The Epistles of Paul

The Epistles of Paul - 2 Corinthians Part 1: The Affliction of the Anointed

According to the 27th edition of the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece, Paul's second epistle to the Corinthians is attested to in 2 ancient Great Uncial manuscripts dating to the 4th century (א and B), 4 dating to the 5th century (A, C, I 016, and 048), and 7 dating to the 6th century (D, H 015, 0186, 0223, 0225, 0285 and 0296). It is also attested to in the Chester Beatty papyrus labeled P46, which is esteemed to date to circa 200 AD. The 28th edition of the Novum Testamentum Graece adds to that list the more recently discovered papyrus P99, which is dated to around 400 AD and in which are preserved considerable fragments of chapters from throughout the epistle, as well as the 5th century papyrus P117 which contains portions of chapters 7 and 8, and the 6th century papyrus P124 in which is preserved fragments of chapter 11. Therefore the contents of the epistle are well attested from ancient sources.

After spending approximately three years in Ephesus, Paul of Tarsus had departed from the city in 56 AD. We can date his departure by reckoning backwards from the time of his detention in Caesareia which is given by Luke in the final chapters of the Book of Acts, in relation to the tenures of office of the Roman procurators Festus and Felix which are known from secular history. For this the primary witness in Luke's writing is at Acts 24:26-27 which states of Antonius Felix that “He hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul, that he might loose him: wherefore he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him. But after two years Porcius Festus came into Felix' room: and Felix, willing to shew the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound.” While historians are divided over whether it was 58 AD or 59AD, the one year difference in the chronology is close enough for us. We cannot be absolutely certain, but for various historical reasons we are confident that the year was 59, and we can count back through the Book of Acts to this point in 56 AD.

The Epistles of Paul - 2 Corinthians Part 2: Comfort and Mercy

In the opening chapter of his second epistle to the Corinthians, on several occasions Paul had referred to encouragement, or comfort as the word may alternately be rendered. He also spoke about affliction. Ostensibly, the encouragement was being referred to because of the affliction which he had described, as he told his readers that “just as you are partners of the sufferings, in that manner also of the encouragement.” As we had seen from the prophet Isaiah, the Word of Yahweh had mentioned several times that children of Israel were to be afflicted for their apostasy from Yahweh their God, and then at some point in the future they were to be comforted for their affliction. That comfort was to be manifest in the message of the Gospel of Christ. Paul's ministry is the announcement of these things to the “lost” children of Israel, and he described them in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 as they were to be found among the pagan nations of ancient Europe, which he said were “Israel according to the flesh”.

Why is it that what we call Christian Identity is such a fantastic thing to most so-called Christians if Paul of Tarsus, who was chosen by Yahshua Christ to be the minister to the nations, was teaching precisely this very thing in the first century? Paul taught this throughout his epistles, and this was his entire worldview: that his ministry was to reconcile the prophesied nations of the lost children of Israel back to Yahweh their God. The so-called Roman Catholic Church which began to develop three hundred years after Paul may have preserved Paul's epistles, but at the same time it corrupted their interpretation with a universalist and replacement theology that Paul's own words do not support.

The Epistles of Paul - 2 Corinthians Part 3: The Old Testament is only for Christians

In 2 Corinthians chapter 3 we saw Paul of Tarsus change the subject of his epistle away from the grief within the assembly at Corinth. Doing that he turned to discuss the service of the New Covenant in the Spirit of Christ as opposed to the service of the Old Covenant in the letter of the Law. It must be noticed that in the course of that discussion, Paul refutes several of the claims which are commonly made by the modern denominational sects concerning both Jews and Christianity. For instance, we often hear it repeated that the New Testament alone is for Christians, while the Old Testament is for the so-called Jews. Yet in that chapter Paul had explained that there is a veil over the Old Testament, and that it cannot be properly understood unless one turns to Christ. With that statement, Paul is stating unequivocally that the Old Testament is for Christians, and that it is not at all for the so-called Jews. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:15 of those who rejected Christ that “until this day, whenever Moses is read a veil lies upon their hearts”, and then he says of those who accepted Christ in verse 16 “But when perhaps you should turn to the Prince, the veil is taken away.” So the Old Testament is not for the so-called Jews and the Jews are blinded as to its meaning. Rather, the Old Testament is only for Christians! Only those who have turned to Christ have the ability to understand the Old Testament, and without Christ it is left unemployed.

I'm going to begin tonight's program with a short parable. You walk a certain route to work every day, and every day you encounter the same poor widow and you always give her $5 or $10, of which she is certainly in need. The good man praises Yahweh God that he can help the widow, and that God has chosen him through which to do so. The only reward which that man seeks for his charity is heavenly. But the man with bitter feelings in his heart is eventually vexed by his having to help the widow, and one day he chooses to take a different route, so that he no longer encounters her. So after a couple of days or weeks he falls in with robbers and loses his wallet and all of his money. That man should remember why he was traveling down that alternate road, and he should regret having changed his route, repenting because Yahweh has put him on notice. When you stop doing what it is that God wants you to do because you think better of your own agenda, you are going to run into troubles. God will not be denied what is His. We should all live every day contemplating the route which best serves our God, and not ourselves. End of message.

The Epistles of Paul - 2 Corinthians Part 4: Treasure in Earthen Vessels

In 1 Corinthians chapters 3 and 4 Paul had made an analogy of the Old Testament “service of death in letters” in comparison to the New Testament “service of the Spirit” which he called the “service of righteousness in honor”. Doing so, he explained that the judgments of the Mosaic Law were left unemployed in Christ, and for that reason Christians should seek to keep the spirit of the Law written on their hearts. Paul then spoke of the “treasure in earthen vessels” and the unseen hope of eternal life in the face of physical death which Christians have in Christ. Paul then explained that “having the same Spirit of the faith” Christians should live to serve Yahweh their God in the knowledge of hope in that eternal life because “if our outer man is being destroyed, then our inner is being restored day by day”, ostensibly referring to that same “treasure in earthen vessels” as he had called it, which is the Adamic Spirit that exists within the children of Yahweh.

The Epistles of Paul - 2 Corinthians Part 5: The Ministry of Reconciliation

In 2 Corinthians chapter 1 Paul had started the epistle off by writing about the sufferings and the consolation, or encouragement, which the children of Yahweh should expect to have for as long as they are in the flesh. Then while explaining the changes he had made in his own travel plans, since he was indeed on his way to visit the Corinthians, he talked about all the grief which had been caused within their assembly on account of a certain individual, who was with certainty that fornicator of his earlier epistle to the Corinthians, and whom he had addressed explicitly at 1 Corinthians chapter 5. During that discussion Paul had encouraged the Corinthians, since they chose to be forgiving of that individual, that their forgiveness be complete and that they should confirm their love for him, and also put an end to the grief which they had regarding his sin. Paul then continued to further discuss his travels, and the sufferings that Christians should expect to face in the flesh.

In chapter 3 of this epistle, Paul had asked quite rhetorically whether he should be reintroduced to the assembly at Corinth, an assembly which he himself had initiated and where he had spent over 18 months of his life. With that, in a rather esoteric manner he began to explain the differences between the Old and New Covenants, and that the Old Covenant was rendered idle in the New Covenant service of the spirit in Christ. From there he discussed the “treasure in earthen vessels” which is the spirit of the Adamic man, and the restoration of that spirit in the reconciliation to God which it has in Christ. With this Paul explained that it is the unseen rewards for which men should strive in their fleshly walk, or sojourn as he called it. Now Paul will come back around in a circle to allude to the fornicator once again, here in this latter half of 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Doing all of this, he is actually giving a quite lengthy lesson on why Christians should have forgiveness for their kindred Christians.

The Epistles of Paul - 2 Corinthians Part 6: Come Out from Among Them and be Separate

In these first 5 chapters of Paul's second epistle to the Corinthians we have seen a rather expansive explanation of Yahweh God's plan for mercy and reconciliation for the children of Israel. Among Paul's first topics were affliction and comfort, and we had seen the Old Testament prophecies of Israel's affliction and comfort in their punishment and chastisement as they were alienated from God. Paul then contrasted the Old Covenant service of death in letters to the New Covenant service of the spirit in Christ. The Old Covenant letter of the law demanded of men a punishment of death for sin, whether it was the death of a sacrificial victim or of the sinner himself, depending on the nature of the sin. But the New Covenant service of the spirit is one of mercy and forgiveness for sin, which also demand the recognition of sin and repentance. We then illustrated from the Old Testament those prophecies relating to the New Covenant, and in that manner we had seen how Paul was teaching the fulfillment of those prophecies in those same children of Israel. Paul had explained that rather than the death which they had merited in the flesh under the law, that by the mercy of God in Christ men have eternal life in the spirit in spite of their sin, and all men are urged to repent on account of the revelation of the greater purpose of God which was revealed in Christ.

The Epistles of Paul - 2 Corinthians Part 7: Touch Not the Unclean

In the latter portion of 2 Corinthians chapter 6 Paul of Tarsus had warned his readers, as it is translated in the Christogenea New Testament “14 Do not become yoked together with untrustworthy aliens; for what participation has justice and lawlessness? And what fellowship has light towards darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Beliar? Or what share the faithful with the faithless? 16 And what agreement has a temple of Yahweh with idols? For you are a temple of the living Yahweh; just as Yahweh has said, 'I will dwell among them, and I will walk about; and I will be their God, and they will be my people.' 17 On which account 'Come out from the midst of them and be separated,' says the Prince, and 'do not be joined to the impure, and I will admit you'. 18 'And I will be to you for a father, and you will be mine for sons and daughters, says the almighty Prince.'” With all certainty all of these statements are inter-connected and were intended to be a single admonition. Sadly, the meaning of this admonition is lost on nearly all Christians of modern times. Here Paul had quoted from Isaiah chapter 52, and he is warning his readers to come out from among certain unclean people. Not things, as the King James and other versions insist, but people. The impure, or unclean, of verse 17 are the “them” from whom Christians are to come out from among in verse 16, among whom are also the untrustworthy aliens Christians should not be joined to in verse 14! The apostle John was teaching very similarly where he in turn had warned his readers, in his second epistle, that “9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. 10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: 11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.” John was not merely talking of those who profess Jesus or of those who do not profess Jesus, but more specifically of those who abide in His doctrine, or those who do not abide in His doctrine, and Yahshua Christ had constantly admonished His followers to keep His law.

Comments on our experience in Naples are found in the Christogenea Forum:
The 4/15 Bible Study at the First Baptist Church of Naples

The Epistles of Paul - 2 Corinthians Part 8: Communion, Not Tithes

After expounding at great length upon the affliction and the encouragement which the children of Israel have in the Gospel of Reconciliation to Yahweh their God, as well as Yahweh's plan of mercy for Israel in that reconciliation, in 2 Corinthians chapter 6 Paul illustrated the responsibility that the children of Israel have as recipients of that Gospel and that mercy. That responsibility requires the children of Israel to separate themselves from all of the sinners and from all of the unclean of the other races, and then Yahweh their God shall receive them and dwell with them. Then in 2 Corinthians chapter 7 Paul had turned to express his gratitude that the Corinthians, being grieved, had chosen to repent from the problems which Paul had addressed in his first epistle to them, and the joy which Titus had transmitted to him on account of their repentance and their abiding in Christ. Here in this eighth chapter of 2 Corinthians, Paul turns to the more worldly tasks related to the fulfillment of his ministry, which in this case include the collections he had been taking on behalf of the poor of the saints in Jerusalem.

The opening remarks are found here at the Christogenea Forum: The purpose of the Friday evening podcasts at Christogenea

The Epistles of Paul - 2 Corinthians Part 9: Fulfilling Obedience

In 2 Corinthians chapter 8 Paul turned his conversation from a rather expansive explanation of the Gospel of Reconciliation to discuss the collection which he had undertaken for the poor in Jerusalem, in which he had assurances that the Corinthians would participate. The apparent need for such a collection was never discussed, however that such a need indeed existed can indeed be determined from history in the records of Josephus and from the Book of Acts. We see in Acts chapters 4 and 5 that the apostles had founded an independent and self-sufficient Christian community. However we see in Acts chapters 6 and 7 that their community was persecuted and scattered, and that the apostles were being oppressed. When Paul had made his first trip to Antioch as it is recorded in Acts chapter 15, as he had explained in his epistle to the Galatians, that was 14 years after his conversion to Christ on the road to Damascus, and we had established in our commentary on Acts chapter 9, that the year was either 48 or 49 AD. As Paul seems to explain in Galatians chapter 2, this is where his promise to “remember the poor” had originally been made. Since the records in Acts and in what remains of Paul's epistles are quite incomplete, we can only piece together parts of some of these things, as there is no complete record of any of them.

The Epistles of Paul - 2 Corinthians Part 10: Judging by Appearances

We have already summarized the theme of the earlier chapters of Paul's second epistle to the Corinthians, but we shall do so once more here. Over the first five chapters of this epistle, Paul had expounded at length upon the affliction and the encouragement which the children of Israel have in the Gospel of Reconciliation to Yahweh their God, and Yahweh's plan of mercy for Israel in that reconciliation. Then in 2 Corinthians chapter 6 Paul illustrated the responsibility which the children of Israel have as recipients of that Gospel and of that mercy, which requires those who are turning to Christ to separate themselves from all of the sinners and from all of the unclean of the other races, and then Yahweh their God shall receive them and dwell with them. Then in 2 Corinthians chapter 7 Paul had turned to express his gratitude that the Corinthians, being grieved, had chosen to repent from the problems which Paul had addressed in his first epistle to them, and the joy which Titus had transmitted to him on account of their repentance and their abiding in Christ. In the eighth and ninth chapters of this epistle, Paul had turned to discuss the collections he had been taking on behalf of the poor of the saints in Jerusalem. However this is also a part of the Christian obligation which Paul had begun to discuss in chapter 6 of this epistle.

Therefore we can determine that outside of a few short digressions, Paul's purpose so far in this epistle has been to present two great themes in a series of smaller discussions. While sometimes the themes are interwoven one with the other, the first theme dominates the context of the first part of the epistle, and likewise for the second theme. The first theme is the Gospel of Reconciliation and the mercy of God for the children of Israel. The second theme is the obligation of the children of Israel upon accepting that offer of reconciliation to God, which is through Yahshua Christ. The first theme dominated the first five chapters, and the second through verse 6 of this tenth chapter, where Paul had attested that the children of Israel would have a part in avenging all disobedience once their own obedience had been fulfilled.

The Epistles of Paul - 2 Corinthians Part 11: Ministers of Satan

From the early portion of 2 Corinthians chapter 10, from verse 7, Paul of Tarsus has been discussing those men in Corinth who had been causing disturbances within the Christian assembly, boasting and inflating themselves during the troubles that the Corinthians had in relation to the fornicator whom Paul discussed in 1 Corinthians chapter 5. Doing so, Paul had told the Corinthians that they “must look at things according to appearance”, asserting that even if his adversaries were of Christ, he was also of Christ, and that the fruits of his ministry according to the standards of the Word of God are the proof of its legitimacy, while those in Corinth who were opposed to him were only exalting themselves according to their own standards. One aspect of the standards of which he speaks and which he expected his readers to notice is the edification of the Body of Christ which had come by his ministry, where he suggests that his adversaries sought the destruction of that same body. He also asserted that his ministry edified and magnified the Body of Christ through knowledge of the Gospel, while his adversaries took to “boasting in others' troubles” whereby they magnified themselves.

In the opening verses of 2 Corinthians chapter 11, Paul of Tarsus had asked that the Corinthians abide with him in a little foolishness. It shall become evident later in the chapter that Paul had considered that foolishness to be his having to boast in the fleshly aspects of his own ministry, including both how he had conducted himself in Corinth, and the trials which he had suffered in order to perform his ministry, in contrast with those who were opposing him.

The Epistles of Paul - 2 Corinthians Part 12: Christian Transcendentalism

Since the middle of 2 Corinthians chapter 10 Paul has been defending himself and his ministry against those in Corinth who were also attempting to undermine and corrupt the Christian assemblies there. Therefore he found it necessary to discuss some of the trials and challenges which he had faced in the conduct of his ministry. He considered his having to do that as boasting, even if he is simply found to be reiterating plain facts. This too should stand as an example to Christians as to what constitutes boasting.

As Paul began defending himself, he laid forth another sound principle: that the Word of God is the measure which Christians must use in order to estimate the value of those who are administering the Gospel of Christ. Therefore, if one comes to you preaching a Gospel other than the Gospel of Christ, or who claims to have some sort of esoteric knowledge which is not consistent with the Word of God, that person must be rejected as a false apostle, a treacherous worker, and is perhaps even a minister of Satan.

The Epistles of Paul - Galatians Part 1: The Gospel to the Germanic Galatae

Here we shall present Paul's epistle to the Galatians, and before doing so we must establish the identity of the Galatians whom Paul was writing to. The name Galatia at the time of Paul's ministry referred to either one of two things. First, the word referred to the kingdom of the Galatae which was established in Anatolia in the 3rd century BC, or secondly it may have referred to the Roman province of Galatia, which incorporated the ancient kingdoms of Lycaonia, Phrygia and Galatia. Considering only the use of the term Galatia in reference to the Roman province, there have long been academic debates disputing whether Paul had written to the “northern Galatians” of the province, which refers to the somewhat Hellenized Galatae of the ancient kingdom, or to the “southern Galatians” which more numerously included the Greeks and Hellenized Lycaonians of the larger cities. But the so-called scholars who debate on these terms do not even seem to realize that Luke did not use the term Galatia in reference to the Roman province, but only as it was originally used, in reference to the ancient kingdom, and that was only the northern part of the Roman province.

In his accounts in Acts, in chapters 13 through 16, Luke specifically mentions the cities Derbe, Lystra and Iconium several times each, and many commentators imagine that it was the Christians in these cities who were the recipients of Paul's epistle to the Galatians, because these cities were all in the southern portion of the Roman province of Galatia. But Derbe, Lystra and Iconium were cities of the ancient kingdom of Lycaonia, which the Romans had later incorporated into the province of Galatia, and in Acts 14:6 Lystra and Derbe are called “cities of Lycaonia”, and then in Acts 14:11 we see a reference to the “speech of Lycaonia”, and the ancient Lycaonians were properly neither Greeks nor Galatians, although they had been Hellenized to a great degree. Then later, in Acts 16:6, Luke mentioned “Phrygia and the region of Galatia” as being separate places, and the ancient kingdom of Phrygia, like Lycaonia, had also been incorporated into the Roman province of Galatia. Then in Acts 18:23 Luke once again describes Paul as having traveled through “the country of Galatia and Phrygia” where he had strengthened “all the disciples”. So we see that in Luke's writing, Phrygia and Galatia are clearly distinguished from one another and also from the cities of Derbe, Iconium and Lystra mentioned in verses 1 and 2 [of Acts 16], which were in Lycaonia.

The Epistles of Paul - Galatians Part 2: The Works of the Law

In Galatians chapter 1 Paul had begun to establish his credentials and his authority as a preacher of the Gospel of Christ. Here he shall continue to do this, and he did it because, as we shall see here in this chapter, he is addressing the Judaizers who had obviously infiltrated among the Galatians in order to bind them to the circumcision and other rituals of the Old Testament law. Ostensibly, these Judaizers had credentials of their own, and therefore Paul, writing in opposition to them, was compelled to present the evidence of his own legitimacy.

At Galatians 1:18 Paul spoke of his time in Jerusalem as described at Acts 9:26, where he had said “Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to relate an account to Kephas, and remained with him fifteen days”. Here Paul is talking about his visit to Jerusalem in Acts Chapter 15, then he continues in Galatians chapter 2 and says:

1 Then after fourteen years I had again gone up to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titos along also; 2 and I had gone up after a revelation, and laid upon them the good message which I proclaim among the Nations, but privately to those of repute, lest in any way I strive, or have strived, in vain.

The Epistles of Paul - Galatians Part 3: The Seed of Seeds

In order to understand what Paul has written in Galatians chapter 3, one must have the same Scriptural world view which Paul of Tarsus had, understanding ancient history and the ethnic constitution of Judaea in the manner which Paul had understood those things. But because they rarely actually study ancient history, that worldview is far out of reach for most denominational Christians. Even their academics prove this every time they speak of how Flavius Josephus wrote of Jesus, but they never speak of how Flavius Josephus described the conversion of all of the Edomites to Judaism. If they would study that, they may realize that the Jews of today are actually Edomites and not Israel at all, something which is absolutely true. Understanding that history would turn their whole world upside-down. But even that is only one crucial aspect required in order to understand this third chapter of this epistle.

In our presentation of Galatians chapter 1, we established the identity of these Galatians as the tribes of the Germanic Galatae who had settled in Anatolia in the 3rd century BC. We asserted that they in turn had descended from Israelites of the Assyrian captivity, and to help prove those assertions there is a much more detailed demonstration in our German Origins series which we have also recently presented here. In discussing that chapter we also showed how Paul often referred to the children of Israel collectively as the anointed, using the same term which he used to describe Christ. Understanding all of these things is also crucial to understanding Paul's words here in Galatians chapter 3.

The Epistles of Paul - Galatians Part 4: Heirs of the Covenant

The typical denominational Christian understanding of Galatians 3:16 is not only absolutely contrary to the original intent of its author, Paul of Tarsus, but it is also absolutely contrary to all of the promises of Scripture. It goes so far as to endeavor to make void all of the promises of Scripture which we see that Yahweh had made to Abraham and to the children of Israel exclusively, in spite of Paul's actual words confirming them, but especially in spite of the words of Yahweh God Himself. It is an outright theft and a grave deception to imagine that the “seed” of Galatians 3:16 is the single individual, Jesus Christ. Those who insist on saying this must not be able to understand just how or why Yahweh would keep His promises to a particular race, they cannot even properly identify that race, and therefore they seek to twist the Word of God. Here we shall see that in the balance of Paul's statements, it is clear that Yahshua (Jesus) Christ is the Mediator of the New Covenant, and not its lone beneficiary, since Paul also attests that the intended beneficiary of the promises to Abraham are a plural entity, and not a singular individual, and Paul himself connects these promises to Abraham to the promises of a New Covenant.

In spite of the traditional explanations of the denominational sects, it is quite clear that here in Galatians chapter 3 Paul is explaining that the promises of Yahweh God fulfilled in Christ are indeed going to be kept according to what Yahweh had already promised to Abraham as it is recorded in Genesis, which ensured Abraham that his seed would become many nations and as the stars of heaven, and that they would inherit the world as well as inheriting his blessing. This is what Abraham believed, so this belief alone is the “faith of Abraham”. Paul also said, in Galatians 3:15, that the covenant could not be amended or added to. There is no man capable of adding to or amending the promises of God. There is no changing the nature or definition of Abraham's seed, and there is no adding to the promises of a New Covenant as they are found in Jeremiah or Ezekiel. Paul once again reinforces this statement in Galatians 3:17.

The Epistles of Paul - Galatians Part 5: Sons of the Promise

Perhaps after his epistle to the Romans, Paul's epistles to the Galatians is a paramount exhibition of the practical conception of covenant theology. But this is only apparent when the individual sentences of the epistle are read and interpreted in their own context, rather than being isolated and their interpretations perverted as the commentators of the denominational sects are accustomed to doing.

In Galatians chapters 1 and 2 Paul addressed the fallacy that one's righteousness could be obtained through the works of the law, by clinging to ordinances in ceremonies and rituals, which certainly is contrary to Scripture since the Scripture itself professes that no living man can be justified in the sight of Yahweh God: for all men are sinners and fall short of the glory of God. From Romans chapter 9 it is evident that there were Edomites in Judaea who claimed to be of Israel and who were seeking their righteousness by the law, but there were also many Israelites remaining in Judaea who were persuaded by them, which we can tell from Acts chapter 21, and it is these Judaizers whom Paul is addressing here in the bigger picture which he began to explain in those same opening chapters of Galatians. Then in Galatians chapter 3 Paul explained that in spite of the law, righteousness is inferred by God through the promises to Abraham, but that those promises to Abraham were not passed on to all of Abraham's descendants. Rather they were passed on only to those which had been anointed by God, which are the children of Israel. The children of Jacob-Israel are the anointed seed out of all of Abraham's seeds, or the various races which could claim descent from Abraham, and therefore the children of Israel are the exclusive heirs of the covenant, in spite of whether the Edomites or Ishmaelites would keep the law.

The Epistles of Paul - Galatians Part 6: Liberty in Christ

For most of the first four chapters of this epistle to the Galatians, Paul has been explaining that the works of the law, which were the required rituals and ceremonial ordinances, are done away with in Christ. At the same time, Paul has explained the circumstances of the fulfillment in Christ of the Abrahamic covenant and the promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and to their seed after them, after the same manner which Yahweh God had made those promises in the Old Testament. Because the children of Israel shall not any longer be judged by the law, but instead have mercy in Christ, and because they are no longer bound to the rituals and ceremonies of the law, they have liberty in Christ, which Paul is about to explain here in Galatians chapter 5. But liberty in Christ is not liberty from morality or from the commandments of Yahweh God. Rather it is the freedom to love and have mercy for one another, and to receive of the same, to a much greater extent than the letter of the Hebrew law allowed, as Paul shall also explain here in this chapter of Galatians.

It should be clear from Scripture as well as from experience that a man cannot be found righteous by the law, because all men sin and fall short of the glory of God. That is why those promises to Abraham are so important to the New Covenant, because the New Covenant, as Paul has explained here, is the fulfillment of the promises to Abraham which must be kept by Yahweh God in spite of the dissolution of the Old Covenant due to Israel's failure to keep the law of God. In this manner Paul is attempting to put the covenants in perspective. But before Christians can do the same, it must be understood that both covenants, the Old and the New, were made with the same genetic people according to the Word of God in the promises which He had made to Abraham. Neither covenant circumvents nor supersedes the promises to Abraham, which were passed down through Isaac and Jacob and to the seed of their loins after them. So the New Covenant is not at all predicated on the Old Covenant. Rather, the New Covenant is predicated on the Abrahamic covenants. Wherever it says “forever” in the Old Covenant, that “forever” depends upon whether the children of Israel would keep the law. But wherever it says “forever” in the original promises to Abraham, that “forever” only depends upon Yahweh. Man fails, but Yahweh God cannot fail.

The Epistles of Paul - Galatians Part 7: The Family of the Faith

The concept of antinomianism has meant different things to different theologians. However to accuse Paul of Tarsus of being an antinomian in the sense of one who would set aside or negate or diminish the Laws of God, or to have derived a doctrine which includes those things and claim for it the authority of Paul of Tarsus, is to be a liar. In both Galatians and Romans, and also in his epistle to the Hebrews, Paul has explained how and why the “works of the law”, which are the ordinances such as the sacrificial rituals and ceremonies conducted by the priests, are done away with in Christ. However in all of these epistles Paul also fully demonstrates that the moral laws of Yahweh which are found in the commandments of the law are to be upheld in Christ. Apparently, all of the theological confusion in regard to antinomianism as opposed to the equally wrong concept of salvation by works has resulted because Christians have failed to perceive between the “works of the law” and the commandments which even Christ has admonished them to keep.

In Galatians chapter 5, Paul had said in verse 18 that “if you are led by the Spirit, you are under no law.” The denominational sects often use that phrase by itself to give approbation to whatever it is that they may desire. But Paul had already said earlier in verse 13 that the freedom in which Christians are called is “not that freedom for occasion in the flesh”, and insisted in verse 14 that “all the law is fulfilled in one statement, to wit: 'You shall love him near to you as yourself.'” With that, we must discern that Paul had indeed remained concerned with the keeping of the commandments of the law.

The Epistles of Paul - Ephesians Part 1: The Purpose of His Will

The entire purpose of the Bible is to record the account of the making and keeping of certain promises which Yahweh God had made to one man whom He chose out of all other men for which to execute His will and to display His being and sovereignty. That plan has not changed, and that same God has often asserted that He does not change. In spite of anything which they themselves had done, the twelve tribes of Israel, as they are reckoned by the apostles and by Christ Himself, were considered worthy of receiving those promises and they are still the focus of the purpose of the will of God, which is the primary subject of Paul's epistle to the Ephesians. Only by completely ignoring the language of Paul here in the first chapter of this epistle can one imagine that the Old Testament and the New are somehow disconnected from one another, and that somehow God has chosen a different people. But if Paul's words are observed, one can only come to the conclusion that the people of the promises in Christ are the same people of the promises in Moses, and indeed they are. Here once again we shall see that Paul of Tarsus had taught Christian Identity.

As we had demonstrated during our recent presentation of the Book of Acts, and especially presenting Acts Chapter 28 here in January of 2014, prior to his arrest in Jerusalem Paul of Tarsus had already written eight of the 14 epistles which we have from him. This would include those which we have already presented here: Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, and Galatians. The other four which we have not presented here as of yet are 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy and Titus. Of the remaining 6 epistles, all written while he was a prisoner, one seems to have been written while Paul was under arrest in Caesareia, which is Hebrews. Two more epistles were written by him from Rome and before Timothy had voluntarily joined him there, which are this epistle to the Ephesians and then 2 Timothy, in that order. The remaining 3 epistles, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon, were all written from Rome after Timothy had joined him, and shortly before his execution which he was anticipating as he wrote 2 Timothy to ask the younger apostle to come to him.