veritas vos liberabit

“But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery—to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.” - Galatians 2:3-5

Paul in this passage is in the process of defending his apostleship and has just completed verifying his credentials based on direct revelation from Jesus Christ. The church in Galatia is in a very vulnerable situation. The Judaizers had infiltrated the church and were declaring a different gospel than the one presented to them by Paul. They were proclaiming that one must adhere to the Mosaic Law in addition to the grace found in Jesus Christ. Paul adamantly states that this is not the case and goes back to the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 which declared that salvation is by grace alone and not by works in any case or sense.

According to John MacArthur, “Titus was a Gentile, and to have had him circumcised would have undercut the gospel of grace and made him a monument of victory for the Judaizers.” This being the case, it is probable that Paul intentionally brought him along to Jerusalem to make this point. Jerusalem was the home for the apostles of the early church and if they did not require him to be circumcised, then the Judaizers had nothing to stand on.

It is obvious that the false brothers were planted in the church by Satan. The Greek word for false brothers is pseudadelphos which has been interpreted as “sham Christians” (NEB) and “pseudo-Christians” (Phillips). In fact, these “brothers” had developed a sort of hybrid faith that was neither Judaism (because they pledged allegiance to Christ) nor were they Christians (because they demanded circumcision and obedience to the Mosaic law for salvation.).

Later in the same letter, Paul would declare that “if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.” (Galatians 5:2-4)

Is it possible that we as a church have fallen away from this grace? Is the gospel that we live out on a daily basis truly built on grace or do we opt to add stipulations of our own in order to appease those that we deem worthy. To add a single work or deed to the gospel, living or spoken, is to nullify or vitiate grace.

I believe that the Judaizers really did believe that they were teaching the right thing, but it became a “man” centered gospel rather than a “Christ” centered gospel. It was based not solely on the grace of Christ, but required action and observance in order to maintain that salvation. That in turn enslaved the believers in a works based salvation which is futile and never enough to please a God that requires nothing less than righteousness.

So, where is it that true freedom lies? Liberty and freedom are a major theme of the entirety of the New Testament. Romans 7:6 says that “…Now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit.” Again, in 2 Corinthians 3:17 states that “the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” And finally, Jesus Christ, our Messiah, says himself that, “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36)

You see, once we are set free by the grace of God, we are no longer in bondage to the slavery of sin. The freedom does not lie in the fact that we have a license to sin, rather we have the freedom not to sin but to become slaves of righteousness.

In conclusion, the part that I love about the passage I opened up with is where Paul says that “we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel may be preserved for you.”

There are certain things that we as believers and the church must be willing to stand for and not yield even for a second. This includes pillars of our faith and the gospel. But, in the same note, we must be wary of legalism which was displayed in the days of Paul in the Judaizer camp. But I know that there are issues that we can very easily fall into that will bring out this biased system based gospel. May we be vigilant and humble when it comes to proclaiming and living a pure gospel that is not tainted by false motives and corrupt teachings. Stand firm!

poetry annonymous

Poetry. Some people love it, others disdain it. I'm really not sure where I fit into the whole scheme of things, but tonight I found myself in the midst of a crowd of individuals that definitely love it. I worked most of the day and had plans to come home, clean up, then go out and spend some peaceful time in the Word at a local coffee joint (let me interject here that although I work at Starbucks, I prefer to go to more low key locales so I can stay a little more focused on what I'm studying, or so I thought--and Starbucks still has better brewed coffee). Anyways, back to tonight. I've been going through the book of Galatians and God has been teaching me a ton. I love the book to begin with and could write a huge dissertation on what I'm learning, etc., but I won't bore you tonight. So, I'm doing my thing, sipping on my coffee, journaling my thoughts, examining the text, cross-references, you know, really getting into it. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see a man carrying in a speaker. "Hmm, I wonder what's about to go down here tonight?" I thought. So I'm sitting at this table for four on a booth-like bench that stretches the lenghth of the room to accomodate several other tables adjacent to where I'm sitting. The man returns with another speaker, then a microphone, then a clip-board, then a stack of books. Slowly the tables begin to fill up around me with a very "philosophical" crowd that appear as if they read Nietzsche on a regular basis. Here I am, Bible-Journal-Commentary sprawled out all over the table when I look up and one of these "philosophical" looking gentleman, white beard and glasses pushed down on his nose, asks if he could sit down at my table. I obliged, and to say the least, I went ahead and packed up my stuff because I knew it was going to be futile from then on out to attempt to study. I don't know if you've ever had the privilege to go to an open poetry event, but you should definitely check it out at least once in your life.

I am surrounded by individuals at this point that are scurrying frantically over notes, and books, and poems. One guy sitting at the table next to me was listening to a recording on a casette tape. From what I could make out, he was trying to memorize a poem in Polish. I actually overheard him speaking with a fellow poetry lover that he had invested a significant portion of his previous year learning Polish fluently so he could understand this one poem for himself.

(Time Out)

[It occured to me at this point that "poetry" was the god that these individuals worshipped. They were so diligent in preparation and research and dedication to the point that this one individual actually learned Polish to interpret this poem. I began to feel saddened for these people that had invaded my "peaceful" place in which I had hoped to get some studying accomplished. How many believers today have this type of dedication that these poetry lovers exhibit. This was their "church". They spent so much time and preparation to "fellowship" with like-minded individuals. I began to feel convicted. What if believers were that dedicated to the Scriptures. What if we spent a significant portion of our time dedicated to learning Greek or Hebrew. Something to think about.]

Back to poetry night. The man that sat down at the table had noticed that I was reading my Bible when he arrived. He asked me if I was a religion major and I shared with him the fact that I had studied theology. The first thing he asked me was if I thought Paul was a Gnostic, then he informed me that Jesus had actually asked Judas to betray Him because he was his number one disciple. I attempted to combat that theory in Luke where he states that Satan entered Judas before his betrayal. Long story short, I realized that I could only give Him the truth that I have been commisioned as a Christ follower to proclaim. I gave him a very clear presentation of the gospel and was very adament that Christianity is not "works-based" in any form and that is what separates it from all other religions in the world. I'm not sure if it had any impact, but he did tell me I had a "good" mind whatever that's supposed to mean.

I was tempted to get on the microphone and read Ecclesiastes but the slots were already filled up. Maybe next time!

hammer and chisel

"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." This blog is dedicated to all those whom I have been privileged to cross paths with on this side of eternity. Those who have had the courage and the strength along the way to confront me when I'm wrong and continue to love me despite my weaknesses and shortcomings. Those who have gone out of their way to make an impact on the areas of my life that continually need developing. I would not be the person I am today without you. I am truly thankful from the bottom of my heart that God has seen fit to place people in and around my life to protect me, encourage me, but most of all make me a better person by being honest and letting me have it from time to time.

There's a story about a young boy that was walking on his way to school one morning and he happens to look into his neighbors yard and spots a massive boulder of granite. Curious, as most young boys are, he approached his neighbor and inquired about the large boulder. The old man, whom had a full white beard and wrinkles around his eyes and lips, responded that it actually wasn't a boulder at all, but it happend to be a lion. The young boy, confused as he was, shook his head and walked on to school. Each day, the boy could not help but notice the diligence of the old man swinging his hammer into the back of the pick and chipping away at this stone for hours and days on end. The boy slowly noticed that the boulder began to take on a shape. Indeed, each day the stone began to look more and more like a lion, until one day the boy walked by and he almost fell over in fear, because he was looking at the most life-like sculpture he had ever encountered. There was a beautiful lion in all it's glory looking right at him. A full mane, eyes shining, and teeth exposed. The young boy was awe struck. The old man approached the boy and took him back to the day which the boy first saw the boulder and began to speak. "You know son, there was lion inside this stone the whole time. I just simply had to chip away every part of the stone that wasn't part of the lion."

I feel that this is true of our lives as Christ followers. You see, Christ chooses to chip away every area of our life that is not part of what He is. This may take many different forms, but He sees us as that completed lion in all its glory. Some day we will be just like Him, but it takes friends and those willing to chip away at those areas that aren't part of Christ. Although the strikes of the hammer may hurt at times and the scars may not heal right away, you will be a better person because of it in the long run. In fact, 2 Ti 3:12 says that "all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." It's not a matter of "if", it's a matter of "when" if you truly desire to live as Christ.

I probably don't say this enough, but I truly thank God for each and everyone of you and I probably don't express that enough. I love you and perhaps you won't ever know how much until we are completed in Christ that one day and we can reminisce all those blows that we dealt each other out of love and respect and care for one another. So, please, by all means, keep swinging that hammer! I need it more than you could ever know!

Discover Your Roots! (repost)

[I recently picked up a book that I read a while back and began thumbing through it. It's one of those books that you know had an impact on you, but you don't remember how much until you refresh yourself. Anyways, its a book titled Constantine's Sword. If you ever get the time, I highly recommend it. Here's a post that I wrote a while back the first time I read it!]

Okay, so I'm really into this book I've been reading of late--Constantine's Sword. I don't know if it's where I lived in Israel and feed off of Jewish history or just because it's an awesome book and it's rockin' my chacos right off my feet (and yes I still where chacos in the witer--it's good for the soul). Anyways, It's a pretty big and wordy book and I'm just now finishing up the part that deals with New Testament origins of this whole Christian-Jewish conflict. Believe it or not, many of the first century believers were Jewish to the core. People don't realize the history/social context that the gospels were written in. There were numerous internecine battles/conflicts between differing Jewish sects. Christianity at that time was merely a "sect" of Judaism as far as the Roman empire was concerned. So, when the Gospels/Pauline epistles were originally penned, they were written with a polemical purpose in mind. The kerygma that the authors were trying to proclaim was done so in this "Jewish" sectarian controversy in mind. So, when we fail to realize that the "Jews" that killed Jesus were merely written by Jews referring to "Jewish sects" (Essenes, Pharissees, Sadducees, Sacarii, Qumran communities and the like, etc.) there is a "supersessionism" that takes place whereby the "Christians" have replaced the "Jews" and the new has replaced the old, etc. It was never inteneded to be this way. Christianity is merely a fulfillment of Judaism and an extension of the original Jewish faith. Believers today do not know their roots and this is to their shame. How is it that anti-semitism came to the point that six million Jews were annihalated at the hands of Hitler in the Shoah? The whole time this was happening the "Christians" sat back and were silent. But, when it came to 70,000 "Christians" that were in place to be slaughtered by Hitler, they stood up and protested and Hitler refrained. Many believe if the same would have happend in support of the Jews, the Holocaust may have never happend.

So, I challenge you on this point. Study your roots. Find out God's plan for the "church" and his plan for "Israel". Study the history and social context during the writing of the NT. We can only learn from the past and history is always doomed to repeat itself. May we never forget. L'chaim!