Saturday, November 14, 2020
The Flesh versus The Spirit (The Law of God and Galatians 5 - part 2)
The Flesh vs
The
Spirit
(The Law of God
and Galatians 5 – part 2)
People love to quote
Paul to ‘prove’ they don’t have to keep the Law of God.
Did you know that
even Peter thought Paul’s letters were confusing?
2Peter 3:15b “as also our beloved brother Paul,
according to the wisdom given to
him, has written
to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these
things, in
which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and
unstable people
twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the
Scriptures.”
Don’t be quick to quote
Paul you might NOT understand him. Here in Galatians 5 he spends most of his
time dealing with the battle we all face. The LUST of the FLESH vs. Walking in
the SPIRIT.
Galatians 5:16 “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you
shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” 17 “For the flesh lusts
against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary
to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you
are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”
Is Paul saying
either you are led by the Spirit or you keep the law? This
doesn’t seem to add up. That sounds like the law is bad.
The Spirit of God
has the same character and attributes as God.
If God is good, His Spirit is good.
His Law should be too. God is RIGHTEOUS; His Spirit is RIGHTEOUS. So, His LAW should be too.
God is LOVE.
His Spirit is LOVE. So, His LAW should be too.
Psalm 19:7 The LAW of the LORD is perfect,
converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making
wise the simple; 8
The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The
commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; 9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring
forever; The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.”
What part of that
sounds BAD to you?
Then what did Paul
mean by being “under the Law”?
Let’s look at more
of Galatians 5.
Remember, Paul
told us the flesh is against the Spirit. Look at what Paul calls the
Works of the Flesh:
Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are
evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts
of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders,
drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I
also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not
inherit the kingdom of God.
ALL of these are Sins
listed as violations of God’s Law. Then Paul lists the Fruit of the Spirit:
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ's have crucified
the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit,
let us also walk in the Spirit”.
These Fruit are
all desirable traits of the child of God.
Paul is contrasting
the Flesh and the Spirit. The Lusts of the Flesh are all things
which the Law tells us not to do. God gave the Law to show us what is Right
and what is Wrong.
The Flesh wants to BREAK God’s Law. The
Spirit wants to keep God’s law.
Why does Paul say
this?
Galatians
5:18 “But if you are led
by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”
He seems to be equating
the Lust of the Flesh with ‘under the Law’. ‘Under the Law’ refers to someone who can’t
help themselves.
This Law controls
them. They are in bondage. What Law controls them?
The Law of
Sin and Death :
Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
**Here is something
important to note! Sometimes Paul answers
our questions in other letters he wrote. If we read Romans 8:1-9 he
spells it out.
Romans
8:1 There is therefore now
no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according
to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin
and death. 3 For what the law
could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did
by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin:
He condemned sin in the flesh,
***
Stop there. Not that the Law was weak. It was the Flesh
that is/was the problem!
Our FLESH willingly
violates God’s Law so we suffer the consequences of our SIN. We all know that
the wages of our sin is death.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The carnal or natural man is 'unsaved'. He has not been born again and received the Spirit of God within him. That is the difference. This is unbelievers versus believers. Not fighting each other, but the way they deal with God's Law is at odds.
Hopefully, some of this is
making sense. What does this mean for the believer
today?
What are you doing
if you claim to walk by the Spirit but REFUSE to keep the LAW?
A believer
should WANT to keep God’s Law and be OBEDIENT.
The unsaved
person doesn’t care about God’s Laws and doesn’t try to keep them.
The CURSE of the
LAW is on all who break it.
Yeshua redeemed us
from the CURSE of the LAW.
Galatians
3:13 “Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written,
Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree”.
Then WHY would we continue
to BREAK God’s LAW afterwards?
I understand. We have been LIED TO. They told us the Law was done away.
This is EXACTLY
what Peter warned about.
2Peter 3:16 “(Paul) in all his epistles, speaking in them of these
things,in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and
unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the
rest of the Scriptures”.
Yeshua came to bring us the NEW COVENANT . What does that do?
Jeremiah 31:31 "Behold, the days are coming, says
the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the
house of Judah- 32 "not according to the covenant that I made with their
fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of
Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD”.
33 "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds,and
write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people”.
Ezekiel
11:19 "Then I
will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and
take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, 20 "that they may walk in My statutes
and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will
be their God.
Ezekiel
36:25 "Then I
will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you
from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 "I will give you a
new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone
out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 "I will put My
Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My
judgments and do them.
THAT is the New
Covenant. What Covenant are YOU keeping?
Matthew 26:27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and
gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28 "For this is My blood of the New Covenant,
which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
You now have a choice. Ignore God’s Law and be rebellious. Follow God’s Law and be obedient.
Matthew 7:21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'
Matthew 7:23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I
never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
Luke 13:23 Then one said to Him, "Lord, are
there few who are saved?" And He said to them, 24 "Strive to enter
through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and
will not be able. 25 "When once the Master of the house has risen up and
shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, 'Lord,
Lord, open for us,'and He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know you,
where you are from,' 26
"then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You
taught in our streets.' 27 "But He will say, 'I tell you I do not know
you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of
iniquity.' 28 "There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,
when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of
God, and yourselves thrust out.”
I don’t want this
for any believers. Start reading the Book of the Law. Begin with Exodus and go
through Deuteronomy.
Read the
commandments and believe them.
Then you need to
start learning them to do them. You will see that some of these commandments you
can start doing. Others you can’t or don’t
understand. Do not try to learn how to
do priestly duties – you are not a priest.
If you are a man, obviously you can’t keep ones that are for women
only. You also don’t need to learn how
to bring sacrifices. It is not lawful
for anyone to bring a sacrifice now that the Temple in Jerusalem is destroyed
and a priesthood who are sons of Aaron is not in place. These are also God’s rules, so don’t stress
about those parts. The Law is not a burden.
You can do it.
1John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep
His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
This is what I mean
when I say, “Return to Yehovah”.
Compiled by G.E. Walker November
2020
Saturday, November 7, 2020
The Law of God
and Galatians 5
I was asked
recently for my view on Galatians chapter 5.
The person asking did not agree with my perspective of the Law of God
and seemed to want to test me on this chapter.
Galatians is a book that is often quoted by people who do not want to
keep the Law, so I was not surprised.
I know many things
Paul has written can be taken as against the Law and are confusing. Even the Apostle Peter thought so.
2Peter 3:15b “as also our beloved brother Paul,
according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his
epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to
understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own
destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
I wish to deal with the meat of this chapter rather than every verse. Paul seems to keep to the same theme throughout. This is by no means an exhaustive explanation of the passage, but I wanted to present an answer.
Galatians
5:1 Stand fast therefore
in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be
entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 2 Indeed I, Paul, say to
you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. 3 And I
testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep
the whole law. 4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt
to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.”
Hebrews 2:14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken
of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death
He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release
those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
If you are a believer, you know these things to be true. But Paul also mentioned a “yoke of bondage” that we should not be entangled with. Some people assume he means the Law of God is this yoke.
Look back in the
scriptures and see all those who kept the Law of Moses. People like Joshua,
Samuel, David, Daniel and so many others.
Do you think they considered the Law a ‘yoke of bondage’? If so, you
sure do not see it in the Psalms or in the lives of these men. It was their pleasure to be obedient to the
God of Israel.
Something was
different about each of them. They knew
and loved Yehovah their God by faith, not out of duty. The Torah (five books of Moses) and later
parts of the Bible teach who God is so we can know His power and His character.
Romans
10:17 “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Psalm
19:7 The law of the
LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure,
making wise the simple;
8
The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The
commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9
The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the
LORD are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
There is no way
the Apostle Paul would say this Law is a yoke of bondage.
What more did Paul
say to the Galatians?
Galatians
5:13 “For you, brethren,
have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the
flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one
word, even in this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one
another!
It sounds like he
is praising the Law because it is all about loving your neighbor. Then he
begins to dig into the battle all believers face. The Flesh versus the Spirit.
Galatians 5:16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”
This sounds like
either you are led by the Spirit of God, or you are one of those who keeps the
Law (of God). Does that sound odd to
anybody?
The Spirit of God
has the same attributes as God himself.
We know His Law is good and right and true. So how can these two be against each other?
We are dealing
with either believers or non-believers.
This is not about head knowledge; it is about salvation. If one has been ‘born again’ he has the
Spirit of God within. An unbeliever does
not have the Spirit and cannot understand the things of God.
1Corinthians 2:14 “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
First, look at
what Paul calls the Works of the Flesh:
Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
All of these are sins which the Torah tells us not to do. Some of the words might be different but they refer to the same acts that are against God’s Law.
Then Paul lists
what he calls the Fruit of the Spirit:
Galatians
5:22 But the fruit of
the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness,23
gentleness, self-control.
Against such there is no law. 24
And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and
desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk
in the Spirit. 26 Let us not
become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
These are all desirable traits of the follower of God. He even says, ‘there is no law against these’. By that I think he means, there is nothing in God’s Law telling us not to have these.
Paul is
showing the flesh vs the Spirit.
The things he
calls ‘Lusts of the flesh’ are ALL things which the Law tells us not to do.
The Law of God
tells us what is right and what is wrong.
In the flesh, we
want to break the Laws.
In the Spirit we don’t.
From verse 18,
Paul seems to be saying, “if you walk by the Spirit you will not walk after the
lusts of the flesh”. He calls it being “under the Law”.
Galatians 5:18 “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”
I’d say in modern
Christian terms that he means an unsaved person is ‘under the Law’.
That sounds
strange to me. He must mean they are living “Under the Curse of the Law”;
not that they are living by God’s Law.
We know this
because he tells us the Flesh lives to do the things the Law forbids.
He equates walking
in the Spirit with “Being obedient to the Law”, although he doesn’t say it that
way.
Likewise, the Fruit of the Spirit is all the good, kind, loving things. We know that ‘Loving your neighbor as yourself’ IS kind, good and loving.
Somehow the Church
has twisted Paul’s words to say that someone who lives by God’s Law is walking
in the flesh!
That is exactly opposite of what Paul has said.
Verse 16 could be
reworded like this:
‘Walk in the
Spirit and you will NOT do the things which the Law forbids.’
Galatians
5:16 “I say then: Walk in
the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
Walking in the Flesh is breaking the Law.
*Here is where this can get a little uncomfortable for the believer today.
What are we doing
if we claim to walk in the Spirit but refuse to keep the Law?
The saved person
or believer should want to follow God’s ways and be obedient.
The unsaved person
doesn’t care about God’s Laws and doesn’t bother trying to keep them.
The CURSE of the
Law is on all who break it.
Yeshua redeemed us from the CURSE of the Law. Then why would we continue to break God’s Laws afterwards?
I understand. We
have been LIED TO. The Enemy told us the Law is done away. That is why
believers today don’t think they need to keep the Law.
They actually
think the Law is bad!
By keeping the Law,
you are promised Blessing.
By breaking the Law,
you get the curses.
You tell me which is better.
Believers say they
are under the New Covenant. Okay, but
what does that covenant promise?
Jeremiah 31:31 "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah- 32 "not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. 33 "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Ezekiel 11:19 "Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, 20 "that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.
Ezekiel
36:25 "Then I will
sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from
all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 "I will give you a new heart and
put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your
flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to
walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
A believer has the
Spirit of God within them. God has written His Law on our hearts.
Why would we not
walk by this same Spirit that is within us?
Would the Spirit
of God, tell you to stop obeying God? Of course not.
His law is written
on your heart. That should make it easier to follow.
Why would God write something bad on our hearts in the New Covenant??
I have learned a
few things from trying to keep the Law for the past 14 years. The Torah list
the many things God considers sins. For
example, there is a whole section on sexual sins. Not every sin is listed, but enough that you know
what you should and should not engage in.
He tells you what
you should and should not eat, since some foods are abominations to Him. He
wants us to keep the Ten Commandments and to observe His feasts. He gives us what are called statutes and
judgments to teach us how to treat our fellow man. In essence, He teaches us how to judge righteously
and make righteous choices for our own good.
For me, by
learning the Torah I have a better idea how God wants me to live and it is
easier to ‘walk in the Spirit’ because I know what the Spirit would want me to
do. Can you see what I mean? The Spirit
of God can’t teach you things from the Bible that you have never read or that
you believe are not necessary to do.
The more we read
God’s Word, the more the Spirit can draw from to teach and guide us. What is
the solution? Read the Torah. Start reading, studying, and learning the Law
of God right from your own Bible. Do not
go to commentaries and don’t ask your pastor. Most pastors have no knowledge of
the Torah and would warn you to stay away from it. The Holy Spirit of God will guide you into
all Truth, but you must let him shine His light on the pages of the Word of
God.
Matthew 13:43 "Then the righteous will shine forth
as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let
him hear!
Friday, November 6, 2020
The Feasts of the LORD - Introductory Basics
The Feasts of the
LORD
Introductory basics
If you are just
learning about the Feasts of the LORD from the Old Testament, you will need some
basic information to help you understand.
Why does God have
a calendar? He moves in the lives of men.
Throughout history, events have been
scheduled around holy days that His people are to remember. These holy days are used for signs to us and
are considered ‘appointed times’ to meet with God.
A. The sun and the moon are there for a reason.
Genesis 1:14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the
firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for
signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 15
And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon
the earth”: and it was so. 16 And God made two great lights; the greater light
to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars
also.
1. The
word for ‘sign’ in Hebrew is: twa 'owth,
oth - Strong’s #0226
a
signal, as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence, ensign, token.
2. The
word for ‘season’ in Hebrew is: dewm
mow`ed,
mo-ade' – Strong’s #04150
properly,
an appointment, i.e. a fixed time or season; specifically, a festival; an
assembly (as convened for a definite purpose); appointed time.
You will find that
the moon is particularly important to the timing of the feasts. Sometimes it is the very first sliver of the
New Moon seen in the sky that determines when a feast begins. Other times, when the moon is Full you can
know it is the time of a different feast.
This will make sense later.
B. When
does a day begin?
This might seem trivial, but God’s day begins differently than we are used to. Several verses in Genesis 1 show this.
Genesis 1:5 And
God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening
and the morning were the first day.
Genesis 1:8 And
God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the
second day.
Genesis 1:13 And the
evening and the morning were the third day.
Genesis 1:19 And the
evening and the morning were the fourth day.
This shows that God started each day in the evening. When the sun goes down on a given day, it is
considered the end of one day and the beginning of the next. This will be seen with the weekly
Sabbath. On Friday night at sundown, the
Sabbath begins. It runs all through the day we call Saturday until sundown
again. Technically we would say Saturday
is the Sabbath, but it begins right at sunset on Friday evening, not after
midnight.
This is another important concept to understand. It will carry on through the entire
Bible. If you do not know this and the
previous concepts mentioned, there are many passages that you will not
understand.
C. When does a month begin?
In modern times, we have a calendar that tells us when a month
begins. When a month begins is not
spelled out as obviously as some other things.
As you learn more about the feasts, it will become clear.
For God’s Calendar, the month can be either 29 or 30 days. There
is no such thing as a 28-day month or a 31-day month. This is based on the cycle of the moon waxing
and waning. As a month progresses, the moon at first gets bigger and bigger
until it is full. Then it starts waning
and gets smaller and smaller becoming a thinner and thinner crescent.
Eventually, it will be invisible to the eye (completely dark). This period of NO moon can last 2 or 3
days.
At some point, the first sliver of the “new moon” can be seen
in the sky. When that occurs, it marks
the beginning of the New Month. In
Hebrew it is “rosh chodesh” or head of the month. The word ‘chodesh’ (pronounced like kodesh) is
‘month’ as in a new month, or new moon.
In the Bible, God did not have to explain this to Moses (from what we can read). The people watched the sun, moon, and stars and understood things that many today don’t.
*Please note: What the
Bible calls a New Moon is different from what modern science says. NASA and other scientific sites consider the
dark moon period the ‘new moon’. That may work for people with computers and
telescopes, but not for the average shepherd or Israelite trying to keep track
of the months.
Why keep track of the months?
Because all of the feasts depend on knowing what day it is in a given
month. You will see that some Feasts
begin on the 1st day, some on the 14th day and some on
the 15th day. If you don’t
know when a month began, how do you know which day it is?
These are “appointed times” that God has established. He wants us to be there for His
appointments. If we love and want to
follow Yehovah, the God of Israel, we need to be obedient and follow His
calendar.
Numbers 10:10 Also in the day of your
gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months,
ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the
sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial
before your God: I am the LORD your God.
Isaiah 66:23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.
D. When
does the year begin?
Different cultures start their calendars at different
times. In the western world of today,
January 1st begins the year.
In Judaism, sometime in September is called Rosh Hashanah and is
considered the beginning of the year.
We are trying to keep God’s calendar as laid out in the Word
of God.
To do this, we must go back to the time of the Exodus from Egypt.
Exodus 12:1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses
and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2
"This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month
of the year to you. 3 "Speak
to all the congregation of Israel, saying: 'On the tenth day of this month
every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father,
a lamb for a household.”
God was instructing Moses that the time of the Passover was to be the beginning of the year for their calendar from then on. I do not know exactly what calendar they kept at that time, but it is clear this is what God wanted them to do and remember.
If you want to confirm that this was at Passover time, read
Exodus chapter 11, and the verses in chapter 12 following the passage
above.
We will look at more detail on Passover later.
At this point, you know when God wants the year to begin. You know when a month begins. You know when each day begins and ends. You also know that the Feast days are meant to be signs or appointed times for God’s people.
Compiled by G. E. Walker November
2020
Thursday, November 5, 2020
Some Thoughts on Galatians 2:11-21 from my Torah perspective.
(part 2)
In a recent
discussion I had with some people in comments on a YouTube video (not mine), I
was asked my understanding of several verses of the New Testament. This would have been a huge amount of time and
writing to fully discuss how I understand these passages. There was no good way
to do that in the comment section of someone else’s video. I decided to write out some of my thoughts
and put them on a blog post. I will then
respond the questioner with a link to the post so they can read it. This is by
no means an exhaustive explanation of the passage, but I wanted to present an
answer.
For this post, we
will refer to Galatians 2:11-21
Galatians 2:11 Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I
withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; 12 for before certain
men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he
withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. 13
And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even
Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.
14 But when I saw that they were not
straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all,
"If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews,
why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews? 15 "We who are Jews by nature,
and not sinners of the Gentiles, 16 "knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in
Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the
works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. 17 "But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ,
we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin?
Certainly not!
18 "For if I build again those things
which I destroyed; I make myself a transgressor. 19
"For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. 20
"I have been crucified with Christ; 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 for me. 21 "I do not set aside
the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died
in vain."
Peter and the others were raised to think they should not be near Gentiles. Mainly they should not go in their homes or eat their food. This started with the idea that Gentiles might be ‘ritually’ unclean for various reasons (all mentioned in the Torah). If you touched something unclean you were not able to go to the Temple until you became clean again.
For example, touching a dead body, or eating unclean foods by accident. Of course, you could become clean again - also explained in the Law.
Remember Peter’s
vision of the sheet and his going to Cornelius’ house?
Acts 9b - “Peter went up on the housetop to
pray, about the sixth hour. 10 Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but
while they made ready, he fell into a trance 11 and saw heaven opened and an
object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let
down to the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth,
wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. 13 And a voice came to him,
"Rise, Peter; kill and eat." 14 But Peter said, "Not so, Lord!
For I have never eaten anything common or unclean."
With that
background, Peter still had to consider unclean aspects. He learned from the
experience with Cornelius, but still had more to understand.
Paul recognized
this error and corrected Peter.
No doubt he remembered some of Yeshua’s words from years before. In the story
of the Good Samaritan, some religious men refused to help the injured man on
the road. It can be argued that they were heartless, but it could also be they
did not want to become ‘ceremonially’ unclean. One was a priest and the other a
Levite. They might have had duties to
perform in the Temple. This might have
been a time of one of the Feasts. These were real concerns, but the right thing
to do is always to help your fellow man first.
In other words, “Love your neighbor as yourself”.
Then Paul makes
a big point:
Galatians 2:16
“knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in
Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified
by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law
no flesh shall be justified.”
This I agree with
100%. We are saved (or justified) by faith in Yeshua our Messiah. Doing the
works of the Law does not save us.
It will bring
blessing if we keep it, or curses if we fail to. It will NOT bring
Salvation.
Even before
Yeshua, the people had to have faith. Some did the works of the Law as
religious practices but had no love for Yehovah.
Some loved Yehovah
like Samuel and David. Some disobeyed Him like king Saul.
Some were good
like Josiah. Others were wicked like Ahab and Jezebel.
Zechariah and
Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist, were righteous before God and
‘blameless’ regarding the Law.
Luke
1:5 “There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named
Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron,
and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking
in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.”
When Yeshua walked
the earth, the priests and religious leaders had become corrupt. They loved their
positions of authority and the attention they received. They did not teach the
people correctly so many fell away from the true faith and keeping the
commandments correctly.
Then came John
telling them to Repent. Yeshua came also saying, “Repent”.
Both were calling
the people to Return to the correct way of keeping the Law.
That is why they
both spoke against the scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites.
The people were
not keeping the commandments and John and Yeshua were bringing them back.
Getting back to
verse 17.
Galatians
2:17 "But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also
are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not!
Remember what the
Bible defines as a sinner. Someone who transgresses the Law.
1John 3:4 “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth
also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law”. (KJV)
1John 3:4 “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness”. (NKJV)
Paul is basically saying. If you have been saved by Messiah (justified) don’t go back to breaking the Law thereby becoming a sinner.
He did NOT say
that the Law was done away.
An example might
be this. What if a person was an adulterer? Then they learn that is against
God’s Law and they want mercy. They confess their sin to God, accept Yeshua and
are forgiven. Now they need to go forward keeping the commandments. But if this
person went again to commit adultery they are again sinning. If Paul were truly
saying the Law was done, the adulterer would be okay.
Instead we know
that cannot be the case. Yes, adultery was an extreme example, but you see the point,
I hope.
Another example
might be a person is a believer and goes to church every Sunday. But one day they learn that the Sabbath is Saturday
and was changed by the catholic church.
This doesn’t make Sunday bad, but calling it the Sabbath is wrong. If this person starts keeping the real
Sabbath as described in the Bible (not working, not buying or selling, etc.)
they are doing right in God’s eyes.
However, if they learn this but then go back to doing what they want to
on God’s Sabbath and refuse to keep it holy, they are now sinning.
To this Paul says,
Galatians
2:18 "For if I build again those things which I destroyed; I make myself a
transgressor.”
The bottom line is
we are Saved through Faith in the shed blood of Yeshua as covering our sins.
Keeping the Law
does NOT save you. Breaking the Law
willfully is Sin. Do we want to be obedient to God or rebellious?
I know many of
Paul’s teachings are confusing and seem to contradict other parts of scripture.
Even Peter thought Paul could be hard to understand…
2Peter 3:14 “Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation--as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,16 “as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. 17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.”
Yehovah bless all
who have ears to hear.
Some Thoughts on Galatians 2:1-10 from my understanding of the Torah.
Some thoughts on Galatians
2:1-10
In a recent
discussion I had with some people in comments on a YouTube video (not mine), I
was asked my understanding of several verses of the New Testament. This would have been a huge amount of time and
writing to fully discuss how I understand these passages. There was no good way
to do that in the comment section of someone else’s video. I decided to write out some of my thoughts
and put them on a blog post. I will then
respond to the questioner with a link to the post so they can read it. This is
by no means an exhaustive explanation of the passage, but I wanted to present
an answer. These are my views after having learned and followed the Torah for
over 14 years. I do not know it all. I
do not have it all figured out. But I
understand more today than I did in 24 years of being a Christian without knowing
the Torah.
For this post, I
will refer to Galatians 2:1-10.
Galatians 2:1 “Then after fourteen years I went up again
to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me. 2 And I went up by revelation, and
communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately
to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in
vain.
3 Yet not
even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. 4 And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth
to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us
into bondage), 5
to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the
gospel might continue with you. 6
But from those who seemed to be something--whatever they were, it makes no
difference to me; God shows personal favoritism to no man--for those who seemed
to be something added nothing to me.
7 But on the contrary, when they saw that
the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for
the circumcised was to Peter 8
(for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised
also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles), 9 and when James, Cephas, and John, who
seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave
me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles
and they to the circumcised. 10
They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also
was eager to do.”
This passage recounts a time when Paul and Barnabas went up to Jerusalem and met with Peter, James and John. They encountered some crafty men who tried to get them back to the ways of the Pharisees (rabbis today). One of those ‘ways’ was to demand that no one could follow the God of Israel without being circumcised. (My words, not theirs per se.)
Paul saw through
them and didn’t give them any time. Remember he came from that background. He
understood how they thought, but now he had a newer perspective.
Titus was a Greek
or Gentile. He felt no compulsion to get circumcised. I have no problem with
that. I have considered this from different angles, but either way, it is clear
that faith in Yeshua as Messiah does not in any way depend on being circumcised.
Circumcision was
the sign of the covenant between YHVH and Abram for the Land of Canaan. It was
for Abram’s descendants.
Here is how God
explained it:
Genesis 17:7 "And I will establish My
covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their
generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants
after you. 8 "Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land
in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting
possession; and I will be their God." 9 And God said to Abraham: "As
for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you
throughout their generations. 10 "This is My covenant which you shall
keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among
you shall be circumcised; 11 "and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of
your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. 12
"He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child
in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any
foreigner who is not your descendant. 13 "He who is born in your house and
he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be
in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14 "And the uncircumcised male
child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall
be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant."
Both Paul and the
Apostles would look to Salvation first. That is primary. Titus
was saved by the blood of Yeshua. He was learning the Bible as he grew and
matured (as are all of us). It might be that later he chose to join that
covenant and did get circumcised, but he might never have. I was circumcised as
a child, so I don’t have a strong opinion. I will say this. Every time I read the passage in Genesis 17 (above),
I can’t help but feel that if I were not circumcised, I would want to be. I want to be part of God’s family and covenants.
Let’s look at
verse 4, of Galatians 2, again:
“…false
brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty
which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage)”
The Liberty that
these spies wanted to look at was partly that Gentiles were coming to faith in
the God of Israel. But I think more specifically, they were bothered that they
weren’t following the man-made commands of the Pharisees such as washing of
hands, only walking so far on the Sabbath, circumcision and others. Remember, these were the same men who were
angry at Yeshua for healing people on the Sabbath! No concern that people who
had suffered with terrible ailments for years might be set free; only that He
dared to do it on the Sabbath! No doubt they were actually jealous that He
healed at all and was making these religious men look like fakes. But despite this, there were still plenty of
followers of the Pharisees that still held to their teachings.
Do not assume it was liberty from keeping God’s
commandments.
A common theory in
many Christian circles is that these religious Jews were simply pushing new
Christians to keep the Law (as written in the Torah). That could not be farther
from the truth. The bondage Paul referred to was the long list of man-made
rules the rabbis insisted people do. (as stated above)
I have known of many Jews who left modern day Judaism because of all the ridiculous rules. They described it as a burden too heavy for anyone to carry. Instead, they would go off and try other religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and other Eastern mystical religions. When these Jews (by birth) investigated Christianity, they saw Yeshua was a Jew who kept the written Law and did not follow man’s rules. He was one of their people who followed the ways of the patriarchs and the faithful people in the Bible. Finally, everything made sense.
They then embraced Yeshua as the Messiah and were reconnected to the God of their Fathers! I have heard plenty of testimonies to this effect and am moved by their heartfelt love.
You can find these
on the One For Israel website or YouTube channel under “I
Met Messiah”.
Here is a link to
several such testimonies:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sMEkGoojbg&list=PLXiBkdTbRi-wmDEU85JJcZbqDw8RoOxOc
Next, Paul
mentioned they gospel of the uncircumcised and the gospel of the circumcised.
Are there two gospels? No.
One was taken to
the Jewish people (already circumcised) the other to the Gentiles.
Peter, James and
John saw that Paul was not a heretic. His job was to go to the Gentiles. They
focused on their people, the Jews and those who lived near Jerusalem.
Paul was NOT
teaching against the Law or the elders would have condemned him. Instead they
gave him their blessing.
Keep in mind,
these three elders walked with Jesus. They knew his message. They also had seen
him heal and minister to some Gentiles. I’m sure it was very exciting to see
this gospel spread to the rest of the world.
Lastly, they all
agreed that Paul should remember the poor. That comes from the Torah. That is
loving your neighbor.
Compiled by G.E. Walker November
2020