“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are following a different gospel – not that there really is another gospel, but there are some who are disturbing you and wanting to distort the gospel of Christ.” (Galatians 1:6, 7, NET). Judaizers were
The letter from the Apostle Paul to the churches in Galatia is a critical letter for the modern-day Christians also. The issues Paul addresses in his letter to Galatians exist in the Christian community today. Even the sincere believers are sometimes confused and misled by often a deliberate perversion of the gospel, the good news
The new covenant. The covenants before Mount Sinai were God’s grants. They did not require a contribution or participation by the covenant recipients. However, the covenant made at Mount Sinai was not a grant. The covenant at Mount Sinai was an agreement between the people and God. The agreement was made at the request of
The problem with the Old Covenant established at Sinai. The people’s agreement at Mount Sinai did not establish a method of salvation. It did not institute a way to God for sinful humankind. God only can establish the way to him for the created orders of intelligence. The covenant at Sinai represents a human effort
The people broke the covenant. The agreement, the covenant that people made with God at Sinai, became ineffective. Why did the Old Scriptures covenant become useless? “For if there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said: ‘The
Sinai agreement continued. The ten statements (commands) that God gave to the people were not beyond people’s ability to obey physically or outwardly. However, the people were not aware that their sinful nature could not obey the spirit of God’s requirements. The New Covenant Christians have the same problem. Some of those who consider
The agreement at Sinai continued. At Sinai, God reminded the people that He was the One who delivered them out of slavery in Egypt. Therefore, they should have no other gods besides Him. Exodus 20:2. God then spoke the first two commandments in hearing by the people. God’s voice and the display of His glory
The covenants continued. The people of Israel were sincere in what they promised to God at Mount Sinai. The people thought that they could fulfill what they promised. They were certain concerning their promise because they did not know that they were sinners by nature. The people were not aware that their decision in the
The agreement at Mount Sinai. God’s promises, or grants, covered thus far are God’s unilateral and unconditional actions on behalf of sinful humankind. However, the agreement with God that the people made at mount Sinai is not God’s unilateral and unconditional action. The agreement made at mount Sinai involved two parties. The response to the
Review of the covenants, or grants, addressed in previous blogs. Previous blogs presented God’s grants (Covenants) given to individuals He chose from among the sinful humankind. God’s promise of a Savion he made in the garden of Eden applied to all of humankind. God created the whole of humankind in the first man Adam. God
The covenant with Abram continued. The territory that God promised to Abram did not become a part of the nation of Israel until King David. Even the city of Salem (Jerusalem) did not become a part of Israel until King David conquered it and made it the capital of the nation of Israel. The kingdom
The covenant with Abram “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I give this land, from the River of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates.’” (Genesis 15:18). So, God called Abram to go to the land He would show him. When Abram arrived in the land,
The covenant with Noah and his sons continued. The covenant with Noah and his descendants is God’s unilateral action on behalf of His enemies, the rebellious humankind. God did not place a condition for his promise. Instead, God assured the rebellious humankind that He would watch over them whether they loved him or not. For