deserved respect, but the knee will bow to no one but the Messiah.
The Message translation puts it a bit differently.

Besides, the so-called ‘authorities’ (it makes no difference to me what their status used to be — God pays no regard to the externals of men), these ‘authorities’ had no additions to make to my gospel. Galatians 2:6 Moffatt NT)

“these ‘authorities’ had no additions to make to my gospel.” Whether this means they had no knowledge of what Paul was saying, or they could say nothing different, is not clear. Paul was not a man to shirk, nor did he waste words being derogatory. It would be safe to assume that he continued to preach and teach the message he had received from the Holy Spirit.

On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the Good News for the Uncircumcised, just as Kefa (Peter) had been for the Circumcised; Galatians 2:7 CJB

The Easy to Read Version puts it like this,

“God gave Peter the work of telling the Good News to the Jews. But God gave me the work of telling the Good News to the non-Jewish people.”

Isn’t it odd how this worked out? Peter was the one shown the vision of the animals being let down, unclean with clean, and he was told to eat. (Acts 10.) This offering of unclean animals and the push to eat them, was, of course, intentional on God’s part and explained to Peter. Only moments later he is called to the house of an unclean (as far as a Jew was concerned,) Roman centurion. God brazenly demonstrated His acceptance of this man’s entire family, by baptizing them all in the Holy Spirit. And, it happened right in the middle of Peter’s sermon. Most would tell you that Peter had been the one initially called to the Gentiles, but this was about as far as it gets. Here in Galatians 2:7 Paul acknowledges that God has now given him the work of telling the good news to the Gentiles.

Some translations leave the next verse out. Apparently, it is an interpretive thought and adds little to the context. None-the-less, I give it to you.

Galatians 2:8 LITV (for He working in Peter to an apostleship of the circumcision, also worked in me to the nations),

“And recognizing the grace that had been given to me.”

Galatians 2:9-10 NASB and recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and 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. 10) They only asked us to remember the poor–the very thing I also was eager to do.

The words we see here in verses nine and ten have been so important to me lately, as I have recently been mocked by a pastor about the possibility of having a prophetic gift (This was not something I advertised but came out of private conversations with that Pastor.) I wondered how that pastor could not or would not recognize the grace that God had possibly given to me. Instead of having someone we deem more skillful or mature in this walk we are on berating us; how about they acknowledge that God may have given us some tremendous gift, even if it works outside their parameters?

Question; How would someone recognize the grace that God had given to you?

  • Convincing words.

    I have seen this happen more than once, where fast, smooth talking, people come into to church, and within weeks they are teaching a class. Sadly, only a few weeks later they are gone, offended or bored. Ah, but you might say I am not a smooth talker. If what you are doing is filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, you might be shocked to know that the power invested in you exhibits itself in daily conversations; especially to leadership. (I am not condoning rudeness. However, the same people you need to talk to, are often those who consistently dominate conversations. They find assertiveness uncomfortable when directed toward them.)

  • Corroborating evidence. The primary source of this is testimony from others.

    Sometimes, in your simplicity, you will speak the most profound things, and think, why did I say that? Watch the responses you get; those people can be your most valuable witness. As I write this, I am thinking of the blind man Jesus healed, on the Sabbath. That man, a few minutes later, went into the temple (well, that makes sense for he was a Jew.) The priests, knowing that it was the man who sat outside and begged, chose not to believe and ridiculed him, even though he could now see. The point being, some will never perceive the grace in you.

  • A significant validation may come from someone who is recognized in the body as being prophetic.

    (I use the word prophetic as it is on my mind; but, I am assuredly not limiting the conversation to the prophetic. In Paul’s case, we are talking about evangelism, something I am not gifted in.)

“James and 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.” The right hand of fellowship leans itself towards acceptance. Acceptance allows for freedom. Paul did not start with a mission to the Gentiles but had it forced upon him after repeated attacks from Jews who felt the same way as Paul had.

I spoke of this once before, but because Saul was a well-trained Pharisee, then we know Saul understood the law and the prophets. Gaining insight into the mercy and grace embedded into those texts through revelation may have been an easy task in comparison to teaching Gentiles who knew nothing. Paul, as he was now known, would have had to teach them basics. This new direction would have been quite the task.

Finally, the last obligation given to Paul was to remember the poor. No, we are not under the law, but we do live under the perfect law of liberty, and this should compel us to remember the poor as well.

Posted in bible study, Galatians, gentiles, God's character, grace, Hearing God, Hope, In Christ, Jews, Prophetic, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Galatians 2:1-5, Paul’s acceptance?

Posted on 11/23/2017 by remso

The NASB entitles chapter two as Paul’s acceptance by the Apostles.

A short side trip.

Is there a difference between the Apostles and disciples? Our mind quickly draws a picture of the twelve that Jesus picked out. Of course, there was Judas who had to be replaced, but effectively we are talking about the twelve disciples. Told to gather in Jerusalem, and wait there until the Holy Spirit came upon them, we see this:

Acts 1:14-15 NASB These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. 15) At this time Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren (a gathering of about one hundred and twenty persons was there together), and said,”

What we see here is a collection of what was loosely known as the disciples. But notice the quantity – about one hundred and twenty persons. Since women were not high on the priority list, they, except for Mary the mother of Jesus, were probably not counted.

This varied group became the church in Jerusalem. They owned no buildings, obtained no tax exemptions, and still found themselves threatened by the likes of Saul in a very short time. The early church, meeting in small numbers, in homes were very Jewish inhabit and tradition. And, they were many days distant from any of the church bodies that the new disciple Saul, would have established.

We learned, from Saul/Paul’s mouth, that:

  • For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. Galatians 1:12 NASB

  • Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus. Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days. But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. Galatians 1:17-19 NASB

The information (the grace, mercy, and freedom) that Paul preached came straight from God. Mind you, there was that small interaction with James, but that did not account for much. And, I stayed with Peter for fifteen days.

What do we know about Peter?

  • Peter was the first one we see being sent to the Gentiles. However, Peter did not grasp what God was telling him and the Gentile evangelistic move on Peter’s part died.

  • There was the vision of the blanket coming down with clean and unclean animals in it. The voice Peter heard, he identified as Jehovah, told him to eat anything on the blanket. Of course, being a Jew, he could never eat anything unclean. The object lesson was yet to come, as God pointed out that Peter was never to call anything unclean that He had made clean.

  • As quickly as the vision came to an end, there was a knock at the door. The visitor pleaded with Peter to come to the house of this man’s master, one Cornelius, a Roman centurion, and yet a devout man. The implications show the centurion’s devotion to the Jewish way of life. (As Roman, he would have been considered a Gentile and therefore a worshiper of pagan gods. These attributes would have caused the centurion to be deemed unclean and untouchable by a Jew.)

Peter arrives at the Centurion’s home and begins to deliver his best message, but right in the middle of if the entire family receives the Holy Spirit and begins speaking in other tongues. Peter is baffled and says, well, I guess the Holy Spirit of God is not exclusive to the Jews. And with that, Peter disappears into the church council in Jerusalem, and we hear little else of Cornelius.

Back to Paul.

Galatians 2:1 NASB Then after an interval of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also.

A short stay with Peter, and a brief conversation with James. Paul’s stay in Damascus, we assume, lasted three years. Now fourteen years later Paul takes Barnabas, a Jewish convert, and Titus as well. And where do they go? To the council in Jerusalem.

Galatians 2:2 NASB It was because of a revelation that I went up; 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.

“It was because of a revelation that I went up”, this revelation is a mystery to us. We only know that it was a motivation for Paul to run this message that he preached to the Gentiles, past the church elders. This entire idea is a bit of a problem, for what did Jewish followers know of the Gentiles aside from the prejudice that was integrated into their thought life from their youth.

“I submitted to them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles”; I can read several layers of meaning into this statement.

  • To a degree, he is submitting to the church leadership.

  • He is doing a validation check. An underlying tone here could be the belief that they don’t get what Paul is teaching, nor do they teach it. Since we can understand that the church elders focused almost strictly on the Jewish community, Paul’s message may be heresy as far as they are concerned.

  • He is preaching that same message to them. Is it possible that his motives included having church elders expand their target audience?

“but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain.” Rarely do you hear anyone speak of Paul as a fearful man, and yet, there is that word, fear. An obvious aspect of this is that Paul had been preaching this gospel to Gentiles already, but wait a minute; having read a rather chronological record of Paul’s activities in the book of Acts, we know that Paul spent a tremendous amount of time in the Synagogues. Paul did not take his message to the Gentiles until he had his fill of beatings and attempts on his life at the hands of Jewish zealots. This fourteen year period of time then included the abuse and eventual migration to the Gentile community. Almost all of the new believers/followers of Christ were Jewish. In a moment we will see Barnabas and Titus. Note how Paul tells us that Titus was not compelled to become circumcised, indicating that he was not born Jewish, but says nothing about Barnabas. The implications are that Barnabas was a Jewish convert.

Galatians 2:3 NASB But not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.

Now, here comes the real reason Paul is in Jerusalem, and it has little to do with acceptance.

So Paul, is in Jerusalem, having secret talks – if you will, with the church elders, because of the next few verses.

Galatians 2:4-5 NASB But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage. 5) But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

“But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus.” How would you make these determinations?

  • False brethren

    Are you aware that witch covens have people planted in churches for the express purpose of bringing curses against your pastor and your church body? You might think that would be obvious, especially if they wore a long pointed hat. But you realize that they look like anybody. Unfortunately, most of our false brethren have submitted themselves to Satan’s work unwittingly. In being false they slip in quietly and once accepted to some degree, they espouse vehemently, things that are in opposition to the nature and character of God and His word.

  • secretly brought in,

    To be secretly brought in implies something intentional. Isn’t Satan intentional in his disdain and methods? We are not on a proverbial witch hunt, but what other groups might want to see our groups and churches disrupted? Surprisingly, our governments, with their Antichrist attitudes and laws could fit that description. What about other religious ideologies such as Islam? Islam has stated goals of killing off everyone that is not of their beliefs, and yet the Quran gives them the liberty to lie and deceive in order to infiltrate for the purpose of taking you down and putting you in submission.

  • to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus,

    This aspect becomes important went put in the context of Jew converting and becoming followers of the way. Really, they were and still are, adding the richness found in the Messiah; the same Messiah they have spent their lives waiting for. Traditional Jews (Paul was one,) despise this “Gentile” messiah, as they choose to believe we created Him. What they are doing is ignoring chapters like Isaiah 53, which speak of the tortures He endured to bring us this freedom called grace and mercy.

  • in order to bring us into bondage.

    Bondage, look the word up and you might find this: See Slave. The dictionary tells us that it is: Slavery or involuntary servitude; captivity; imprisonment; restraint of a person’s liberty by compulsion.

    So, Paul, in the course of teaching freedom, occasionally found people, integrated into their groups, that had the express goal of restraining, restoring traditions over freedom, and recapturing those who had been set free.

“But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.” Because we know that Paul went to the council in Jerusalem, we have to assume that here too he sustained some pressure to change. If you read about Paul’s trials and tribulations, then you know that this was one of his major arguments. In reply, the council asked no demands of the Gentiles except that they stay away from eating animals with the blood still in them.

Galatians 2:6 MSG As for those who were considered important in the church, their reputation doesn’t concern me. God isn’t impressed with mere appearances, and neither am I. And of course, these leaders were able to add nothing to the message I had been preaching.

Based upon this statement, “these leaders were able to add nothing to the message I had been preaching.” we can assume that to some degree they understood the message, although they may not have preached it themselves. The Jerusalem council may have been apprehensive about letting the Gentiles into the synagogues, but that was not the issue, nor the question; the real question had more to do with economics, for example:

  • If they were Jewish converts, who then would buy the lambs for sacrifice? This is important if they all come to the understanding that Yeshua the Messiah became the sacrificial lamb. This question is not so important if they were merely Gentile believers.

  • And what becomes of the important rituals, rituals that probably required some temple fee? In scripture we see a man coming to Jesus and saying, if you will you can make me clean. Well, surely Jesus could and he did make the man clean, but, there is the demand of the law to go and show yourself to the priests. They, in turn, would decree you clean before the community and restore your rights. Jesus helped the man and gave him a stern warning which he ignored, and that was that he tell no one. Did any of you ever question why he would do such a thing? It was because the man was asking Jesus to circumvent the system; a procedure which could have got him prematurely killed.

  • And should these converts decide to leave the temple congregation, then the tithing collections will surely drop.

No, Paul stood his ground with these elders. His words surely rang true with them, as they also saw and heard things that were new and controversial. Having nothing they could add the conference was over and the three returned home.

Posted in Apostle Paul, bible study, Cult teachings, End times, false teaching, Galatians, God's character, grace, Hope, In Christ | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Does king David reign over the Millennium?

Posted on 11/17/2017 by remso

Monday morning’s Men’s study started off with a tirade about king David reigning over the Millennium. In my notes I wrote, “try finding this in scripture; you can’t.”

Is my assertion correct? That can only be proved out by scripture, and we need at least two witnesses, so let’s try.

Ezekiel 34:24 will be the first witness we call to the stand.

“therefore, I will deliver My flock, and they will no longer be a prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another. “Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd. “And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David will be prince among them; I the LORD have spoken.” Ezekiel 34:22-24 NASB

When does this take place? Only after the victorious return of Jesus as the warring Messiah. When He returns He will conquer all foes and peace will be restored. Another piece of this understanding comes from Ezekiel 36:28

“You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God. Ezekiel 36:28 NASB

Ezekiel 34:24 tells us that, “My servant David will be prince among them.” Does that mean that David will reign over the Millennium, or at the minimum, Israel?

The word prince is the Hebrew word nasi and means one lifted up, a chief, prince: – chief, and ruler.

Once again, Ezekiel 34:24 from the Complete Jewish Bible.

I, Adonai, will be their God; and my servant David will be prince among them. I, Adonai, have spoken. Ezekiel 34:24 CJB

The fact that the verse speaks of “them”, implies that God is speaking of David ruling. If that is the case, it is over Israel.

A piece of information that might help you see why I believe the word “them” applies strictly to Israel, would be the understanding that there are only three people groups to be considered. Those people groups are the Jews; the nations; and the church. Since the church is deemed to be in Christ, and He, as we see in the Revelation, is ruling and reigning, then I can easily assume that we, the church, are ruling with Him. This idea works out well during the millennial reign, as there will be another group of people still wandering around the earth during this time; that group is the nations. The surviving Jews will have come to accept Jesus as the Messiah; in the Millennial reign, and they will be the evangelists who go out to the nations, bringing healing in the form of leaves from the trees of life that grow along the river that flows out from under the throne of God.

Further evidence that there will people outside of the kingdom, comprising the ethnos, with the ability to make free choices, is found in Revelation 21.

Revelation 21:8 NASB “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

How is it possible, in this Idealized world we call the Millennium, that there could still be people conjuring up such evil? It is possible because the merciful God has allowed them to pass into the thousand year reign (This concept that the merciful God would allow the nations/sinners to pass into the thousand year reign is also one that is challenged by the leader of the Monday morning study, as he, declares that all, from the nations, are doomed to the lake of fire.) It is also very assertable that the Ethnos/Nations/Gentiles are continuing to live, just as they had been since time began. The difference being, there is no Satan to influence or motivate us. The lack of Satan’s influence adds a bizarre twist because the vileness of Revelation 21:8 demonstrates the potential of an unchecked heart.

When I began to explain some aspect of scripture that referred to the nations, the religious fanatic I was speaking with, emphatically declared, these people are called the ethnos. He did this in a vain attempt to put me in my place.

The Hebrew word for nations is “go’ee.” It is from this word that the Jews derived the word goyim, a slang term for Gentiles.

Ethnos, on the other hand, is a Greek word, meaning a race (as of the same habit), or a tribe; specifically a foreign (non-Jewish) one (usually by implication pagan).

While my impetuous acquaintance seemed to imply that God would have nothing to do with anyone of colored skin, the fact that many Ethiopians (a dark-skinned race) can demonstrate a valid Jewish heritage, proves that color plays no part in the equation. Therefore, anyone that was not a Jew was of the ethnos and believed to be a pagan (This kind of narrow-minded thinking was easy for the Jews as they comprehended themselves to have the one true God. Now, whether they recognized Him and followed him or not is an entirely different story.)

What have I proved?

That David will reign as a chief, but so far, we can only prove that David will be a prince of Israel during the millennial reign. Beyond that, everything we know is circumstantial and unproven.

Does Ezekiel 37:23,24 prove anything?

Ezekiel 37:23-24 NASB “They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God. 24) “My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them.

It is possible that the reference to David is merely pointing to the Messiah, and David then, was simply a type of Christ? I know that is just a little hard to swallow considering how poorly David ran his life at times, and Jesus walked through this life without a failure we call sin.

It was Paul the Apostle that gave the oration we find in Acts 13. Here is just a portion.

Acts 13:34 NASB “As for the fact that He raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY and SURE blessings OF DAVID.

J. Vernon McGee, states in his commentary, that this is what Peter said on the day of Pentecost. So, what did Peter then say?

Acts 2:34-36 NASB “For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, 35) UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.”‘ 36) “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ–this Jesus whom you crucified.”

He is telling us that David spoke of Jesus. Is it possible then that we are to be looking for Jesus to be walking in the blessing spoken of to David?

Nathanael, Philip’s brother, and one of the disciples said,

Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.” John 1:49 NASB

This idea of Jesus/Yeshua reigning forever over the house of Jacob is also seen when the angel announces to Mary that she is to give birth to the Son of God, Jesus.

“The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. 31) “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32) “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33) and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” Luke 1:30-33 NASB

Let me sum this up by saying, it is uncommon, to say the least, to preach such a message, especially if you are going to verbalize the peculiar idea that King David shall rule over the millennium.

Posted in bible study, End times, false teaching, Millennium, Prophetic, Revelation, The supremacy of Christ, Thoughts on scripture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The evidence was so substantial that it .. Galatians 1:12-24

Posted on 11/15/2017 by remso

It almost seemed deceptive titling my last post, “It was not of man.” Having become carried away with verse eleven and never really covering the subject; I had to cut it short in hopes of keeping your attention. But, there is no way you can separate Paul’s undefined message of hope from where he got that message.

In my previous post, in focusing on verse 11, I discussed what I believed the message Paul spoke of, may have been. The hypothesis I presented was not a guess, but a logical, scriptural approach, to what Paul said and why. I made the case that Paul preached a message to the Jews that went right along with the lifetime of synagogue training, any proper Jew, would have received.

Since all Jews are awaiting the coming Messiah, then there has to be a fulfillment of all the events they associate with the end of time, such as an associated peace; a restoration of all things; a final judgment, and the endless reign of the Messiah. If this understanding played a role in what Paul said, then what could you say that would make this knowledge better? It seems the only thing that would or could do that is the knowledge that the Messiah has already come. One of the things we hear in church on Sunday mornings is that we are children of the kingdom now. However, because I am alive and breathing; living in varying degrees of pain, both mental and physical, I am aware that something is missing from this simplistic statement about “living in the kingdom.” Sadly, no one is really explaining this or how to achieve this state or condition.

As I told the men I sit with, where we are reading a John Eldredge book entitled, All Things New, where he talks about a restored heaven and a restored us, I find it difficult at times picturing myself in this restored, heavenly scenario. Don’t get me wrong, I believe without a doubt, that this time of restoration is coming, but the question is, when? To be honest, I thought it would have already happened by now; but alas, we are all still here.

Is it possible the Jews feel the same way? Not that long ago, an acquaintance said to me, people have been saying this stuff (he was speaking of the rapture and how we should be looking for it,) for over two thousand years, so don’t get all worked up about it now. In truth, he is right, but hasn’t the Jew been awaiting the Messiah for even longer?

But, as you would have seen in the previous post, the evidence that the Messiah came is there – in the Torah and Tenach. The evidence was so substantial that it:

  • Compelled by His star that pointed to Bethlehem, the wise men came from the East to see the young boy born the King of the Jews.

  • Herod, having called the chief priests and elders of the Jews, demanded they tell him where this baby had been born.

  • And the chief priests and elders of the Jews, when summoned to Herod, answered him by reading the precise information from the Holy Scrolls. This information resulted in the death of many boys two years old and under in that region.

What do I get from all this? The Jews knew and yet chose not to believe.

If we comprehend the message that Paul preached, then where did he get this information, that he obviously missed in previous readings from the law and prophets?

I did not get my message from any other human. The Good News is not something I learned from other people. Jesus Christ himself gave it to me. He showed me the Good News that I should tell people. Galatians 1:12 ERV

It almost seemed deceptive titling my last post, “It was not of man.” Having become carried away with verse eleven, I had to cut it short and hope to keep your attention. But, there is no way you can separate Paul’s undefined message of hope from where he got that message.

In my previous post, in focusing on verse 11, I discussed what I believed the message Paul spoke of, may have been. The hypothesis I presented was not a guess, but a logical, scriptural approach, to what Paul said and why. I made the case that Paul preached a message to the Jews that went right along with the lifetime of synagogue training, any proper Jew, would have received.

Since all Jews are awaiting the coming Messiah, then there has to be a fulfillment of all the events they associate with the end of time, such as an associated peace; a restoration of all things; a final judgment, and the endless reign of the Messiah.

If this understanding played a role in what Paul said, then what could you say that would make this information better? It seems the only thing that would or could do that is the knowledge that the Messiah has already come. One of the things we hear in church on Sunday mornings is that we are children of the kingdom now. However, because I am alive and breathing; living in varying degrees of pain, both mental and physical, I am aware that something is missing from the simplistic statement about “living in the kingdom.”

As I told the men I sit with, (we are reading a John Eldredge book entitled, All Things New, where he talks about a restored heaven and a restored us,) I find it difficult at times picturing myself in this restored, heavenly scenario. Don’t get me wrong, I believe without a doubt, that this time of restoration is coming, the question is when? To be honest, I thought it would have already happened by now; but alas, we are all still here. Is it possible the Jews feel the same way? As an acquaintance said to me, people have been saying this stuff (he was speaking of the rapture and how we should be looking for it,) for over two thousand years, so don’t get all worked up about it. And yes, we have, but hasn’t the Jew been awaiting the Messiah for even longer?

But, as you would have seen in the previous post, the evidence that the Messiah came is there – in the Torah and Tenach. The evidence was so substantial that it:

  • Compelled by His star that pointed to Him, the wise men came from the East to see the young boy born the King of the Jews.

  • Herod, having called the chief priests and elders of the Jews, demanded they tell him where this baby had been born.

  • And what did chief priests and elders of the Jews do? They answered him by reading the information from the Holy Scrolls. The result was the death of many boys two years old and under in that region.

What do I get from all this? The Jews knew.

If we know the message that Paul preached, then where did he get this information that he obviously missed in previous readings from the law and prophets?

I did not get my message from any other human. The Good News is not something I learned from other people. Jesus Christ himself gave it to me. He showed me the Good News that I should tell people. Galatians 1:12 ERV

Wait a minute. Paul, an intelligent man; a man we have to presume had a knowledge of Isaiah’s word, could not see this on his own. The Jewish leaders were able to point it out to Herod, but they could not or would not see it.

How is it that no one else saw this amazing stuff in the scriptures? Anna and Simeon the priest did; two of them, for example, were in or near the temple when Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to be circumcised. Anna met them outside the gate; it was as far as Mary would have been allowed to go.

Anna, a prophetess, was there at the Temple. She was from the family of Phanuel in the tribe of Asher. She was now very old. She had lived with her husband seven years before he died and left her alone. She was now 84 years old. Anna was always at the Temple; she never left. She worshiped God by fasting and praying day and night. Anna was there when Joseph and Mary came to the Temple. She praised God and talked about Jesus to all those who were waiting for God to free Jerusalem. Luke 2:36-38 ERV

And Simeon was a priest who, knowing what the scriptures said, awaited the Messiah.

And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation, Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, And the glory of Your people Israel.” And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed–and a sword will pierce even your own soul–to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” Luke 2:25-35 NASB

Both of these had been looking for the Messiah. So, the truth was made plain and available.

I already pointed out how the Magi/Wise men, from the East – The East was a region of Babylon, and these men were probably trained in the school that Daniel had established while a captive.) And, I brought out how the priests and elders were able to answer Herod when he demanded an answer. So, many knew of the advent and birth of the Messiah. Did they accept Him as such? Not a chance. Much of this stems from the veil that is over their eyes, preventing them from seeing the truth. None the less, the truth was there, and yet many could not see it, this includes Saul – soon to become the Paul that we Gentiles know of.

Obviously, Saul’s eyes were opened. You find this information in the ninth chapter of the book of Acts.

“Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men, and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.” The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank. Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.” So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized;” Acts 9:1-18 NASB

Well, an obvious fact is that Saul had good men interact with him. Does that mean they told Saul the better way? We are not told the answer to that question, but we do have clues that could lead to an answer.

“and he took food and was strengthened. Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus,” Acts 9:19 NASB

The logical assumption is that he is at the home of Ananias, but the picture expands, as we see him “with the disciples who were at Damascus.”

The NASB translates this simple idea concerning the length of time as, for several days, when in reality the quaint little word “tis” can also mean some time or a while. Here is what we know; we do not know how long Saul stayed with the disciples. However, immediately we see Saul preaching in the local synagogue.

“and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”” Acts 9:20 NASB)

Two things jump out at me.

  • He is preaching this newly learned truth, to Jews

  • And, he said, “He is the Son of God.”

As I said, some knew. Are you kidding me? No, I am not. So, when the scripture tells us that there will be a point at which the veil will be lifted off of, not only the eyes of all Israel but the whole world. Then we are being told that there is a blindness, placed in some cases by the enemy, Satan. But, there is also a deliberate action, much like racism, that is intentionally taught. Yes, that right, Jews are taught a separatist and discriminatory attitude that calls this Jesus we serve, the Gentile Jesus, and most will have nothing to do with the salvation message we non-Jewish, adopted branches, preach.

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; and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions. Galatians 1:13-14 NASB

Saul was not defending the Torah and Tenach, he was defending ancestral traditions.

But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus. Galatians 1:15-17 NASB

Saul’s sight restored, he stays for an indeterminate time frame, in Damascus, with disciples. Once again, what the writer of Acts 9:19 tell us?

Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus,” Acts 9:19 NASB

We hear the word disciples and what do we think? The guys who hung around with Jesus. But, that may not be the case. These disciples may have been mere followers of the Way.

Once again,

For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. Galatians 1:12 NASB

I would think this would exclude the influence of the disciples of Jesus as well. But as I pointed out in verses 15 -17 above, Saul, did not consult with flesh and blood. We also see that he did not bring the disciples of Jesus into this either.

Three years pass.

Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. Galatians 1:18-19 NASB

Why would he have to add this next verse?

(Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.) Galatians 1:20 NASB

Because, for that day and time, no one went outside of standard traditions, and Saul told us that he had been zealous for their traditions.

Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ; but only, they kept hearing, “He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.” And they were glorifying God because of me. Galatians 1:21-24 NASB)

Why add this? Because, though there were Jews there, they were not Apostles. We will call them that, as a disciple is to broad a term, and the reference is specifically separating Saul, and his recent education, from those who had the influence of Jesus upon their lives. The Apostles, it seems, still held tightly to Jerusalem; held tightly to Jewish traditions – not that traditions are a bad thing unless they keep you from seeing the Messiah, and, finding the freedom in this perfect law of liberty – grace, thanks to Jesus, we now walk in.

There is one last clue, as Saul says, “ I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ.” It may have been a Jewish audience, but most of these people did not know who Saul, the former Pharisee, was.

No, this message Saul received, though deeply intertwined in scripture, came straight out of the mouth of the Holy Spirit.

Do you think he can teach us today? Absolutely, but I still need people to be a part of the fellowship in my life; for that reason, I cannot give up on the body of Christ.

Posted in Apostle Paul, bible study, End times, false teaching, Galatians, God's character, Hope | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It is not according to man. Galatians 1:11

Posted on 11/10/2017 by remso

Months ago, buried deep in the books of Daniel, Matthew, and Revelation, I began to feel the desire to go back to the richness of Paul’s letters. In all honesty, I love God’s word, but when I think about the concepts Paul was sharing with the new believers, and how radically different they were from anything the recipients had been taught, and knowing that this was the case with Paul as well; let’s just say, I am drawn to them.

In the book of Acts, we find Saul/Paul reciting his resume if you will. This description of himself includes: Being born of Pharisees; raised a Pharisee; confidently boasting that he was surpassing many of his peers in knowledge of the Torah, Talmud, and supplementary teachings; so zealous was I for what I understood to be God’s word, that I defended it violently, incarcerating those of the way, and, if necessary, having them killed. At the martyr of Stephen, we find a young Saul holding the cloaks of those who wished to throw stones.

Certainly, Saul was well-educated; we could probably say, he knew the law and prophets inside and out. And yet, Saul knew little of grace and mercy – conspicuous characteristics of God and His son Jesus. At some point in time – we know where this probably began, Saul began to be taught by Jesus himself.

(Consider for a moment, how that could happen outside of a personal revelation? As an example, we have Abram who described God’s movements as He walked between the halves of the bloody carcass. As God walked He described all that He would do for the man that followed Him. It was all a revelation; a dream. In Saul’s case, much of it may have happened instantaneously, as the men who traveled with him heard the noise that Saul heard, but could not distinguish it from thunder.)

What was Saul taught in his revelation of Jesus? The very things that Jesus demonstrated as He walked this earth.

Something else to keep in mind as you study: Jesus set aside His majesty and became a man, that means he was voluntarily on His own, as learned the Torah and Talmud, just as Saul did. And yet, something was distinctly different; Jesus found the grace and mercy in those words, not the legalism. Yes, I have heard the same traditional discussion that is spread around the church; talk that implies Jesus had God’s power inherent in him simply because of who He was (The argument can go much deeper and complicated, but that is essentially the ruse.) Given, He was born of Godly seed but that still makes him half man, and this entire process was for a specific reason – to redeem man through the blood sacrifice of a man, the God-man. Here is another of those intricate details that few latch on to. Yeshua, born of God’s seed, bypasses the one thing, apparently passed through genetics, that motivates us to do things our own way, therefore He was sin free. If he were to sin, it would have been through some serious temptation, much like Adam went through. We, in our simple little minds, love to call this motivation to do our own thing, sin.

Through Paul’s writings, we come to understand that we have goals to meet, such as: walking in love; these are referred to as the perfect law of liberty. And yet, we, almost daily, come short of fulfilling those goals, as we try to hit the mark. According to some, our missing of this mark means we have failed, and therefore subjected ourselves to the threat of hell’s flames. Our religiosity then categorizes our sins, forgetting that the price, large or small, was permanently paid on the cross and all sin was set aside. The circumvention this process is in direct contradiction to the laws of the universe. You see man/Adam, had given up the title deed to the earth, which God had put under his control. You wish to argue this point, then consider that Jesus was taken to the pinnacle of the temple and shown, by Satan, all the kingdoms of this world. Jesus did not argue that he was a fool for even saying that because Adam had given it away. But, a man, a sinless man, was going to take it all back in time. (All this is spelled out in veiled language, some of which we see almost immediately after man selfishly partakes of the forbidden fruit when God/Yeshua tells Eve, your seed will crush the serpents head.)

And yet, religion still compels all to come for forgiveness. Yes, this too I get, as the apostle, John informs us that we all sin daily.

If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. 1 John 1:6-10 NASB)

So, what then does this act of continuously asking for forgiveness look like? Perhaps forgiveness is enveloped in this idea of fellowship that John speaks of. In fellowship, there is something close what Adam had in the garden, where he walked and talked with God. It is also something our hearts long for, relationship restored.

The NASB entitles this next section – Paul, called by God,

and thus begins our look at Galatians 1:11

Galatians 1:11 MKJV And, brothers, I make known to you the gospel which was preached by me, that it is not according to man.

At this point he is not indicating what that gospel is; a gospel which he “preached” as he passed through the region on his missionary trips. However, he is making a distinction in that the message is not man’s message.

He received this message directly from the Father himself. For the skeptic, and there are always skeptics, I will ask the question for you, when did that happen? Quite possibly on the road to Damascus, as Saul was traveling with others; traveling, with the express purpose of bringing harm to any followers of “the way.” These were what the new “Christians” were called. Since Jesus informed all, who would listen, that he was “the way.” It stands to reason that new believers might take on the identification, “followers of the way.”

Since we know that Saul/Paul conveyed a message of “good news,” then it also makes sense to understand what the message was.

In a nutshell, the message is this:

Galatians 1:3-4 NASB Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 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,

Some, as I have experienced, do not believe that the message, upon which we base our hope, is necessary or effective. This is especially true if one’s goal is to beat people into submission verbally. If you think about it, that was never God’s technique; He merely presented the options to Abram and said, “as for me.” This delivery method seems simple enough, doesn’t it? God telling man, regardless of what you do, I will carry out my plan.

Now, because we have invested time in God’s word, and understand His plan of redemption, we also understand that life here on earth functions more effectively when we follow God’s formula for success (The word formula is easily perceived as law. But as believers, under grace, are we under the law? No, it is now referred to as, “the perfect law of liberty,” and it works well when followed.)

James 1:25 NET. But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out — he will be blessed in what he does.

Our freedom of choice was never removed; in many, like some wild stallion, there is a refusal to submit to the reigns. Jesus said, take up the cross and follow me. How do you exempt yourself from a submission to the one who gave his all for you? So yes, there is a “law of liberty;” and, I have chosen to submit myself to it. In doing so, I have found that it works for me, not against me.

I keep emphasizing that the Apostle Paul spoke to Jews first and foremost.

You might think that the modern “Christian” community would understand this by now. I know this is not the case, as I recently sat in an adult Sunday morning class that chose to use approved literature from a “Christian” vendor. The books used were misleading and inaccurate in their presentation and questions. Sadly, no one challenged the text, and when I did, many angrily disputed with me. In time the Apostle Paul modified his approach and took the message to the Gentiles; he did this because he was repeatedly and violently attacked by the religious, and traditional Jews.

The startling revelation here – is that the Gentiles would not have heard the words of the Torah and therefore would not have known of God’s promise to Abram and how there was to be a restoration of all things. Paul is working with blank slates and needed to bring the Gentiles up to speed.

Information about Paul’s audience plays a critical role in our understanding of the things Paul is writing; for the reasons, I explained. So, when he says, “I made known to you the gospel which was preached by me,” he is not telling the Jews something new, they already understood the far-reaching aspects of Paul’s message.

I have bounced around the edges of this message for two posts and now a third, so, what was the message that Paul shared with the Jews as he entered the Synagogues?

Common sense tells us that it had to be one that was pertinent. An aspect of those pertinent messages came from the law, but as Gentiles, we see little redemption in those restrictions. If that is true, and they are merely restrictions and not a pattern of the good things to come, then how or why would the Jews see the redemption and restoration of all things in them? Other writings, that pointed to salvation from this present evil world, could be found in the works of David and the prophets: Isaiah, Daniel, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel jump to mind.

King David said, “.. You were a forgiving God to them, And yet an avenger of their evil deeds. Psalm 99:8

Was he only talking about a momentary, present forgiveness, or is this a reference to some future time when all things will be set aside?

Isaiah prophesied, “Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless.” Isaiah 13:11 NASB

The context of Isaiah 13:11 puts this at the end of time, as He is punishing the world for evil. This theme is also spelled out in the writings of the prophet Joel and in the Revelation, but we cannot count the Revelation yet because we are focused on a message that would have been relevant to the Jewish community.

As a matter of fact, the message was so relevant that many believed, while others, conspired to have Paul beaten and stoned. In the Revelation, this punishment upon the earth is the judgment and wrath of God being poured out.

The Christian community should be rejoicing as we are not subject to wrath because we are in Christ (There are always exceptions and the parable of the ten virgins spells that out for us. If I take this parable literally, the ratio is 50 percent who will be left behind when the catching away of the church comes.) Israel, on the other hand, has reason to be concerned, as they kept chasing idols and turning their backs on God.

One of the proofs of God’s anger against Israel is found in the words of the prophet Jeremiah:

“Yet you said, ‘I am innocent; Surely His anger is turned away from me.’ Behold, I will enter into judgment with you Because you say, ‘I have not sinned.‘“ Jeremiah 2:35 NASB

So, God will enter into judgment with Israel, but when? The prophet Joel tells us that God will enter into judgment with the nations. He does this for the way they treated His people, Israel.

“I will gather all the nations And bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; And they have divided up My land.” Joel 3:2 NASB

Some would say, but Israel is no longer scattered? Is that true? No, and though the reasons may have changed, the vile hatred coming from the nations is still there.

Isaiah tells us of new heavens and earth, along with so much more; when does that happen?

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. 18) “But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing And her people for gladness. 19) “I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; And there will no longer be heard in her The voice of weeping and the sound of crying.” Isaiah 65:17-19 NASB

The obvious answer to the question, “when does that happen?”, is some obvious future date; a hope anchored on something. The Jews understood that something, to be the coming of the expected Messiah. When you read the story of the Magi, you find Herod questioning the Magi as to why they had come. In a panic, Herod calls upon the chief priests and scribes, demanding when and where this Messiah was born, that the Magi were looking for. The information they give him is taken in part from Micah the prophet.

“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.” Micah 5:2 NASB)

Yet Israel was looking for the Messiah; one who would come conquering and rule with an iron fist over Israel’s oppressors. They did not want this:

A child?

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this. Isaiah 9:6-7 NASB)

Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him? This was the exact opposite of what they saw in “king” Saul.

“For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” Isaiah 53:2-3 NASB)

And yet that is how God opted to bring Him into the world. Now comes the hard part. How do you show the Jews that the God-man, who had the flesh stripped off his back, was God himself, and now reigns with the Father until the day He returns as the sword-wielding conqueror Israel expected?

I do not know if this applied during the time of Paul but it certainly is true today, Isaiah 53 is a forbidden section of scripture in the Synagogues. A Messianic rabbi, a street evangelist if you will, shows Jews Isaiah’s words from Isaiah 53 in the Talmud, and has them read it aloud. Many recognize and admit that this could have only been Jesus the Christ, and accept Yeshua as the Messiah they have longed for.

“Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging, we are healed.” Isaiah 53:4-5 NASB)

There it is, the good news. Perhaps, in a way, more for the Jew than the Gentile, but the common ground is that there will, someday, be a relief from this evil world; a relief from this sin infested body I cannot shake, and a peace that I have never known or comprehended outside of relationship with Christ. The Jews knew this was coming but judgment hung over their heads. The Gentiles knew nothing of this hope and that is one of the reasons we and Israel, have been so infested with idolatry. We have all been seeking peace and a hope. All of that and more is found in Jesus/Yeshua when you come to Him.

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