works – Page 4

790. Paul’s Proclamation: Justified by Faith, Apart From Works

January 17, 2021 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Many of the early Jewish church leaders were teaching a different gospel than what the Apostle Paul would deliver after he was taught for several years—not by man—but by revelation from God. It seemed to be a natural assumption by many in the Jewish community of believers to “mix” the old law with faith in Jesus in order to attain a place of righteousness and justification. Paul would declare over and over that the old law of commands was brought to an end and replaced with faith (in Christ) apart from works.

We’ve recently spent many weeks in a series about Paul and James, highlighting the struggles in the early church and how Paul was battling to free people from a perverted gospel being communicated to both Jew and Gentile. Now we’ll be looking at some of Paul’s letters and passages which specifically make the case for salvation and right standing with God, received as a gift, apart from the works of the law inside of a new and better covenant. The “work” was performed by Jesus and His blood sealed the deal.

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789. Paul Persecuted – for Teaching Against the Law and the Temple

January 10, 2021 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

It’s often assumed Paul was persecuted because he believed in Jesus. But the bulk of Paul’s persecution came from Jews who opposed his teachings about salvation and righteousness coming by faith alone, apart from works, and that Jews had been freed and redeemed from the Mosaic law through the finished work of Jesus. Even the early church leadership (James and others) believed there was a different gospel for Jew and Gentile, and many believing Jews still assumed Gentiles were considered unclean—as the law declared. Keep them away from the temple so it wouldn’t be defiled!

During the early decades after the resurrection, when the church was still growing in their knowledge of the truth, even the apostles didn’t completely understand the fullness of the gospel, although God’s Spirit would reveal things to them … often from what we call the Old Testament—the only Scriptures they could reference. Paul and some of his companions were a major force in sharing the more complete truth of what was accomplished through the blood of the cross—for both Jew and Gentile.

The church today continues to struggle with a mixed message of faith and religious rules, while trying to establish theology and doctrine based upon their own assumptions about the Bible writings. Just as in the early years of the church, we’re not growing in the knowledge of “the Bible,” but we’re all growing in the knowledge of the truth found in the Person of Jesus Christ, as we receive it from the Holy Spirit.

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788. James and the Elders Encourage Paul to Deny What He Was Teaching

January 3, 2021 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

The Apostle Paul declared over and over again that the law which came through Moses was something Gentiles had no part of and Jews had also been freed from its impossible demands. It could not bring life, but had a purpose of death and condemnation, having been replaced by a more glorious ministry of the Spirit. James and the elders from the Jerusalem church had very little problem with Gentiles not being required to try to keep most of the law—because they had never been under it. But James and his council viewed Jews differently and with an attitude of superiority, even after the cross, which resulted in believing they had a different gospel with a different set of rules which were rooted in that law for justification.

They rejoiced that Gentiles were coming to Jesus, but stumbled over Paul’s teachings that the Jews who lived among the Gentiles should also “forsake Moses.” James and the elders ordered Paul to publicly denounce the accusations against him by saying he believes in keeping the law … and to do this by participating in an old covenant purification ceremony—as if the blood of Jesus was not enough. In other words, they wanted Paul to deny what he had been teaching about grace through faith, apart from works of the law.

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787. The Evidence Mounts: James Touted Law – 30 Years After the Cross

December 27, 2020 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

While continuing our series on Paul and James, and faith compared to works, we spend some time this week summarizing what we’ve been covering. Since our short weekly programs are chopped up, we wanted to review some of what has been covered so far in order to help connect the dots on the tremendous struggle that is revealed in New Testament writings during those early years of the church. And what was that struggle? Most of the early church leadership—including James—believed the law was still meant to be a part of the equation for Jewish believers … and many were perverting the gospel by trying to burden believing Gentiles with portions of the law.

We also take a look at more evidence where James and the elders in Jerusalem convince Paul to participate in an old covenant exercise where ceremony and sacrifice would occur in order to show the Jews that Paul was also a law keeper and had not forsaken Moses. This event from Acts 21 would have been nearly 3 decades after the cross, and about 20 years after James wrote his Bible letter. More to come!

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

December 13, 2020 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

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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784. Paul and James: The Abraham Chronicles

December 6, 2020 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

How is it possible that both Paul and James quote the same passage from Genesis 15 – referring to Abraham – and come to different conclusions on how Abraham was declared justified? It might be for the same reason we often see today … in an effort to prove an assumed mindset, one of them attempts to apply the “verse” out of context. We break it down on this week’s program.

And what about those “Judaizers” who came from James to bewitch Gentile believers in Christ with requirements from the law and Jewish ceremonial customs? It caused even Peter to play the hypocrite as he feared the peer pressure, which led to “not being straightforward about the truth of the gospel.” Ultimately, Paul’s message was that justification was purely by grace through faith, apart from works. But this would be a battle he would fight even with those who were considered of high reputation and pillars of the church.

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783. Opposing Views from Paul and James: What Now?

November 29, 2020 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

As our series continues regarding the apparent differences between Paul and James on the subject of justification, this week's program results in a spontaneous conversation which discusses what it means if they did actually view some things in an opposing fashion. As we've personally concluded in recent weeks, Paul and James were not in perfect harmony with their statements and we review some possible reasons why this could have been the case.

The letter James wrote to Jews who were scattered throughout the region is believed to be the earliest book written in the New Testament after the resurrection. During this period of time, James believed the Mosaic law was still in place and that individual works played a factor in being justified. We've seen evidence of this in the book of Acts, Galatians, and his own letter. Bible teachers will panic if this is true and will fear it invalidates the entire Bible. That’s why they feel the need to corroborate their preconceived assumptions that P&J couldn’t have possibly been in disagreement. But maybe we've just been inaccurately assuming some things about these written pages that have us missing a bigger point.

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782. Paul Opposed Peter to His Face

November 22, 2020 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

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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781. Paul and James: The Elephant in the Bible Room

November 15, 2020 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Christian theologians have always been concerned about the elephant in the room – the quandary or controversy regarding what appear to be conflicting statements by Paul and James about justification, salvation and righteousness. This week, we continue looking at the apparent differences or viewpoints between them and how it does not take away from the truth within the Bible as a whole or Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords. Interestingly, both men use Abraham as the example to make their case (examples in Romans 4 and James 2). They both quote Genesis 15:6 about how Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness.

Paul dives into a much longer explanation, using the context that Abraham was declared righteous by faith before any work was performed, including circumcision … when he believed God would provide a child. Whereas James jumps out of context to when Isaac was taken to the altar. If one is going to tout a mixture of faith plus works when it comes to salvation, those who hold to James’ view will need to be much more specific on exactly what type of works or action is needed to maintain their justification. That ingredient is always missing, leaving people in doubt and fear instead of peace.

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

November 8, 2020 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

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

November 1, 2020 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

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

October 25, 2020 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

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).