Paul emphasized in Galatians 1:10-14 that Yeshua (Jesus) is the only way for humanity to enter God’s Presence. Paul rejected tradition (halachah, “way of walking”) he previously held as a Pharisee that taught a different way of salvation, a “different gospel”: be converted via circumcision to be part of Israel (Acts 15:1). Paul, as Yeshua’s apostle, affirmed Yeshua’s teachings on the enduring primacy of the Law and the Prophets (Matt. 5:17-19; Luke 16:16-17). Yeshua taught Paul on the Damascus road why that “different gospel” must be rejected (Acts 22:3-15; 26:15-18). While Paul considered that halachah as “loss,” he maintained others (worship on Shabbat) that help one live out God’s mitzvot, khuquot and mishpatim (commandments, ordinances and judgments).
Tag: Galatians 01
What is the “different gospel” Paul is excoriating the congregations of Galatia? This study from the
Galatians in general and chapters 2 and 3 in particular frequently are used to prove that observing the Law isn’t required for believers. However, the discussion of “justification” and “works of [the] law” in this passage reinforces that the real problem was excluding “justified” believers in God and His Messiah from membership in Israel, whose constitution is the Law of God.
Who makes us holy? Paul calls his hearers to remember that it is Yeshua who makes us holy. Yeshua makes us holy when He creates in us a new heart. We discover the definition of sin and the remedy for sin in the same text. Paul is not giving the Galatians a new Torah, a new teaching. He is sending them back to the old ways that were there all along yet hidden and ignored. We explore the “new covenant” transformation from “old self” to “new self” in Colossians 2–4 and Romans 5-7.
We continue to explore the “gospel” that Paul delivered to the Galatians by reading what is recorded of his messages to those congregations and his parallel explanations in letter to other congregations. Today, we explore Ephesians 2-4 and its discussion of the “new man” and “old man.”
We are continuing our New Testament study on the New Covenant as revealed in the writings of the Apostle Paul. Before figuring out “different gospel” Paul is speaking against in the letter to the Galatians, we should look at what “gospel” he presented to the Galatian congregations, as recorded in Acts 13:14-52.