The book of Galatians, if we were to put it alongside some of the other books, it talks a lot more about the law and its place in our life, the true good news.
The book of Galatians, in particular, is one of those books that the Christians, when you tell them that the law has not been abolished, they'll often say you need to go read the book of Galatians.
In spite of the multitude of scriptures in the New Testament which demonstrate clearly we should be making efforts to keep Yahweh's law, keep His commandments, many understand Paul's letter to the Galatians to say otherwise.
But the reality is there is not a single verse anywhere in the book of Galatians telling us that the law has been abolished; actually, much to the contrary.
The book of Galatians actually proves that while we're not saved by our observance of the Torah or any observance of the New Testament, for that matter, true believers will be making a sincere effort to walk in the Torah's precepts.
In this study, we're going to go through each of the verses in chapters 4 and 5, which contain the key verses, speak of Yahweh's Torah, its place in our life, and it's often the words in these chapters we're going over that's the most frequently understood as abolishing the Torah.
We're going to go over those in great detail. Since most of the Christian world regards Paul's letter to the Galatians to be proof that we do not need to concern ourselves with keeping Yahweh's Torah, we're going to spend quite a bit of time in it.
This is a pretty major mistake that needs to be addressed very thoroughly. A lot of times, it's more difficult for a person to unlearn error than it is to just learn the truth.
For this reason, we're going to go over the book of Galatians in great detail. We may be here another hour or maybe two going over this book. I would encourage you to follow along here in the chat room. We're going to be posting the scriptures there.
I actually had this study written. It's ready to be uploaded on the website, and I'll probably do that later today. I'm also going to include, for those of you who are not fans of the King James Version, there will be a New King James Version of the study, and also we're going to go over the book of Galatians in quotations of the New International Version, as is popular today.
So there will be a large full study on the website of all these chapters 2 through 5. Meanwhile, we're going to go ahead and start here in chapter 4.
Before we examine any kind of text, it's very important that we are able to grasp the context of what is being spoken, who is being spoken to. The historical context is helpful at times. The correct understanding of other verses throughout the scriptures is also essential and an open mind to change if you see something that contradicts current understandings.
If you have not heard or read the previous studies I shared in chapters 2 and 3 of Galatians, you may find tonight's study to be a little bit more difficult to understand than if you had already read these other two studies.
If you want to read them, they are on the transcripts page at EliYah.com/transcripts, and there you'll find the full studies on Galatians 2 and 3.
I think it was Peter that said that Paul's writings are hard to be understood. I would have to agree with that. They are hard to be understood. For that reason, we're going to try to examine them as thoroughly as we can.
We're going to start where we left off last week, Galatians 3. We finished off Galatians 3. To be sure we're getting a good context here, we want to go ahead and read the last few verses of Galatians 3, verses 26 through 29.
Paul had come to a very important conclusion. He had written quite a bit to prove this conclusion to be true, and he proved it using the Tanakh or Old Testament scripture. His conclusion was as follows:
Galatians 3:26 - For you are all sons of Elohim through faith in Messiah Yahushua.
Galatians 3:27 - For as many of you as were baptized into Messiah have put on Messiah.
Galatians 3:28 - There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Messiah Yahushua.
Galatians 3:29 - And if you [are] Messiah's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
The blessing of this is that each of us become children of Elohim, the seed of Abraham, by Yahushua the Messiah. All of us are now one in the Messiah Yahushua. It's not circumcision, nor the good news of the circumcision, which we've been talking quite a bit about, that made this possible.
It's the good news of Yahushua the Messiah and His blood covering our sins, filling us with His presence. So continuing in this thought, Paul next says in Galatians 4:1-3:
Galatians 4:1 - Now I say [that] the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all,
Galatians 4:2 - but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father.
Galatians 4:3 - Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.
During the time period which Paul is speaking, the common practice was to appoint a caretaker to watch over a child until he was of a certain age, and so Paul is using this cultural practice as an illustration of the role of Yahweh's law in our lives.
The Torah, the law, rather than functioning as a means by which we are able to receive Yahweh's promise of eternal life, simply shows us what sin is and reveals our own bondage to that sin.
In the case of the Galatians, it was their idolatry and other pagan practices that was exposed as worthy of condemnation and brought them to the feet of Yahushua.
The Torah teaches us that we need our heavenly Father's mercy upon us, if we ever want to hope for eternal life. The way we receive Yahweh's mercy is through Yahushua's righteousness being placed on us.
Galatians 4:4 - But when the fullness of the time had come, Elohim sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
Galatians 4:5 - to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
Note that Yahushua here it says was under the law, even as we were. There are some who believe that this phrase, under the law, is a metaphor for a person committing a sin.
What they'll use as an illustration often is, let's say you are a person driving down the road, and you break the speed limit. At that point, you are under the law, because you have broken that law, but if you don't break the law, then you're not under it.
I don't find that to be consistent with this scripture here in Galatians 4, which speaks of Yahushua as being under the law. He never broke the law one time, and yet He is called one who is under the law. That's true.
Yahushua was born under the law and kept the law to absolute perfection. He never failed one time. For this reason, He is the righteous one who is able to redeem those who are under the law, but condemned as sinners, held in bondage to the elements of the world.
Galatians 4:6 - And because you are sons, Elohim has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!"
Galatians 4:7 - Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of Elohim through Messiah.
Yahweh, in His love and mercy, redeemed us, meaning He bought us off the slave market, and He caused us to be adopted into His family, making us sons of Elohim. This was made possible, because Yahushua bought us with His life.
He died for us, and when He died for us and rose again, our Adam man participated with Him in that death, and we were made a new creation, Galatians 2:20.
Galatians 2:20 - "I have been crucified with Messiah; it is no longer I who live, but Messiah lives in me; and the [life] which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of Elohim, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
So we were made sons of Elohim, rather than mere servants or children who were held under the bondages of sin. Of course, this does not mean we are free to continue purposely in sin, as it says in 1 Corinthians 6:20.
1Corinthians 6:20 - For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify Elohim in your body and in your spirit, which are Elohim's.
Romans 6:1 - What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
Romans 6:2 - Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
So, again, we live to Elohim, as Paul had said in Galatians 2. We don't rebuild again that which was destroyed, or we're going to be making ourselves transgressors again. But, apparently, the Galatians had a problem with this very thing. He gives an example in Galatians 4:8-11.
Galatians 4:8 - But then, indeed, when you did not know Elohim, you served those which by nature are not gods.
Galatians 4:9 - But now after you have known Elohim, or rather are known by Elohim, how [is it that] you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?
Galatians 4:10 - You observe days and months and seasons and years.
Galatians 4:11 - I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.
Many believe that the days, months, times, years here are in reference to the Sabbath day and the feast day gatherings that Yahweh commanded in the Torah. They claim any observance of such things are somehow an attempt to earn our salvation, rather than trusting in the blood of Yahushua to be our cleansing.
Paul is not very specific about what days, months, times, and years he's actually referring to. He just makes a blanket statement. For this reason, a nominal Christian will sometimes say Paul is condemning the observance of any day, any month, any time, any year.
Even if this were the case, it would actually condemn the nominal Christian himself, because going to church on Sunday would certainly be the observance of a day, and certainly the observance of Christmas and Easter festivals would fall into that, as well.
Paul was speaking of Yahweh's commanded observances of the weekly Sabbath, Passover, Pentecost, and other such holy days? Was he actually speaking of that?
If so, Paul is actually condemning himself. If he's actually speaking of the Sabbath, Passover, Pentecost, and holy days, he's actually condemning himself, because he himself was actually a feast keeper.
Acts 18:20 - When they asked [him] to stay a longer time with them, he did not consent,
Acts 18:21 - but took leave of them, saying, "I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem; but I will return again to you, Elohim willing." And he sailed from Ephesus.
Paul said he was looking forward to keeping the feast in Jerusalem. If we were to understand the feast days to be the week and beggarly elements that supposedly bring us into bondage, this would contradict Paul's own practice. In fact, Paul said in Acts 25:8--he's answering for himself, and he says:
Acts 25:8 - while he answered for himself, "Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I offended in anything at all."
And so was Paul actually bringing himself into bondage? Was he observing those very weak and beggarly elements that he supposedly told the Galatians not to observe? Was he a hypocrite?
Well, you'd have to say yes if you understood the weak and beggarly elements to be the keeping of Yahweh's commanded feast days, and Sabbath, and so on.
So what exactly was Paul talking about? We can read it again more carefully. Remember that the Galatians were formally idol worshipers. They were not people who kept the feast days and Sabbath and so on. They were people that did not keep those days and kept other days that were dedicated to their idols.
Galatians 4:8 - But then, indeed, when you did not know Elohim, you served those which by nature are not gods.
So having been idol worshipers, there was no feast keeping to turn again to. They didn't keep the feast days before this.
Galatians 4:9 - But now after you have known Elohim, or rather are known by Elohim, how [is it that] you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?
The elements here were the elements of the world that they were formerly in bondage to, as he previously said in verse 3.
Galatians 4:3 - Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.
Yahweh's commandments are not elements of the world. Yahweh's commandments are the way of life. These Galatians were formerly idol worshipers, and so the observance that they would have to be turning again to would be the observances that were found in their former conduct in idolatry. He points that out in verse 8.
They were not formerly a Torah observant people, but they did service unto them which by nature are not Elohim. Nowhere in scripture does it say that the keeping of Yahweh's Torah results in bondage.
In fact, it says it's the transgression of Yahweh's law that is sin and bondage; otherwise, Yahushua Himself was in bondage, because He was born under the law and kept it without fault. We know He was not in bondage.
The only thing that brings us to bondage is our failure to keep the Torah. That's what brings us to bondage. But the teachers of today have it all turned around.
At this point, Paul must have been very frustrated, because not only were the Galatians looking to another good news for assurance of salvation, but they were apparently also holding onto the former things that they were supposed to be turned away from.
It's no wonder he says next in verse 11:
Galatians 4:11 - I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.
It's sort of an exasperated kind of statement that he's really having a hard time with these people in Galatia. More evidence that Paul was not condemning them for keeping the commanded holy days is the next statement here in verse 12.
Galatians 4:12 - Brethren, I urge you to become like me, for I [became] like you. You have not injured me at all.
It's kind of a confusing statement, but we know this much: he's urging them to become like him. If he was telling them it was so terrible of them to keep the days, the feast days and so on, he would actually be contradicting himself there when he says to become like him.
He wants them to be as he is. He considers himself, he said, to be like them. What is that? Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, saved by grace through faith, not through any work of men, but by the righteousness of Yahushua the Messiah.
So even Paul, though he grew up keeping Torah and knowing Torah, he himself could not be saved by Torah. We are all redeemed, we are all saved by grace through faith, Jew or Gentile.
Paul next makes the point that their wayward ways are not really a personal hurt to him. He says, "You have not injured me at all." Even though he toiled and labored for them through his infirmities.
Galatians 4:13 - You know that because of physical infirmity I preached the gospel to you at the first.
Galatians 4:14 - And my trial which was in my flesh you did not despise or reject, but you received me as an angel of Elohim, [even] as Messiah Yahushua.
Galatians 4:15 - What then was the blessing you [enjoyed]? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me.
The specific infirmity Paul speaks of is quite possibly poor eyesight. You can compare that last verse about plucking out their eyes and giving it to him to Galatians 6:11.
Galatians 6:11 - See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand!
It's not really certain if that was his infirmity, but that's one possibility. One thing is sure, he did suffer many afflictions while he proclaimed the good news, and the Galatians received the good news with joy and thanksgiving, in spite of the afflictions.
At that time, everything was fine. They had received the Spirit of Yahweh. Everything was going well. They were enjoying the blessings. They understood the good news, but then these other people come along and start proclaiming another message. He says next in verse 16:
Galatians 4:16 - Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?
Those who were the false teachers among them were apparently speaking against him, and so he brings this to remembrance, the blessedness, the love they all had for one another, and reminds them he's not their enemy.
He just wants to bring the truth to them, the same thing he did the first time. But there was a tremendous amount of peer pressure being placed on them from all sides, so they were caving in to believing this false way of salvation.
Galatians 4:17 - They zealously court you, [but] for no good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them.
They were being manipulated by others who used exclusion and peer pressure in order to get them to conform. One example of that is back in chapter 2. We read in an earlier study the Jews would not eat with the Gentiles, because they hadn't been circumcised yet, and that was wrong.
That's the kind of tactics they would use. They would treat the Gentiles like second class citizens. In fact, today there are some Messianic congregations. I've not been to them. I've heard lots of reports that if you're not Jewish, they'll treat you the same way.
Galatians 4:18 - But it is good to be zealous in a good thing always, and not only when I am present with you.
Galatians 4:19 - My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Messiah is formed in you,
Galatians 4:20 - I would like to be present with you now and to change my tone; for I have doubts about you.
Zeal is good, brethren, but it must be according to the truth. He was greatly concerned about their salvation. Next, Paul uses this allegory to demonstrate the truth of the good news. Many believe the allegory we're about to read proves that we should not be obedient to the law of Yahweh.
Once again, we are going to demonstrate this to be a false belief, based on tradition, not based on scripture. First of all, let's remember what it really means to be under the law.
What it really means to be under the law is illustrated in what I've been calling the last two weeks the good news of the circumcision. This is another gospel, another good news, another glad tidings, another evangel.
This other evangel was being preached by certain Jews among them who were getting a little too prideful. This is the good news of the circumcision. I'm going to read it to you. This is what it's all about. This is the good news of the circumcision Paul was basically battling against.
You can find this when you actually look through everything that's being said by these people. The first step, number one, they agree repent and accept Yahushua. Then, number two, you needed to learn all the Torah and obey it. Then, number three, you needed to get circumcised.
Once those three steps are completed, in their view, then you are Abraham's seed and finally declared righteous and you have salvation.
This is nothing more than a vain attempt to be declared righteous or justified by the law. The real good news is this. Number one, repent and accept Yahushua. That's Acts 2:38. That's it! Nothing else. You are Abraham's seed, and you are declared righteous like that. Yahweh accepts you. This is called justification by faith.
It is these two versions of the good news that are being contrasted throughout the book of Galatians, and it's the first version, the false version of the good news I mentioned that Paul is speaking against throughout the book of Galatians.
It's that false good news, the circumcision, that puts you under the law for salvation. Before you're saved, you need to learn all the Torah and obey it, and then you have to be circumcised. That is an attempt to be justified by the law.
Whereas when we just repent and accept Yahushua, that is an attempt to be justified by faith, not by our own works. The former is going to put you under the law for salvation, and the latter is going to put you humbly under grace.
With these two versions of the good news, the true one and the false one in mind, let's continue reading Galatians 4.
Galatians 4:21 - Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?
Galatians 4:22 - For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman.
Galatians 4:23 - But he [who was] of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise,
Once again, Paul appeals to the book of Genesis to demonstrate an eternal truth. Remember that Yahweh promised Abraham he would have a son in his old age, even though he'd never had any children.
After this promise was made to Abraham, both Abraham and Sarah thought that the promised son was not going to literally come through Sarah's womb.
They thought maybe through the handmaid, Hagar, she'll have the baby on behalf of Sarah, and that would make it possible to happen. The son that was born through Hagar was Ishmael. They recognized Yahweh's promise, but they tried to make it come about through their own efforts in a way that they thought it was going to work.
Ishmael is called, in Galatians, one who is born after the flesh, because he was brought about in a way contrary to Yahweh's promise, being the son of a slave. Yahweh was actually going to fulfill His promise by miraculously allowing Sarah to have a son, Isaac, well past her childbearing years.
Thus, the promise was going to be fulfilled by a work of Yahweh, rather than a work of men. This becomes a good illustration of the difference between one trying to receive Yahweh's promise of salvation by a work of Yahweh and another trying to receive Yahweh's promise of salvation by their own work.
Galatians 4:24 - which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar --
Galatians 4:25 - for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children --
Why is Jerusalem and her children compared to Hagar and her children? Because Jerusalem, as a whole, was trying to receive the promise of Yahweh, of eternal life in the promised land, the seed through human effort, coming up with their own idea of how Yahweh would fulfill His promises, rather than letting Yahweh fulfill it Himself.
The inhabitants of Jerusalem were trying to bring about Yahweh's promises of eternal life through their own works, the Sinai covenant, but the Sinai covenant was never intended to be used for that purpose.
The promise came through Abraham, and the law does not do away with the promise. They were trying to gain eternal life through their own works, rather than through the works of Yahweh, through Yahushua the Messiah, who brings all of us the righteousness we need to have eternal life.
Any effort to use the Sinai covenant as a means of salvation will ultimately fail to deliver a man from the bondage of sin, because none of us, not one of us have kept our end of the agreement. Not one of us is going to receive the promises of Yahweh through human effort. It takes a work of Yahweh for any of us to have salvation.
Galatians 4:26 - but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Galatians 4:27 - For it is written: "Rejoice, O barren, [You] who do not bear! Break forth and shout, You who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children Than she who has a husband."
Galatians 4:28 - Now we, brethren, as Isaac [was], are children of promise.
We, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. Those who cleave to the understanding that we are receiving the promise of eternal life, through the work of Yahweh, are likened unto Isaac, the son of a free woman.
We are the children of the promise, because we have become the seed of Abraham through Yahushua the Messiah who lives in us, rather than through our own human effort of circumcision or Torah keeping. I hope everybody understands that.
For those of you who are not familiar with the way the audio meeting works, if you're in the chat room, we try to keep the crosstalk down during the study, because the scriptures are being posted into the room, and they'll scroll up off the screen if there's a lot of crosstalk during the meeting.
After the meeting is completed, the study is completed, we open the phones, and the chat room is free to be used for regular conversations.
Galatians 4:29 - But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him [who was born] according to the Spirit, even so [it is] now.
Galatians 4:30 - Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? "Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman."
Galatians 4:31 - So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.
The bondwoman was ultimately cast out of Abraham's household because of the persecutions in Genesis 21 and was not allowed to be an heir with the free woman.
For this reason, it's very, very important that we submit to the true good news of salvation, rather than the false good news of the circumcision, which states we do not receive salvation until we keep the law and get circumcised.
The yoke of bondage, we're going to read about that next in Galatians 5:1.
Galatians 5:1 - Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Messiah has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
The yoke of bondage is, as we discussed in previous chapters, illustrated very well in the good news of the circumcision. As we discussed, Peter agreed with this in Acts 15:10-11. The yoke of bondage is a vain attempt to be justified by the Sinai Covenant, Torah keeping.
None of us will be justified by that. We need to be justified by faith in the Messiah Yahushua. We have no choice. That's the only way we're going to be justified.
We're going to move on here to the topic of circumcision. This subject alone is actually worthy of a study in and of itself, but we're going to examine this briefly, as we go over Galatians 5.
Galatians 5:2 - Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Messiah will profit you nothing.
Galatians 5:3 - And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law.
Galatians 5:4 - You have become estranged from Messiah, you who [attempt to] be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
Galatians 5:5 - For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
One of the most important things to remember when reading the book of Galatians is that he is specifically speaking to a certain group of people who are about to fall prey to a false good news.
This is evidenced by Paul's statements when he says, "You've become estranged from the Messiah. You attempt to be justified by the law. We, through the Spirit, eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith."
The subject matter at hand here is whether or not circumcision is a part of the true good news that brings us salvation. Paul was not against circumcision.
You may think I'm crazy because I say such a statement, and these statements in Galatians 5 appear to say the opposite. But I'm telling you Paul was not against circumcision, if it's done for the right reasons.
Definitive proof of what I'm trying to tell you is found, once again, in Paul's own example and his own practice. In Acts 16:1-3, this is speaking of Paul, and this is right after they had the Jerusalem council and decided circumcision was not required for someone to be considered a brother.
Acts 16:1 - Then he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, [the] son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father [was] Greek.
Acts 16:2 - He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium.
Acts 16:3 - Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he took [him] and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek.
In light of the common interpretation of Galatians 5, Paul was actually doing the very thing most people think Paul was telling the Galatians not to do. We need to ask ourselves, was he circumcising Timothy so that Messiah could profit Timothy nothing and so that he would become estranged from the Messiah?
As he said in verses 3 and 4:
Galatians 5:3 - And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law.
Galatians 5:4 - You have become estranged from Messiah, you who [attempt to] be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
What's he doing here circumcising Timothy? Was he trying to force Timothy to become a debtor to keep the whole law? Why did he tell the Galatians they would be fallen from grace, estranged from the Messiah, Messiah would profit them nothing if they were to become circumcised because of Jewish pressures, but then circumcise Timothy himself because of the Jews?
Was Paul a hypocrite? No! We need to understand what's happening here. This is a beautiful thing, and it really illustrates the way Yahweh used circumcision all throughout history.
If you went along with the common interpretation of Galatians and assumed this was for everyone--anyone that gets circumcised is estranged from Messiah, going off into some Judaism thing and rejecting Yahushua--no, that's not true.
He was on one hand trying to tell the Gentiles of Galatia not to give in to Jewish pressures. They were all pressured to get circumcised. But then by most interpreters, he actually gave in to Jewish pressures himself in Acts 16:1-3. What is going on here?
The truth is Paul is not against circumcision. He was against the false doctrines which were found in this good news of the circumcision, which was actually a perversion of the true good news that Yahweh desired to proclaim.
Timothy's father was a Greek. What this means is that Timothy scripturally was not of Jewish heritage, because the heritage always followed the fatherly line. If it followed the motherly line, then Ruth, the Moabitess was certainly not a Jew, and yet she was David's great grandmother.
I realize orthodox Jews today follow the mother's lineage. It's not certain when that practice began or if it was even in existence in the first century. It is found in the Talmud, which is after the first century.
Even as the son of a Gentile, Timothy was raised in the scriptures by his Jewish mother, Eunice. You can find that in 2 Timothy 1:5 and 2 Timothy 3:15.
We read in Acts 16:2 that he was well reported of by the brethren. He was ready in his heart, mature enough, prepared enough to be circumcised. There's no record of Paul ever circumcising anyone himself. You never see any place where Paul specifically went and did the surgical act of circumcision on another male, except Timothy.
In Acts 16:3, Paul decided to take it upon himself to circumcise Timothy. Why would Paul want to be the guy that actually did the act of circumcision here? It tells us in Acts 16: because of the Jews.
Was he giving in to Jewish pressures? Was he afraid they might say something bad about him? Was he trying to be like the Jews? Wasn't that what he was condemning the Galatians for doing? No. The context, Paul had just gone to Jerusalem with the apostles and elders about the circumcision question in Acts 15.
Acts 16 is written, and Paul needed to prove to the Jews he was not in any way against circumcising even the son of a Gentile, if it was done for reasons that would not pervert the good news of Yahushua the Messiah.
Paul's decision to make sure he was the one to circumcise Timothy would alleviate any concerns that Paul's trip to Jerusalem had any intentions of doing away with circumcision as a whole, even for the son of a Gentile. As it says, they all knew his father was a Greek. Let's read the verses in Galatians again.
Galatians 5:2 - Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Messiah will profit you nothing.
Galatians 5:3 - And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law.
Galatians 5:4 - You have become estranged from Messiah, you who [attempt to] be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
Galatians 5:5 - For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
The issue here was our source of righteousness. See very 5.
Galatians 5:5 - For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
Those who held to the good news of the circumcision believed that a person had to learn and obey the Torah and be circumcised before they could be considered righteous and therefore be saved.
The true good news is that one need only repent and believe in Yahushua to be considered righteous and thus be saved. The false good news is an attempt, once more, I say it again, to be justified, declared righteous--that's what the word "justified" means--justified by the law.
The latter, the true good news is the humble admission that our own righteousness is inadequate to gain any hope of receiving salvation through it.
If a man was to try to be justified by the law, by submitting to the good news of the circumcision and getting circumcised, they would be a debtor to keep the whole law. Why? Because in order for us to be justified by the law, we would need to have kept every single commandment in order to be considered righteous.
If we even fail in one point or 1,000 points, it makes no difference. We're still labeled a transgressor and are considered to be unrighteous.
For this reason, any attempt to be justified by the law, which is what the good news of the circumcision was all about, is utterly going to fail. That's why the law does not have that function. It does not have the role of justifying us. To the contrary, it just condemns us.
We need Yahushua the Messiah for our righteousness, for our justification, and that's why Paul said:
Galatians 5:5 - For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
Galatians 5:6 - For in Messiah Yahushua neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
Again, Paul makes the point that if we are in the Messiah Yahushua, whether we are circumcised or uncircumcised, it doesn't amount to anything in regards to whether or not we have righteousness. If we come to Yahushua, we are saved, regardless of whether we're circumcised or not.
Again, keep in mind, Paul himself circumcised Timothy. When it says the Messiah will profit you nothing, and every man who becomes circumcised is a debtor to keep the whole law, and you have become estranged from the Messiah, it does not mean everyone in the entire world who becomes circumcised is condemned.
Context, context, context. Paul is writing to the Galatians. Before we think his statements apply to everyone, we need to examine the context, examine other scriptures, examine Paul's own practices to get a full understanding of what he meant; otherwise, we have Paul sending Timothy to the lake of fire because he circumcised him because of the Jews.
Paul here is addressing, in Galatians, this false good news of the circumcision. If they were to be circumcised by these people, it was a sign of submission to that false doctrine. It was a sign of submission to that belief that they were not even saved until they did this.
That's a doctrine that's so dangerous, it can actually cause you to lose your salvation, because you're rejecting the blood of Yahushua as being sufficient to give us salvation. Again, Paul himself circumcised the son of a gentile to prove he wasn't against circumcision.
He vigorously refuted anyone, though, that taught this good news of the circumcision, which was always a false doctrine. It was never true, not even back in the days of the Torah, never was. We talked about that last week.
The truth is that if we are in the Messiah Yahushua, whether we are circumcised or uncircumcised, it doesn't gain us salvation. To the contrary, if we use it or any other commandment act as an attempt to replace the work of the Messiah, we are putting ourselves under the law and separating ourselves from Yahushua.
If you were to come up to someone and say, "You repented and accepted Yahushua, but until you, who stole that item from somebody 20 years ago, give it back to them, you're not saved," or "Until you go back and apologize to your parents and start honoring them, you're not saved," or "Until you..." Fill in the blank. "You're not saved." That is an attempt to be justified by works.
It's not wrong to do those things, but if you don't believe Yahushua's blood is sufficient to cover your sin at that moment you repent and turn to Him, something is wrong. Yahushua is not enough. You need to put your own works into it.
That's not to say that we shouldn't walk in righteousness or that we shouldn't live as He lived and let Him live in us. Yahushua the Messiah saves us through the cleansing flow of His blood up on us, His life. The life is in the blood.
When we decide we are no longer going to live for ourselves, we're going to live for Him, we're going to imitate Him, we've made that decision in our heart, and we accept Him in our heart, we're accepted right then and there. You don't have to add anything. Out of that repentance, yes, good works will come.
We are sons of Abraham, through Yahushua the Messiah, not through circumcision. In that sense, it avails us nothing, but circumcision done for the right reasons does fulfill a purpose; otherwise, Timothy endured this very painful ordeal for nothing.
He wasn't getting circumcised because he wanted to witness to the Jews, as some think. Timothy was going to be circumcised anyway. Paul was choosing to be the one who actually did the act of circumcising Timothy because of the Jews. He was proving to them that he was not against circumcision, if done for the right reasons.
What are the right reasons? No, it's not so you can impress the Jews. He was clearly dead against that. If you don't believe me, you need to read the book of Galatians. He wasn't trying to impress the Jews in Acts 16. I can assure you of that, as far as trying to get so he could witness to them or something like that.
He wasn't trying to undermine the true good news, which said that you don't have to be circumcised to be saved. You just need to repent and accept Yahushua to be saved.
He wanted to circumcise Timothy, because he wanted to prove, "Look, even though I went up to the apostles and elders about this question of circumcision, I'm not against it completely. I'm just saying this idea that we're not saved until we're circumcised is wrong."
He had the same problem in Acts 21. He was being accused of not circumcising or teaching people not to circumcise their children and so on. He actually went to the temple and did an offering with four men who had a Nazarite vow to prove it wasn't true.
What are the right reasons for circumcision? Let's establish this, from the very beginning, even in the Torah, circumcision was never the first item on Yahweh's list of things He wanted out of a person.
It's a form of sacrifice. It's a shedding of blood, in a sense. Yahweh did not give Abraham the covenant of circumcision on the day He called him out. He didn't say, "Abraham, go cut off your foreskin and come follow me. Go to a place I'll show you." No, He gave him the covenant of circumcision after Abraham had actually walked with Him many years.
This is not a new thing. This is also how Yahweh dealt with this issue with the children of Israel. When He gave the Torah and all the things He did, He punished them for murmuring and complaining. He punished them for their lack of faith. He punished them for fornication, but He did not punish them for not circumcising their children.
Why? First, let's establish exactly what happened. We can read about that in Joshua 5:2-7.
Joshua 5:2 - At that time YAHWEH said to Joshua, "Make flint knives for yourself, and circumcise the sons of Israel again the second time."
Joshua 5:3 - So Joshua made flint knives for himself, and circumcised the sons of Israel at the hill of the foreskins.
Joshua 5:4 - And this [is] the reason why Joshua circumcised them: All the people who came out of Egypt [who were] males, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way, after they had come out of Egypt.
Joshua 5:5 - For all the people who came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness, on the way as they came out of Egypt, had not been circumcised.
Joshua 5:6 - For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people [who were] men of war, who came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they did not obey the voice of YAHWEH -- to whom YAHWEH swore that He would not show them the land which YAHWEH had sworn to their fathers that He would give us, "a land flowing with milk and honey."
Joshua 5:7 - Then Joshua circumcised their sons [whom] He raised up in their place; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.
The trek of the children of Israel, brethren, is like this picture. It's a picture of our own walk with Yahweh. We were saved by the blood of the Lamb, even as they were. The old man died in the wilderness. The new man rose up and took its place.
Just before they entered the land, they were circumcised. So it wasn't until that moment that Yahweh had said anything about it. Why is this? Yahweh had some major sin that needed to be dealt with first: idolatry, fornication, lack of faith.
These are the major issues that needed to be dealt with first. The same is true of Gentiles turning to Yahweh. They need to focus on learning Yahweh's commandments and practicing them before they concern themselves with circumcision. That's what Paul said in Romans 2:25.
Romans 2:25 - For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.
It was this reason that Paul told a very carnal Corinthians, who had major, major problems, and they were turning to Yahweh, he told them:
1Corinthians 7:18 - Was anyone called while circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? Let him not be circumcised.
1Corinthians 7:19 - Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of Elohim [is what matters].
The real focus for one being called, as he said in 1 Corinthians 7:18, was the need to keep Yahweh's commandments. This was in perfect line with the ruling in Acts 15 that we discussed in the previous studies. The Gentiles needed to spend their time learning the Torah, and this was the reason James made the ruling in Acts 15:19-21.
Acts 15:19 - "Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to Elohim,
Acts 15:20 - "but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, [from] sexual immorality, [from] things strangled, and [from] blood.
Acts 15:21 - "For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath."
The expectation that came out of this ruling was that the Gentiles would be learning the Torah, keeping the commandments of Yahweh when they attended the synagogues every Sabbath. This was why James limited the initial requirements for new believers to some necessary things which demonstrated their allegiance to Yahweh.
They were formerly idol worshipers, so he told them they need to at least demonstrate that they are committed to serving Yahweh. That would show they had repented. He listed some things: the pollutions of idols, fornication, things strangled, from blood.
These were all common in idolatrous temple practices. They had virgins up there that were having fornication. There were different things happening. They were drinking blood and different practices, which were all found in idolatry. So he gave them those requirements.
Timothy was not circumcised as a child, because his father was a Greek. He was not raised to be an idol worshiper though either, because Jewish mother and grandmother actually raised him in the scriptures, 2 Timothy 3:15.
2Timothy 3:15 - and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Messiah Yahushua.
Because of this, Timothy, who was, according to Acts 16:2, well reported of by the brethren, was quite ready as an adult to go ahead and get circumcised. Paul's decision to be the one who circumcised him in Acts 16 was proof that Paul still preached circumcision, if done for the right reasons and as Yahweh leads.
He did this to prove to the Jews he was not against circumcision, even if the person is an adult and the son of a Gentile.
As we know, the actual commanded time of circumcision is on the eighth day. For an adult to go through this process is extremely painful. It wasn't the first item on Yahweh's agenda in the Torah, and it certainly wasn't in the first century assembly either. That's what Acts 15 and other verses we've been discussing is all about.
Some people will ask me, "EliYah, should I be circumcised?" I never tell them to be circumcised. I just say that I believe at some point Yahweh may very well lead a person who believes in Yahushua, if they haven't been circumcised, to be circumcised. That's a personal decision.
You were supposed to be circumcised on the eighth day. It didn't happen, so as an adult, for you to go back and get it done, that is as Yahweh leads. Let's continue in Galatians 5:7-11. We're going to prove once again Paul is not against circumcision and says it himself.
Galatians 5:7 - You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?
Galatians 5:8 - This persuasion does not [come] from Him who calls you.
Galatians 5:9 - A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
Galatians 5:10 - I have confidence in you, in YAHWEH, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is.
Galatians 5:11 - And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased.
So further evidence that Paul was not against circumcision is Paul's own statement.
Galatians 5:11 - And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased.
Some believe that's hypothetical, but it's not. He did it. He circumcised Timothy himself. Because Paul still preaches circumcision and proved he wasn't against it, Acts 16, there should be nothing offensive about Yahushua's death on the tree being sufficient to bring us salvation.
That's why he says, "I'm preaching circumcision. The offense of Yahushua dying on the tree, that being our salvation, should be cease. It shouldn't be an offense."
We know that there is something offensive about Yahushua's death on the tree. What is it? It's not because of anything Yahushua Himself tried to do. He wasn't trying to be offensive. We're going to read about that in Romans 9:30-33.
Romans 9:30 - What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith;
Romans 9:31 - but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness.
Romans 9:32 - Why? Because [they did] not [seek it] by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone.
That's Yahushua. Why? Because they were focused on the works of the law. Law keeping is going to save us, and so on. That was all predicted they were going to stumble.
Romans 9:33 - As it is written: "Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."
Many of the Gentiles were receiving righteousness by faith in Yahushua, while many of the Jews were not, because they were setting aside the work of Yahushua and trying to gain righteousness by their own works of law keeping.
It's because of that Yahushua became that stumbling stone, that rock of offense to them, rather than being the only begotten Son of Yahweh who was able to make them righteous.
If Paul did not preach circumcision, there would be a legitimate reason for them to stumble, because circumcision was clearly commanded in the Torah, and the Torah is not abolished.
Paul points out the fact that he did preach circumcision should cause the offense of the cross, the stake, to cease. The only reason it didn't is because of the self-inflicted stumbling of trying to gain salvation through the works of the law or through circumcision.
That's why. It wasn't through anything Paul did, Yahushua did, anybody. It was all their own self-inflicted stumbling block, because they were seeking righteousness through Torah, rather than by faith, as it said in the prophets, Habakkuk 2:4.
When he says, "I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution," why would he be persecuted? Because he's preaching circumcision, there's no reason for him to be persecuted.
The offense of the tree, of Yahushua dying on the tree, had ceased. But, no, they had a self-inflicted offense. Yahushua the Messiah being our righteousness, that was an offense to them.
That was what was predicted in the prophets from the very beginning. They were not seeking it by faith; they were seeking it by their own power. Even the prophets predicted, Isaiah 45, only in Yahweh do I have righteousness and strength. That's verse 21, I believe.
That's when every knee shall bow and say... For this reason, because of this stumbling, which was self-inflicted, the children of the bondwoman, who are relying on the Sinai covenant to save them, persecute the children of the free woman. As we read earlier, Galatians 4:29:
Galatians 4:29 - But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him [who was born] according to the Spirit, even so [it is] now.
Everyone, Jew or Gentile, is able to receive the rebirth of the spirit if they are willing to let the Adam man die, rather than trying to force this Adam man to somehow keep the commands, and let Yahushua live in them by the power and wisdom of Elohim.
1Corinthians 1:22 - For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom;
1Corinthians 1:23 - but we preach Messiah crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,
1Corinthians 1:24 - but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Messiah the power of Elohim and the wisdom of Elohim.
Galatians 2:20 - "I have been crucified with Messiah; it is no longer I who live, but Messiah lives in me; and the [life] which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of Elohim, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
There is this offense, and that's why Paul is being persecuted. He knows why. But he shouldn't be; he's just speaking the truth.
Galatians 5:12 - I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off!
Some have understood this to mean that Paul was hoping that the ones who troubled the Galatians would basically emasculate themselves. I think the NIV reads that way. I don't really think Paul was that crude. I don't think that was his nature or the way he operated.
I also look at the context. The term being "cut off" could be in reference to someone who is cut off from the community of believers. You can see that all throughout that Torah. You break these commands, you do a certain thing, you'd be cut off from among your people.
Actually being cut off from the fellowship of believers is actually the context of his statement.
Galatians 5:10 - I have confidence in you, in YAHWEH, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is.
Paul's confidence was that they were going to judge the ones troubling them. Cutting them off from fellowship would certainly fit well with that statement.
They needed to be judged, because they were perverting the true good news of Yahushua and turning people toward their own good news of the circumcision, which Paul had said, "If anyone preaches any other good news than the one you heard, let him be accursed."
That's a doctrine that was never true at any time in history. A question came on the chat room last night, "What about David and all the others? They didn't believe in Yahushua. They had nothing but the Torah. How did they get salvation?"
I want to point you to Habakkuk 2:4, "The just shall live by faith." That's Old Testament scripture.
David had the right idea when he said, "You desire not sacrifice." Psalm 51:16
Psalms 51:16 - For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give [it]; You do not delight in burnt offering.
Psalms 51:17 - The sacrifices of Elohim [are] a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart -- These, O Elohim, You will not despise.
He knew what Yahweh was after: faith. He knew he had no choice but to trust in Yahweh's mercy. It's the humble ones down through history who recognized that and didn't try to justify themselves, like Saul the king did. After he had done this thing with not destroying all the Amalekites like he was commanded, he tried to make an excuse and say, "Well, the people did this."
In another place, he said, "Well, I have done what Yahweh commanded." He was trying to justify himself; whereas David said, "Against you, you only, have I sinned." He immediately repented and recognized he had no hope unless it was through Yahweh's mercy.
The truth is that new believers in Yahushua and any believer all throughout history who would be willing to turn their heart to Yahweh, Yahweh could have met them right where they were at. Why? because the blood of Yahushua covers them, too.
He was not fully revealed. They may not have fully understood, but it says the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world in the book of Revelation.
New believers in Yahushua have the grace and liberty to learn and apply Yahweh's commandments, as His Spirit leads, without having this condemnation hanging over their head if they don't immediately obey everything; otherwise, who among us is really saved?
We're learning, and growing, and the same is true with anyone. It takes time. But Paul warns the Galatians that liberty is not to be used as an excuse to continue walking in sin. He makes this point so very crystal clear that there's no way we're going to miss it, unless we're not looking for it or unless we're trying to ignore it. He says this in Galatians 5:13-14.
Galatians 5:13 - For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not [use] liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
Galatians 5:14 - For all the law is fulfilled in one word, [even] in this: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Indeed, it is true all of Yahweh's law is fulfilled when we love our neighbor as ourselves. Someone asked, "What about loving Yahweh?" Actually in 1 John 5:2, it says:
1John 5:2 - By this we know that we love the children of Elohim, when we love Elohim and keep His commandments.
We cannot really love our neighbor unless we love Yahweh. Knowing this, that all the law is fulfilled in one word, to love our neighbor as ourselves, aren't we all supposed to be fulfilling the law?
In other words, it's not just Yahushua who is called to fulfill the law, it's all of us. There is not a commandment given in the Torah, in the law anywhere, that does not have love in mind.
When Yahweh says, "Do not murder," obviously the goal of that commandment is love. "Do not commit adultery. Honor your parents." The goal of those commandments is love.
The same is true with other commandments. "Worship no other idols, don't bow down to them or serve them," because we want to love Yahweh.
Believe me, brethren, the Sabbath is not an exception to that. That's also love. It's not very loving when Yahweh sets apart a special day and says, "This is my sanctified day, remember it and keep it holy," to just ignore it. That's not very loving either.
We are all called to walk in love toward Yahweh and toward our neighbor. We are all called to fulfill the law. We need to forsake this idea we don't keep that anymore, because Yahushua fulfilled all that. No, we fulfill that, too. We are all called to fulfill His Torah.
The truth is Yahushua fulfilled every commandment in the Torah. If He is dwelling in us, then we are going to fulfill them, as well. That's what it really means to walk in the Spirit.
Ezekiel 36:27 - "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do [them].
Romans 8:5 - For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those [who live] according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
Romans 8:6 - For to be carnally minded [is] death, but to be spiritually minded [is] life and peace.
Romans 8:7 - Because the carnal mind [is] enmity against Elohim; for it is not subject to the law of Elohim, nor indeed can be.
How can they miss that one? It's the carnal mind that's enmity against Yahweh, because it's not subjecting itself to Yahweh's Torah, which teaches us what it means to love Yahweh and to love one another.
The law is spiritual. It is holy. It is just. It is good. If we follow it, we're going to be spiritual, we're going to be holy, we're going to be just, and we're going to be good. It's a good thing.
Following that law doesn't make up for the times we've failed Yahweh. It doesn't make it righteous. Yahushua did that. It still has a place in our life in directing us to righteousness, but it never did and never will make us righteous.
Romans 8:8 - So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please Elohim.
Romans 8:9 - But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of Elohim dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Messiah, he is not His.
Romans 8:10 - And if Messiah [is] in you, the body [is] dead because of sin, but the Spirit [is] life because of righteousness.
Our liberation in the Messiah is never to be used as an excuse to continue transgressing the Torah, as is commonly taught today. It's because we transgress the Torah that Yahushua had to come and die for us in the first place. Paul goes on to explain in Galatians 5 how one can walk in the Spirit.
Galatians 5:15 - But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!
Galatians 5:16 - I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Galatians 5:17 - For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
Galatians 5:18 - But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Notice here it says we will not be under the law if we're led by the Spirit. There are two ways that we can find ourselves to be under the law. That means to be condemned, not under grace anymore. One is by refusing to acknowledge that our righteousness and salvation comes from Yahushua alone. That's very clearly established.
The other is by refusing to be led by His Spirit. We haven't really repented in that case. We haven't really submitted to the good news in that case. If we refuse to be led by His Spirit, which causes us to walk in His statutes, keep His judgments, and do them, then we really haven't been given the righteousness by faith. We haven't even repented yet.
Submitting to either direction, whether rejecting Yahushua the Messiah or by failing to repent, we are still under the law. That's why the good news, the true good news is this: repent and believe in Yahushua. That's it. Paul warns the Galatians, 5:19-21, if we repented, we're going to start demonstrating in our lives the fruits of that repentance.
We walk in the Spirit of Messiah that's in us, and we do not walk in the flesh.
Galatians 5:19 - Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
Galatians 5:20 - idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
Galatians 5:21 - envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told [you] in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of Elohim.
How is that for a warning? We need to walk in the Spirit, never using liberty as an occasion or excuse to cast the commandments of Yahweh behind our backs and continue in sin.
Galatians 5:22 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Galatians 5:23 - gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Galatians 5:24 - And those [who are] Messiah's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Galatians 5:25 - If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
The fruit of the Spirit is love--love for Yahweh and one another--joy, the joy of our salvation--peace that comes through reconciliation--longsuffering that comes through recognizing the longsuffering Messiah has had with us--kindness because of His kindness--goodness because of His goodness--faithfulness, gentleness, awesome fruits of the Spirit--self control.
That's got to be one of my favorite verses in all of scripture. Yahweh's plan was to promise every one of us eternal life through Abraham's seed, Yahushua the Messiah, first by showing us the path of righteousness, which is written in the Torah. Yahweh, being every so merciful, gave His only Son to redeem us from the curses that result in our disobedience to Him.
The standard of righteousness does not change when we accept Yahushua, but our standing before Yahweh does.
It is a total distortion to teach that everyone else in the world is expected to refrain from sin and needs to be delivered because they've transgressed the law and are going to be condemned because they haven't kept that law, but then those who receive Yahushua are free to just purposely transgress that law, break the Sabbath, do whatever you want to do all day long.
That's not the way it's supposed to be. We're supposed to repent and accept Yahushua. This other version is not the good news. Paul was making that very clear. You can get out of whack either way. We need to walk in the Spirit. If we walk in the Spirit in our minds, we are subjecting ourselves to the Torah.
We will not misuse the Torah to make it fulfill a function it was never able to fulfill, and that is to bring us righteousness or bring us salvation. It's this misuse of the Torah that Paul is addressing in the book of Galatians.
We need to not misuse his writings to say something he never meant to say by proclaiming the Torah is no longer something Yahweh wants us to keep or that we should walk according to.
Those who twist his writings to say such a thing may find themselves in a lot of trouble. Peter mentions this in 2 Peter 3:13-17.
2Peter 3:13 - Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
2Peter 3:14 - Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;
He's encouraging us to walk in righteousness, because in the age to come righteousness is going to dwell there.
2Peter 3:15 - and consider [that] the longsuffering of our Master [is] salvation -- as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,
It is Yahushua who is our salvation, not our attempts to walk in righteousness. That's what Paul wrote about a lot, that the longsuffering of our Master is salvation.
2Peter 3:16 - as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable [people] twist to their own destruction, as [they do] also the rest of the Scriptures.
As they do also the rest of the scriptures.
2Peter 3:17 - You therefore, beloved, since you know [this] beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked;
We need to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless. Let's not be among the unlearned and unstable who twist his letters to their own destruction.
In the end, Yahushua is not going to be saying, "Depart from me, you commandment keepers." No! "Depart from me, you that work iniquity." Matthew 7.
As Paul said, those who want to walk in the flesh, the former ways of sin that they were supposed to be delivered from, they're not going to inherit the kingdom of Yahweh.
But those who are seeking to walk in the Spirit, seeking to be found by Him, from their hearts, to be found by Him without spot, without blemish--not because of our own righteousness, but because of His indwelling--they are Yahweh's people.
No matter what denomination you're in, if He dwells in us, He will cleanse us of the former things, and He will give us the power to walk as He walked, live as He lived, and be where He is. That's the good news.
Revelation 3:21 - "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
Revelation 21:7 - "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his Elohim and he shall be My son.
Let's be among the inheritors, ever faithful to trust in his righteousness for our salvation, ever seeking to walk in His Spirit, ever cleaving to the one who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
The eternal principles of love that Yahweh gave in the Torah have not changed, and they never will. Let's seek to walk in those eternal principles, so that we might likewise remain, even as they do, so that His Word, Yahushua the Messiah, abides in us forever. May Yahweh bless you and may He have mercy on us all.
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