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GRACE BLOGS COLLECTION

785. Growing in Knowledge (Bible Authors Didn’t Know Everything)

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In Acts Chapter 10, when Peter had his vision from God directing him to reach out to Gentiles, historians estimate it occurred anywhere from 5 to 15 years after the resurrection of Jesus. Although Peter was being used mightily by God in multiple ways, there was much he didn’t understand when it came to the gospel. The apostles were not all seeing and all knowing – they were humans who were growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Up until this time, Peter thought he and other Jews were still under the requirement to follow the law of Moses, even though he was preaching Jesus for people to be saved. Through this experience, he came to realize the gospel was meant not only for Jews, but for Gentiles who had no relationship with the law.

Things like food and Gentiles, which had been considered unclean or unacceptable under law, God now had declared to be clean. But imagine if Peter had written letters to believers and church folks which ended up in the Bible before he had this revelation about freedom from law. Undoubtedly, his writings would have looked much different and inconsistent with what the Apostle Paul was communicating in his letters. The book of James is considered to likely be the oldest New Testament writing (or the first) after Jesus rose. Like most Jews, James had a similar assumption about the law when he wrote his letter – much like Peter did. And this continues our series about the subject of Paul, James and justification.



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782. Paul Opposed Peter to His Face

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In Galatians Chapter 2 we find the story as told by Paul about how he opposed Peter to his face … and in front of other people of whom he considered to be hypocrites. You see, Peter would live like the Gentiles (apart from the law) and he would hang-out with them, which God had revealed was perfectly fine. But when certain men from James showed up, Peter would separate himself from the Gentiles for fear of these people and their lawful doctrine which opposed the truth of the gospel. It’s as if Paul was telling Peter he should know better than to try to blend in with the Jewish hypocrites, including false brethren who were deceiving Gentiles into believing they needed portions of the law to be mixed with faith in Jesus.

 We can begin to clearly see Paul’s writings reflect an opposition to the teachings brought forth from some of those that were associated with the church in Jerusalem, where James was considered a leader. The letter written to the Galatians is centered around the freedom both Jew and Gentile have in the New Covenant, and it was a different gospel than what was coming from the Jerusalem church.



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780. Faith, Works and Justification: Did Paul and James Disagree?

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We’ve all seen it. Time and time again, Paul declared the gospel is based upon justification gifted freely by faith, through the blood of Jesus, apart from works. James said something that appears to be quite the opposite. Bible teachers will fear such a contradiction diminishes the validity of the written pages and therefore, may affect the credibility of the entire Bible and bring doubt to the truth of Jesus Christ.

Teachers and ministers begin to feel the need to try and explain that there was no disagreement between the two, and that their views simply complimented each other … as both legalistic and grace teachers put their spin on trying to assure people that Paul and James were in perfect harmony. Both guys use Abraham to make their case for justification but even their context from the Old Testament is different. We attempt to bring a different perspective in considering they were not in agreement at all, and yet it takes nothing away from the truth of Jesus.



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779. Paul, James and the Gentile Dilemma

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Following up on last week’s look at Acts Chapter 15, there was great debate among Jewish believers as to whether non-Jewish people (Gentiles) should be required to follow the law of Moses as they were coming to belief in Christ and getting saved. After all, Gentiles had no relationship with that law and now it was presenting a dissension among those who felt the law was still a necessary component with Jesus added to it. James appears to reach a compromise which was accepted between both parties … or was it? We’ll discover the possibility this controversy would continue and the debate between law and grace was just beginning as we look at various passages in the weeks ahead.



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778. Grace or Works: The Apostles Vs. The James Gang

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This week’s program dives into Acts chapter 15 where Peter, Paul and others met with the Jerusalem church council which included James and former Pharisees. The apostles were making the case during a heated debate that God was saving the Gentiles and receiving the Spirit freely. The council had accepted that Gentiles could be saved, but believed they needed to be “brought into the fold” by including and applying the law of Moses with the newfound life given by God’s Spirit.

The debate was about choosing whether salvation is by grace through faith alone … or whether works of the law needed to be included. In the end, James spoke on behalf of the church board with a surprising change of opinion—or judgment—by saying the Gentiles should not be troubled with keeping the Mosaic law. Although not everyone agreed, the revelation being brought forth was that Gentiles would not be brought into the old way of law, but that Jews were also freed from it. It couldn’t be a grace/law mixture for one group (Jews) and not the other (Gentiles).



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720. God Doesn’t Change – But the Covenant Did

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When Christians proclaim we as believers in Christ should try to live by the law as it was given to Moses, they advertise their ignorance on what the law says. It required perfection and everyone has fallen short of that. The requirement is still perfection, but it’s not found in what we do—it’s by what Jesus did. We are perfect, having been placed in Him.

Those who tout modern-day law keeping from the Old Covenant must also execute the punishments when one fails. For example, one who did not honor their father and mother and spoke evil of them was worthy of death. The good news is that God doesn’t change … but the covenant did … and the new one is better.



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719. Tear Down This Wall!

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In Ephesians Chapter 2, Paul talked about a dividing wall which brought a separation from Christ. It kept us from the covenants of promise while leaving us without hope and without God in the world. What was this wall of separation? Many might be surprised to find out that Paul revealed it was the law of commandments contained in ordinances.

Jesus broke down this barrier and it resulted in us who were far off being brought near by His blood. It ended with both Jew and Gentile being brought together into one new man (Christ). For centuries, the religious business has attempted to rebuild this wall which Jesus leveled… leaving people in a place of covenant confusion and uncertainty.



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667. Why We Have No Relationship to the Law Which Came Through Moses

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The Christian Church World has been duped into thinking the Law which was ushered in through Moses to the Jewish people under the Old Covenant was also meant for us to live under today (at least some of it). It is one of the greatest misunderstandings about God’s written Word, and it has kept many believers in a type of spiritual bondage that Jesus came to deliver people from experiencing. The inability to grasp this is because so many have made the assumption that certain commands and statutes from that first covenant were carried over into the New Covenant of Jesus Christ. Mixing portions of the 613 laws within the Law goes against the very Law itself. God declared nothing shall be taken away from the Law and nothing shall be added to it. But that is exactly what the church world has done. Either it had to completely come to an end and be replaced with something better or it ALL needs to remain intact. God redeemed Israel from that Law and provided all of us with a better Way.



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644. Summarizing the Scripture (Part 15): What the Teachings of Jesus Were Meant to Accomplish

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Generally speaking, the Bible talks about two kinds of people — Jews and Gentiles. Jesus said He came to minister to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The book of Galatians states He was born of a woman, born under the law in order to redeem those who were under the law. They needed to be redeemed from the curse the law brought. This wasn’t a ministry extended to us who were born outside of the Jewish race. Gentiles were never given the law. Many of the teachings of Jesus were not meant to be considered as Christian doctrine under a New Covenant. But rather, Jesus was often elevating or magnifying the law so the Jews could see it for what it really was, which was the requirement to keep it perfectly… it was impossible for them to enter life through those commands within the first covenant. It was meant to close their mouths and stop their boasting. Occasionally, Jesus would point to the new and better covenant that would be given to all people after His death, and both Jew and Gentile would become one, grafted into Himself.



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621. The Mosaic Law: Given to Israel Only, Not Gentiles

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When God gave Israel the law through Moses, and the Jews agreed to keep those many commands established in the Old Covenant, it was meant only for that race and nation who would be called God’s people at that time. The law had never been given to us Gentiles, who were considered unclean, far off and separated from God without a covenant. After the New Covenant was established by Jesus Christ, Gentiles were coming to God by faith in Jesus, and the leadership from the church in Jerusalem agreed that Gentiles would not need to be troubled or burdened with what their fathers had been unable to bear under that heavy and impossible law. Plus, the Jews who had been under the law were made free from it, and became dead to it as they married another and became the bride of Christ. You can’t live by something that doesn’t give life. That’s why the old way had to be removed completely and replaced with a better covenant.



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610. Gentiles: Never Given the Law; Jews: Do the Law or Die (No Doer Found)

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It comes as a surprise to many Christians who have spent years in church - those of us non-Jewish people (Gentiles) were never considered to be under the Mosaic law. Never. None of it. Not the dietary rules, the sacrificial statutes, or the moral laws. Only Israel had been placed under that law in the Old Covenant, before the sacrifice of Christ. The law brought a curse for those under it - they were required to do it… all of it. Under that covenant, only a doer of the law could be justified. The problem? Nobody had ever done it until Jesus came along and fulfilled the law on our behalf. A New Covenant would be established, where righteousness would be received through faith, apart from the works of the law. Gentiles who were without the law and had no covenant would be gifted with the invitation to enter into this everlasting covenant of life. We died with Christ and have been raised to walk in newness of life.



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609. The Wall of Law Torn Down: Jews and Gentiles Brought Together

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In Ephesians chapter 2, Paul explains the gospel in the context of two different groups: Those who were born of the Jewish race, and the Gentiles who were born from another tribe or nation, outside of Israel. The Jews were under the law and had a hope within their (first) covenant with almighty God. We who would have been considered Gentiles were without a covenant, without hope, and without God in the world. The Jews were near, Gentiles were far off. What is it that divided or separated these two groups? It was the law of commandments found in ordinances. The Jews pursued righteousness through their works under the law but could not attain it, because “the law is not of faith.” Jesus broke down this wall of separation (the law and commandments) and brought the two together as one man, into one body (the body of Jesus Christ). Instead of works, it is through faith that Jews are made righteous, and we Gentiles are no longer far off or strangers and aliens, but are now members of the household of God.



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