you
Good evening. It's good to see you this evening. If you turn with me to the book of Galatians chapter
2, we'll be reading Galatians chapter 2 today. As is our custom, we'll read the entire chapter
beginning in verse 1. Please read along silently with me. Galatians chapter 2.
In Galatians chapter 2, the Bible reads, Then 14 years after I went up again to Jerusalem with
And I went up by revelation and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles,
but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run or had run in vain.
But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.
And that because a false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty,
which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage.
To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour, that the truth of the gospel
might continue with you.
But of these who seem to be somewhat whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me.
God accepted no man's person, for they who seem to be somewhat in conference added nothing
to me.
But contrary wise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me
for he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision,
the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles.
And when James, Kephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars,
perceived the grace that was given unto me,
they gave to me in Barnabas the right hands of fellowship,
that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.
Only they would that we should remember the poor,
the same which I also was forward to do.
But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.
For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles.
But when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them that which were of the
circumcision.
And the other Jews dissembled themselves, dissembled likewise with him, in so much that
Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.
But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all,
If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews,
why compelest all the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?
We, who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,
knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law,
but by the faith of Jesus Christ,
even we have believed in Jesus Christ,
that we might be justified by the faith of Christ,
and not by the works of the law,
for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
But if while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin?
God forbid.
For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
For I, through the law, am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ.
Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.
And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me
I do not frustrate the grace of God for if righteousness come by the law
Then Christ is dead in vain brother Alex. Would you pray for us?
Amen, all right, we're in Galatians 2 and took took me a few sermons to get through Galatians chapter 1, but
But there's a lot of great meat and great doctrine in this in this book
So I hate to just rush through stuff, especially when I have a lot to say
concerning it and Paul has a lot of things to say concerning salvation and
Just also he's given us a lot of different factoids that are not necessarily in the book of Acts
So he's given us some extra revelation so to speak
By telling us different things about what happened
when it comes to Acts chapter 15.
So this kind of parallels a little bit with Acts chapter 15.
As a matter of fact, it parallels a lot with Acts chapter 15.
So we will be jumping back and forth
between Acts 15 and Galatians 2.
But...
The title of my sermon tonight is Justified by Faith Alone and just kind of recap a little bit on what happened in Galatians 1.
Essentially, I preach a sermon about there being no other gospel but by grace through faith alone.
Of course, that's basically the theme of the whole thing is that we're not justified by works, we're not saved by works in any way, you can't add.
We don't have to keep doing works to stay saved, we never had to do works to get saved.
and our works have nothing to do with salvation.
And Paul really just hammers at home
in every single passage.
And so.
I also preached sermon and discussed Paul's salvation.
I used the whole, pretty much preached a whole sermon
about that and there is some people have
differing opinions about that.
But I'm not mad at anybody that has a different opinion
than me about that as long as we both know
that salvation is by faith alone, right?
So, and so covered all that.
And then I also preached a sermon
about how bad Paul really was.
And sometimes I think we forget just how bad Paul really was and I kind of just went into all the different passages
It shows just how bad Paul really was and also talked about
were Paul
Talked about how he saw James the Lord's brother and James the Lord's brother
He's also is talking about Christ half-brother, which was the son of Joseph and the son of Mary
So and he's mentioned in this passage also
He was the pastor of the church at Jerusalem.
He is one of the apostles.
And so...
He's mentioned here, but I went through the passages and kind of proved that he
You know, I don't know if you can prove that he wrote the book of James, but I believe that he did
I know that you can like I showed where Jude says that he's the brother of James and the servant of Christ
And then James also says he's the servant of Christ in his book
So kind of matches. They're not gonna go on the brother of Jesus
Just kind of want to name drop that real quick, you know, so they were obviously
Not gonna say that so
Anyway, we're moving on to now where it just directly correlates so basically at the end of
the chapter he said that none of the churches new last chapter none of the churches new Paul
by face they just heard that he was once destroyed the faith now was you know preaching and getting
people saved and all that so and they glorified God in him. So point number one this evening is Paul
goes to the apostles over the there's a controversy of the gospel here and look at verse number one
the Bible says then 14 years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas and took Titus
with me also. So he'd gone to Jerusalem once after three years remember in chapter one says
and then he left and then he basically just has focused for this last 14 years in Syria and
the area the region of Silesia and basically he's coming back with this controversy and so that's
this is why he's going back after 14 years and it says in certain men oh I'm sorry so well I'm
getting ahead of myself but um the four after 14 years he went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas
with me also. Now I am going to have you just put your finger a bookmark
in Galatians 1 and I'm going to have you turn over to Acts 15
and I'm going to show you why he's going to Jerusalem. It explains it
in both passages why this is happening.
Different details are going to be given in both different passages
but this is why this is happening. So Acts 15 1 the Bible says
and you're going to want to leave a bookmark there because we're going to come back to Acts 15.1
and we're going to go back and forth like I said. And certain men which came down from Judea
taught the brethren and said, except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot
be saved. So they came down from where? They came down from Judea,
down to Paul's neck of the woods,
and they're teaching what?
Except you'd be circumcised after the manner of Moses.
What is the manner of Moses?
That they actually cut the foreskin of the men
and circumcised them, okay?
Like a physical circumcision.
And it says unless you do that, you cannot be saved.
So this is an issue. This is what the issue is. This is why Paul after 14 years is going up to Jerusalem
Because it's become a giant controversy because also and we'll I'll show you this later, but they came down from James
from Jerusalem
And so they're probably coming in,
James probably doesn't realize that they're gonna do this.
I don't think he knows that they're gonna do this.
But they're saying, they come out from among us sometimes
and they teach all this weird stuff.
And this is basically what they're doing
is they're pretending to be saved.
And then they're coming and saying,
hey, this is what we're being taught.
This is what we need to teach you.
Hey, unless you're circumcised after the manner of Moses,
you cannot be saved.
Now, in the Old Testament, you did have to,
get circumcised to become part of the nation of Israel,
which is a picture of things to come.
The circumcision of the heart,
that is what salvation is, being born again,
is that our hearts are circumcised,
not literally our heart, but the inward man.
So so this is what legalism truly is when people say they'll call us legalists
People are saying that we're legalists all the time because we have rules
Apparently people just think that there should be no rules
You know what when the UFC had no rules
It was like a kick in the you know what and bite and fish hooked and claw and do all kinds of different things
If you don't have any rules society just
goes away really quickly and
Everything has rules to it, but people for some reason think that because Jesus died on the cross that there are no more rules
But that's not what the Bible teaches now what legalism is and just this is just in a dictionary, okay?
Dependence on moral law rather than on personal religious faith
So if someone is a legalist they're gonna tell you you have to keep the law of Moses in order to be saved
Isn't that what they said in Acts 15 one? So this is the controversy. This is what we're talking about tonight. This is what
Paul is breaking down for us. This is what Joe Jones continues to accuse our church of and other churches like ours is that we are
We are legalists
But is that what we teach do we teach that you have to do good works or you're not saved?
No
That's so I mean if you're gonna just call us names at least call us something. That's actually true
Not make things up because you can't just make up your own definitions for things and say that that that's what they are
You know if you're saying that we are legalists you have to actually be able to prove that and I I can't remember any time
because I haven't. That you have to do things to stay saved or to be saved. You have to believe in
Jesus plus do all these different things. So that's just not true. So he also says that we believe
in pietism, which, you know, whatever, pietism is being a piety is a quality of being religious and
So I don't know what's wrong with being religious or reverent the only time it's ever mentioned in the Bible is one time
You already have your bookmarks to bookmarks, but just keep those there and let's go to 1st Timothy chapter 5. Yeah
Well, it's pietism can be really also related to the reformation like that, you know
It can be related to a lot of things, but like what he's relating it to is like that, you know, we're
like you know have these big
You know things that we are late burdens that we're laying on men, but we don't do them ourselves type like fairs say equal type things
But it means the quality of been religious or reverent. I'm just I'll just say this though
The Bible only says this word one time in the whole Bible and it's a positive mention
It says in 1st Timothy 5 3 it says honor widows that are widows indeed
But if any widow have children or nephews let them first
Let them first learn first to show piety at home.
And so if it's, you know, if the definition of piety
is to be religious or to be reverent,
then it's, you know, the Bible's saying to be that way
for women, for the widows.
And it says, and to requite their parents
for that is good and acceptable before God.
See, there's rules for widows too.
There's rules in the New Testament.
You can't just give any widow in the Bible,
or I mean in our church, if a widow just comes in
and she's 30 years old, the church does not support that widow.
There's rules, you have to be 60 years old
and then you have to have a good report
and show piety at home.
So piety is not a bad word.
Now, if you're using it,
out of place, then of course it could be bad, but that's, you know, as far as the Bible is concerned,
piety is not a bad thing. At least, there's not a negative mention in it in the Bible.
Adding works to salvation is what the issue is here, though. It's not doing works or keeping the commandments to live a clean life
in our bodies, you know, on earth, which is what we teach. Hey, you should live a clean life.
You know, we should pass our sojourning on this earth in fear.
you know, we should fear the Lord. We should respect the Lord. We should keep his commandments,
his moral law, his civil law, and his commandments are not grievous, all right?
So the Bible, Jesus says, if you love me, keep my suggestions, right? No, he says keep my commandments.
So I guess that's wrong. I mean, that's piety to keep his commandments in Pastor Jones's eyes. So
So anyway, as you'll see, they're trying to, you know, just get them to follow these laws that are done in Christ, you know,
they're done away in Christ. You know, the certain laws that the Pharisees are asking is
Circumcision done away in Christ? Yes, it is. But they're not, that's not all they're gonna ask, because what do the Judaizers even today want us to do?
They want us to blow trumpets, don't they? I've had them come into a church that I was at, my pastor asked me to kick this person out.
And like, he didn't ever ask me to kick anybody out,
but he asked me to kick this guy out.
He walks in, it's one of those shofars,
and then starts trying to blow the trumpet
while the pastor's teaching Sunday school or something.
He's like, get that guy out of here.
But, I mean, it's like, and then they want us to,
you know, regard all these holidays,
these holy days of Israel and these feasts and stuff.
And those are the things that we're not supposed to do.
We're not supposed to keep the Passover yet. You see churches will keep the Passover still
You're like, oh, we kept the Passover with these rabbis. You're not supposed to do that
Where's the lamb by the way anyway, so
There this is a problem. Let's flip back to Galatians chapter 2 verse 2
It says, so he went up to Jerusalem after 14 years.
Why?
Acts 15 tells us why.
There's a controversy, concern,
and this is about salvation.
And it says, and I went up by revelation
and communicated unto them that gospel
which I preached among the Gentiles,
but privately to them which were of reputation
lest by any means I should run or had run in vain.
So he went up by revelation.
So, basically it's just saying, that just means that God is telling him to go.
It's not that he just went because he felt, well, maybe we should just go up and see them.
No, Christ is telling him he needs to go up there.
And then communicate unto them that gospel which I preached among the Gentiles.
So he's telling them, what?
This is the gospel I preach.
This is how I'm preaching it.
And then he's telling, so he's telling that to people as he goes through towns, as he
but privately to them that were of reputation.
Who are those of reputation, the apostles?
Lest by any means I should run or had run in vain.
So, you know, as in not doing things right or pointlessly.
He's not just, he wants to make sure he's not just doing
something that he's not supposed to be doing,
but he privately went to the apostles.
to make sure that they're all on the same page basically.
He's like, I want to make sure that what I'm preaching
is the same thing that they're preaching.
And I don't think that Paul had any doubts
that he was right though.
The way he writes in this chapter,
actually in the last chapter too,
he seems to be supremely confident
that he's right about the gospel
being by salvation, by faith alone.
He doesn't seem to have any doubts whatsoever.
So I believe he's going up to Jerusalem
with the doubts of others.
There's other people, because these Pharisees
that came down, these so-called phony,
you know, these phony believers in Jesus
that came down to spy out their liberty,
they are tricking people.
And that's why he's writing this letter in the first place.
He's like, I can't believe you're so soon removed
from the grace that I've, you know, you've been called to.
You know, who's bewitched you
and all these different things.
Like Paul led a lot of these people of the Lord.
And so this is why he's writing a letter in the first place.
But they're doubting, and so Paul wants
to make sure to go up and get this resolved.
Now, so turn back to Acts 15-2.
Acts 15-2 says.
When, therefore, Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them,
talking about these Pharisees, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain of them
should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.
So they were sent with the question.
But again, I don't think that Paul and Barnabas had any issue with what they were saying because it says they had no small dissension or disputation with them.
It means it was a big deal. Not that it was a small one. They had no small dissension and disputation with them. It was a blowout.
Paul probably flipped on them, is what I think.
Now look at Galatians 2-3 Galatians 2-3 says but neither Titus who was with me being a Greek was compelled to be circumcised
So they're trying to get hint trying to get Titus to get circumcised, but it says that he you know, he didn't
He wasn't
and that because of false brethren,
unawares brought in who came in
privily to spy out our liberty,
which we have in Christ Jesus,
that they might bring us into bondage.
So what is the point of the Judaizers?
What is the point of these legalists
is they want people that are free,
people that have liberty, people that are saved,
we're no longer under these laws.
They want to bring you back into bondage by what?
Circumcising you making you go to the feast
Having you do the Passover have any wash your hands or whatever like all these Pharisees have these
Man-made rules that they want you to do, but they're just saying keep the law Moses. So they're just keeping it like biblical
They're not actually necessarily saying all the other stuff, but
Wouldn't that include doing the animal sacrifices and all that kind of stuff?
I'm sure that they're probably gonna get to that point, but Paul doesn't really give him much of a chance to do that
So keep so you're still in Galatians 2
Galatians 5 3 says for I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to do the whole law
If you want to get circumcised and you think that's gonna make you more spiritual
No, that's gonna put you back under the law if you think that that's gonna save you
If you think that doing these things, keeping the law of Moses, you think that that's going to save you,
it's not going to save you, it just puts you as a debtor.
Now, of course, if you're already saved and you get kind of mixed up or something, that's one thing,
but, you know, and I think that a lot of these people are saved, but Paul is in doubt of some of these people, and rightly so.
because if you're just completely doubting
that salvation is by faith alone
and you're already saved
or you already made a profession of faith,
it's kind of weird that you could be tricked into this.
But the delusion is strong.
And especially if they already have this big
Jew background in their life.
I'm sure going back to the traditions of their fathers
is kind of a thing.
It's just like anybody with the traditions
their families or you know their culture they have this longing to want to go
back to it for some weird reason but they do but it's so now in the Old
Testament and pre-mosaic law they had already there's already been some laws
that were way pre-established beforehand so
We're under the New Testament, obviously, the New Covenant, but just because that's true,
it doesn't mean that God has just thrown out all of His laws.
And that's where people just kind of jump off the cliff with this.
Yeah, we're not in the Old Covenant, we're not under the Old Covenant,
but the moral laws are still binding as far as if you break them.
It's not like, oh Jesus paid for all of our sins, but now I can just go and murder anybody I want to.
That's stupid dude. I mean, oh well Jesus murdered him for you
That's that's the the the hyper grace view I guess is that well
He just did it for you so you're not really gonna get now much trouble because you're just forgiven for everything
Yeah, you are forgiven for everything you're ultimately gonna go to heaven
But if you think you just go on a kill crazy rampage because you're free in Christ, bro
Then that's a stupid. Please stop listening to people like that because
The the moral law has not been thrown out
It hasn't at all been thrown out and I think that a lot of the civil laws
Even the civil laws that aren't necessarily being done by our country, you know
They're not in effect like a lot of the the capital punishment and stuff
But there was a time when our when this nation did go under biblical law
If you look at the laws of Connecticut
And the law, I mean there's a book you can buy, I think it's like the 16 something, 70 something laws of Connecticut and it basically just took the laws of the Bible and just kind of just said, here's the laws we're going to go by, and they just interpreted it the best that they could.
And obviously, some of it was maybe a little subjective.
But, I mean, a 15-year-old, I think
you could, like, when you could actually
take your kid to the, you know, and say,
this kid's a glutton, and he's, you know,
he's this wicked kid, and he won't obey, he won't listen.
Then, basically, you had to have, you had to,
if they couldn't read or write,
then you had to make them be able to read and write.
I don't know, I guess so you could learn
the commandments or something,
but if you were just keeping your kids
stupid on purpose or whatever,
you weren't homeschooling them,
then you had to do that.
And if you didn't do that, you would get punished.
They would take your kids away from you,
ultimately for that.
But if they did, and then they were still acting up like that,
then they would put those kids under heavy labor.
And in some cases, they would put them to death.
So, I mean, it's not like this country didn't run from biblical laws.
I'm not saying it was ever necessarily a, quote, Christian nation or whatever, but people
fled to this country, to this area, you know, on the East Coast, mainly, at first, but they
fled here because of religious persecution.
And so they set up all these different colonies, it was basically by kind of what religion
they were.
and Maryland, and then, you know,
they allowed the Jews to come back,
which they never, they allowed the Jews in,
they should have never done that either.
So now we're just stuck with them.
But, I mean, I think we rejected them at World War II.
They tried to bring a big boat by and leave them with us,
and the president was like, nah, I'm good.
What president was that, brother?
Do you remember?
Roosevelt, yeah.
Yeah, they tried to get them away,
but nobody would take them.
Anyway, so there's three different basic sections of the law of Moses, and of course, the Bible doesn't break it down like this, but there's moral law, there's ceremonial law, and there's civil law.
So the civil laws are basically how do you apply the moral laws? What are the punishments for breaking the moral commandments?
Like what do you have to do if you steal? You have to pay restitution.
And if you break into someone's house in the middle of the night and try to rob their house, you can kill them.
But if they do it in the daytime, you can't.
I mean, obviously, I'm sure that if you're defending your life for trying to kill you during the daytime,
that changes everything because, you know, they're trying to murder you or whatever.
But if you just catch someone stealing in the daytime, you're not allowed to just kill them
because they're supposed to have to pay restitution or whatever.
So obviously, there's a lot of different ins and outs for these things.
Premeditated murder is the death penalty period adultery was the death penalty and
So those things are still I believe in effect as far as God's concerned
That those judgments are still the same judgments and our country doesn't necessarily follow those they used to but a lot of them
They don't like sodomy used to be punished punishable by death in this country
it used to be, but it no longer is.
It used to be even, you know, in prison
or they'd put you in the nut house
or, you know, put you in your own section in the prison
or whatever, which they kind of still do that.
They kind of still put you in your own section in the prison,
you know, because otherwise, you know, they'll get killed.
So if you're just like a homo in prison,
the movies make it seem like,
oh yeah, you're gonna go in there and.
You know, everybody's some sodomite or something,
but that's just not true.
In California, if you have any kind of sexual charge at all,
it's carve them up on site.
They will kill you.
If you get caught peeing in the bushes,
you get like, you just get that charge,
and they see that on your charges,
on your paperwork in a California state prison,
you better be able to explain what happened.
And you'd better be a likable person.
So that's why.
So they have a general population.
And then what is it?
So general population and protective custody.
And basically, the protected custody
are the people that are the perverts that get caught in there.
And if they go into the general population, they're dead.
So they don't go to the general population.
That's kind of how that works.
Anyway, getting off onto the weeds here.
still goes. But the ceremonial law is what? You know, all the things, the
washings, the, you know, the new moons, the blowing the trumpets, and all that
kind of stuff, that's all done away in Christ. We don't have to keep those
things anymore. And so this is what the Judaizers were often trying to do. Even
the, what do they call them, the Jews for Jesus, or what, what is it, the new
messianic Jews, yeah. The messianic Jews, they're basically just believed
salvation by works.
they're not saved, you know.
So they kind of believe what these guys are teaching here.
You believe in Jesus plus you have to keep the laws of Moses.
Now, if you think about it, also,
Jesus made things more strict
than some of the Old Testament laws.
Maybe not as harsh as punishments
because there's a lot of adulterers today
that don't get put to death.
But there's also, you know, there's a lot of grace that's given to adulterers
There's a lot of grace
It's given to everybody because this is we're in the time of grace basically where you know God wants people to be saved
That doesn't mean that people that commit adultery don't deserve the death penalty. They do but I mean just think about marriage Jesus
He he basically straightened out people that thought that they could get divorced for any reason
And he said hey, it wasn't so from the beginning
And have you not read that they, you know, at the beginning he made the male and female and, you know, he said that they'd leave father and mother and cleave to their wife and they twain shall be one flesh.
And then he just kind of just, he just kind of breaks it down to him and says, what man have joined together, let not man put asunder.
So Jesus kind of made it more difficult for divorce, and what do you see as laws around the world about it?
Well, do you see polygamy in this country?
Do you see men with multiple wives in this country? You might see it on some colt of the middle of the desert from some Mormon colt,
but those aren't actually recognized marriages. It's against the law
to have a second spouse.
a second wife. It's against the law. It's called bigamy if you have a second
spouse and that if you do that because people have like had a wife in one
state and then you know another one and another one and it takes a while you know
now in the age of computers it's probably a lot more difficult to do
things like that but back in the day it probably take a long time to figure these
things out but
What they were doing is they were kind of hosing that second wife too, because if you have, you know, your first wife, once you, the laws of this country are, once you marry that second wife, that's basically a gnold in the eyes of the state, or in the eyes of the federal government, it's a gnold.
So, you can't have a second wife, you might be in pretend land and think it is your second wife, and they might think that you're actually their husband, but it just doesn't count.
But it's because of the Mormons.
The Mormons started their false religion here.
I think in 1862, the federal government
banned any second marriages, polygamy was banned,
and it took time for these things to kind of just gear up,
but it's a felony to marry a second spouse,
to marry a second wife.
It's a felony.
And I looked it up in Washington state,
it's up to five years in prison.
I think there's heavy fines, and then, you know, it unknowals that second marriage.
So, all you guys are thinking about trying to get a second wife, it's just not going to happen.
And so, if it gets unknowled, and it's not legal in the eyes of the state,
then what you're doing is not really a true marriage, is it?
It's against the law. And Christ, those things happen because of Christ.
The the the New Testament has kind of Jesus kind of set the standard. This is what I want one man one woman
It says they too they twain shall be one flesh a
Man shall leave his father and mother and marry his wife
Not wives
wife
I mean, I just don't understand these bozo guys that just think that the Bible teaches that it's okay to just have a multiplicity of wives.
Just because God overlooked those things in the Old Testament, it doesn't mean that he was okay with it.
That was like a custom in that time, but when Jesus said, hey, in times past, it was, you know, these things were happening.
You know so but when people picked up the Christian culture and after he after he left
Those cultures changed the only people that can have
polygamous marriages in any country in the world or in Muslim countries
And they have to wear the Cobra commander headgear and
You know one witnesses all it takes to put them to death
And you can bury them up to their neck in the sand and throw rocks at them until they die. Oh great culture
loving culture. Anyway, but the Mormons tried to do the same thing in the US
the US government was like yeah right not happening they put the the zap on
that. Jesus said in Matthew 517 think now that I'm come to destroy the law or the
prophets I'm not come to destroy but to fulfill for verily I say unto you till
heaven and earth
pass one jot or one tittle, so no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled.
Whatsoever, therefore shall, whosoever, excuse me, therefore shall break one of these
least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom
of heaven.
ever shall do and teach them the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
So to sit there and say that we should
tell people to break the commandments or that we shouldn't you know to break them or to not keep them.
You know
they're going to be least in the kingdom of heaven.
So we shouldn't be listening to people that tell us that or even just suffering it for one second, but
If you want to you can turn to these if not just listen Hebrews 910 says which stood only in meats and drinks and
diverse washings and
Carnal ordinances imposed on them until the time of the Reformation
So the meats the drinks the diverse washings and the carnal ordinances those things were done away with
because the Reformation happened.
What was the Reformation?
Jesus Christ coming and fulfilling the whole law
and so on and so forth.
And he fulfilled the Sabbath by being in the tomb
for three days and three nights,
fulfilled the Sabbath because we have to rest
from our works and allow Christ
to have done the works for us and to accept that.
And if you don't accept that, then you're gonna die
and you're gonna go straight to hell.
That's the truth.
And anybody that just wants to keep the law of Moses too,
just to make sure that you still go to heaven,
no, you're gonna die and go to hell.
That's why Paul is up here fighting this battle in Jerusalem.
Colossians 2.14 says, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances, which was against us, which
was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross, and having
spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them
in it.
or in drink or in respect of an holy day or of the new moon or of the Sabbath days.
Do we have to keep the Sabbath anymore? No, we don't.
So just a little clue. If the New Testament tells us we don't have to do it anymore,
we don't have to do it anymore. Period.
So the ceremonial laws are done away in Christ.
We don't have to do those things anymore.
Observe those things not to be saved but so God doesn't punish you so you can
have a great life here on earth. The better you live your life here on earth
in this body that we have the better off your life is gonna be. As far as you
know I'm taking out the variable of being persecuted for being a righteous
person obviously but we don't have to do any commandments
to be saved or to stay saved.
That's just period end of story.
So let's see.
Let's move back to Galatians chapter 2.
Galatians chapter 2, verse number 5.
It says, to whom we gave place by subjection,
no, not for an hour.
So these guys that came here to try to tell them that they have to keep the law of Moses or they can't be saved
He said Paul says we didn't give place by subjection. No, not for an hour
That the truth of the gospel might continue with you. They're not even letting them to hang around for an hour
It's like no, you're done. Shut up. You're not preaching this crap. Paul. Just shut them down
He didn't put up with it for an hour. He knew exactly what he believed. Look at verse 6.
But of these who seem to be somewhat, talking about when he went up to talk to the apostles,
whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me.
Like it makes no difference to me who they were. God accepteth no man's person.
For they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me
See the Apostle Paul was an Apostle whether they approved of him or not
So he didn't go up there to get oh, may I please do this no Paul went up as an equal member
As an equal Apostle to them. He wasn't a lesser Apostle
He was just at the same status that they were as far as both being Apostles, okay?
All of them being Apostles together
So he's just like, whatever they seem to be,
I don't know, whatever God doesn't accept any man's person.
And if they're teaching wrong, he's already showed,
he doesn't care who they are.
He's gonna say stuff right to their face
and has no problem doing so.
For they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me, but
Contrawise so that means but in the opposite right the opposite of it says when they saw that the gospel of the
Uncircumcision was committed unto me as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter
For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles
So the I mean Paul saying it here that Peter was basically the one that was kind of the leader of those that were going to the Jews
And reaching out to the Jews and then Peter
I mean Paul was the one that was mighty toward the Gentiles
He was getting all the Gentiles saved but Peter is the one that got the first
You know he went to the Gentiles first actually
If you want to get technical about it, and he actually talks about that in Acts 15
Well look at verse 9, it says that when James, Cephas, which is Peter, and John, who seemed
to be pillars, notice he says seemed to be, perceived the grace that was given me, they
gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship that we should go unto the heathen
and they unto the circumcision.
So this is basically like shaking hands, they gave the right hands of fellowship, I don't
or, you know, gave them the peace sign or something.
I think that they actually shook hands.
And this is something that's been done
even before church was around,
but it's kind of an international thing,
you know, through cultures throughout time.
You can even see, like,
and the Babylonian, there's Babylonian carvings and stuff
where people, the rulers are shaking hands with each other
and things like that.
But shaking hands is kind of a custom
that's here in the United States.
Some point, I mean, Paul said greet one another
with a holy kiss, but I like the right hand
to fellowship a lot better.
So I'll take that.
And we do that at church.
We shake people's hands and that's kind of just a sign.
And usually it's, you know, most people are right-handed.
And so generally people will shake hands with the right hand, but it's, you know, it's something that's kind of got moved on in the church, in churches where I've even been at Baptist churches where someone will like join the church by letter or by affirmation.
Who's been in an old Baptist church, old AFB where they say so and so said they want to join the church and...
All those voting say I so they vote to see what nobody ever says no, you know, I've never heard anybody say no, but
then afterwards the pastoral say well come down and shake shake their hand and give them the right hand of fellowship.
And so I don't think that's unbiblical to do that
because this is kind of essentially what's happening here
is that they're in front of everybody,
giving Paul and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship
just saying, hey, we approve of them, we're cool, right?
So, but it's also something I've seen
after people do baptisms and, you know,
hey, come down and meet the new church member,
shake their hand, give them the right hand of fellowship.
So it's not a custom that we should shy away from
just because of COVID.
I know that we, but if you're sick,
Okay, and you just wiped your hand your hand with your nose with your hand or whatever
Don't shake someone's hand go, you know put some hand sanitizer on or something, but
Anyway, look at verse 10 says,
only they would that we should remember the poor,
the same which I also was forward to do.
So we're gonna switch over to Acts 15-3 now
and we'll just kind of go over the story.
So we've kind of got the story, Paul goes up
and the apostles approve of him.
and they give him the right hand of fellowship.
And so in Acts 15, it's gonna give us the extra details.
Like, it doesn't say in Acts 15 that Titus went with them,
but in Galatians too, it says that he did.
So like I said, there's just different details
that you're gonna get from both chapters.
Acts 15, three says,
and being brought on their way by the church,
they passed through Phoenice and Samaria,
declaring the conversion of the Gentiles,
and they cause great joy unto all the brethren.
So they're telling everybody kind of on their way there and when they were come to Jerusalem
They were received of the church and of the apostles and elders and they declared all things that God had done with them
So this matches with Galatians, right?
But there rose up a certain sect of the Pharisees which
believed
Saying that it was needful to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses
So again, so those those people that were sent down to the churches in Galatia
There's this sect of them there also.
So I don't know if they've already gotten word up to them,
hey, the challenge has been met.
We need to challenge them up there or whatever.
But they're saying the same thing, circumcise them,
and here's the added detail,
and to command them to keep the law of Moses.
Is this what the Bible teaches about the New Testament?
We gotta keep the law of Moses to be saved?
No, it's not.
And the apostles and the elders came together
for to consider of this matter.
Seems like it's pretty open and shut case.
So I don't understand why it's such a big dispute,
but it is.
And when there had been much disputing,
it's probably the good guys versus the bad guys here.
Peter rose up and said unto them, men and brethren,
you know how that a good while ago,
God made choice among us and the Gentiles by my mouth
should hear the word of the gospel and believe.
And God, which knoweth the hearts, bear them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even
as he did unto us.
put no difference between us and them purifying their hearts by faith. So this
is what we're supposed to believe. It's faith alone. It's belief. And that we're
the same. Nobody's better than anybody else. The Jews and Gentiles are the same.
Put no difference between us. And he purified our hearts just like he
purifies anybody else's hearts by faith. Now therefore, why tempt ye God to put a
yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were
able to bear?
So again, he's like why would you try to tell them to keep the law and do things which we couldn't do as
Jews in the Old Testament and
Why are we going to ask them to try to do something that we couldn't do either?
But we believe that through the grace of our of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even as they
When all the multitude then all the multitude kept silence and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul declaring what miracles and
Wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them
So now it's kind of Paul and Barnabas's turn to talk and kind of give their
Testimony as to the people they've been getting saved in their area
And then it says and after that they held their peace
James answered saying man and brethren harken unto me
Simeon has declared how God, at the first did, visit the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name.
And to this, agreed the words of the prophets as it is written.
After this, I will return and build again the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down,
and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up,
that the residue of men might seek after the Lord,
and all the Gentiles upon whom my name is called, sayeth the Lord, who do with all these things.
That's a pretty cool prophecy, right? Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the
world, wherefore my sentence is that we trouble not them which from among the Gentiles are turned
to God, but that we write unto them that they abstain from pollutions of idols and from fornication
and from things strangled and from blood.
So this is kind of a basic list of things. Hey, you know the Gentiles
We're not gonna just at we're not gonna tell them they have to get circumcised
They're not they don't have to keep the law of Moses, but these things are moral laws that they're not supposed to break
Now you might disagree about this
Especially on the thing strangled and from the blood, but just what let's think about this for a second
So some would say that James is still kind of Judaizing right here. He's still at it
He's not adding works of salvation. He's just say don't do you know, you know
The Gentiles just need to kind of keep these basic things in in in order and all these things
You'd be kicked out of church for doing except for pause. I mean obviously nobody's drinking blood in here
I don't think that's a thing but
I mean if I saw somebody drinking blood in here, I'd probably say get out of here. What's wrong with you? You're weird, right?
but um
So idolatry are you kicked? Is that a sin? That's that's in the list in 1st Corinthians 5? Yes or no? Yes, it is
So idolatry is a sin that gets you kicked out and God greatly hates idolatry
He hates it, that's one of his most hated things that he hates.
And so with the Gentiles, what is one of their main problems?
They have pantheons of God that they believe in.
They believe in, they serve the devil basically.
And they are sinners of the Gentiles.
They have big issues and they probably need to get this,
back then they probably needed to get the special
Catholic ending, you know how we give like maybe
a Catholic ending or a special ending for certain people.
They might need to get the, hey, you can't be serving Zeus and the pantheon and Jesus,
or you can't be a Hindu, you can't just add him to one of the collections of your gods
that you believe in.
You have to just believe in Christ alone, you can't just keep serving these other gods.
So you can't have Jesus and Zeus and the pantheon or the idols, you know, idols are
something that God just hates.
It's you know got to be Jesus, you know with America Native Americans, you know, you got to tell him
Hey, it's either Jesus of the totem pole. You can't have both you can't have it both ways
You know you got to get rid of the totem poles and all the you know all that other crazy stuff that you're doing
It's not Jesus and sacrifice the idols you got to get rid of the idols and stop sacrificing to them
Fornication does that get you kicked out of church? Yes, it does
Also gets you kicked out of church. The body is the temple of the Holy Ghost
And we should avoid turning our temple into a whorehouse or a whoremonger house
right, so
We are the body of Christ. We should not be involved in fornication now. It says things strangled now
I've heard it said that this is not in the Old Testament, but think about this for a second if you strangle an animal and you eat it
You you've you've strangled it, you know, it's like well, that's more humane. No. Well first of all, I don't think I don't agree with you
I mean it takes a lot of effort to strangle an animal, okay?
But I mean depending on what kind of animal if it's a chipmunk. I mean it might be less of a struggle a squirrel or something
But you know you're trying to strangle some deer or something. I mean, it's gonna be a rough ride
but
or an elk or a moose or something like that.
But what is the main problem with this?
Well, once you strangle an animal
and then you eat, you butcher that animal,
that blood is gonna coagulate
inside the muscle tissue and everything.
And you're supposed to drain the blood
out of anything that you eat.
It's it's just in it's that's in the law of Moses, but it also
We're not that's been a provision in God's word since
Genesis chapter 9 you're not supposed to eat things with the blood and it and look you're like well
It says we're not supposed to be judging in meats and drinks. You know, we should be able to drink blood
Uh-uh, it's different. That is different. That is a different provision than talking about drinks and meat
That is like a subtopic when it comes to eating and drinking things, because there's rules about that.
So that blood is still in the tissue, it's present in the animal, and it's prohibited by God.
It's in the simple law too.
Yeah, is it?
Slaughterhouse law too.
Yeah, so even in today's slaughterhouse, according to Brother Bill, which I believe in, that you can't just...
Yeah, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them, you have to kill them
And they eat it with breakfast.
They eat beans for breakfast.
It's like, ugh.
It looks like baked beans.
You know, when you open up a tin of beans,
they eat that with tomatoes and, I don't know.
But I like their sausages and bacon.
Not bad.
I'll do without the blood pudding though.
But like, people use blood to cook things
and they drink blood in certain cultures.
They'll drink, like I think Brother Robert was telling me
about they'll take the whale's blood and stuff
and then they'll drink it after it ferments
and it like gives them some kind of a high or something.
But yeah, it's not something that God has ever been allowed.
Look at Genesis 9, look at Genesis 9.
I'll just show you.
from God's word, there's already been a provision
against this since well before the Old Testament law.
So I mean, you think about it, you can go back to Genesis
and see lots of different things.
Like, I mean, where do you see the law commanded
where Jacob's concubine couldn't be slept with by Reuben?
It's not there, but of course they just knew,
I don't know how they knew it, but they just did.
I mean, there were prophets, but you just didn't do that.
So but look at look at Genesis 9 to it says and the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon
Every beast of the earth and upon every foul of the air upon all that move it upon the earth and upon all the fishes of
The sea into your hand are they delivered every moving thing that liveth shall be meet for you
Even as the green herb have I given you all things so it's kind of like now. This is you know
you know in between the law there was provisions you could not eat certain things there was
unclean beasts that you couldn't eat but that's gone away in the new testament we can eat pig again
we can whatever you want to eat you want to eat dog you want to eat bats you can eat all that stuff
is it expedient not necessarily but you know it's it's it's out there but it says
but the flesh with the life thereof,
which is the blood thereof shall you not eat.
So why can't you have the blood?
Because it's the life of that animal.
The blood that's in us, it's the life of a human being.
So we're not to touch it, we're not to drink it,
we're not to eat it.
Now, when you cut into a nice juicy steak,
and you're like, oh, I gotta have my steaks well done.
Because you think when you cut it open
and it has that juice that kinda looks red or whatever,
that is not blood.
That is myoglobin.
And myoglobin, so I know the Hispanics over here are like,
no, but you're wrong.
Look it up. It's in just it's science. It's hashtag science, okay?
When we slaughter animals we drain the blood out of them so that stuff that myoglobin
It's not blood so you can have a juicy steak and
Be conscience-free. I used to think it was blood, but when I saw that I was like give it to me
still moon no
but
But in the law of Moses, let's look at Leviticus chapter 17
And the law, it says the state's basically the same thing.
So it's not like the law came up with this
and that now we're not under this
because it's a ceremonial thing
about not eating blood or drinking blood.
It was already a provision.
So and it doesn't have anything to do with it. I mean you're just not supposed to eat the life of the of that animal
And it says whatsoever a man
Leviticus 1710 says whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel or of the strangers that sojourn among you
So even the strangers from a different place that Edith any manner of blood
I will even set my face against that soul that Edith blood and will cut him off from among his people
for the life of the flesh
is in the blood. And I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls
for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Therefore I said unto the children of
Israel, no soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.
and whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel or of the strangers that sojourn among you
which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten he shall even pour out the blood
thereof and cover it with dust for it is the life of the of all flesh the blood of it is for the
life thereof.
Therefore, I said unto the children of Israel, you shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh,
for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof, whosoever eateth of it shall be cut off."
So I mean, is what James coming up with at the end of this, his little speech at Jerusalem,
is he wrong about those things?
I mean, those are things we're told not to do.
before the law of Moses, and even with tithing, tithing was a thing before the law of Moses.
So, it's another thing. But, anyway, let's move on to Galatians 2.11.
So, now we get down to Paul's rebuke of Peter to his face.
And I, I, I firmly believe that, you know, pastors should be, you know,
if pastors are going to go after pastors, apostles are going to go after apostles.
You don't see, you know, other people going after Peter.
You see the apostle Paul going after him.
I'm not saying that, you know, people, you know, the pastors are above being corrected
or anything like that.
But the Bible does teach that there's a certain way you should correct pastors.
And you're supposed to, if you're, you know, you should, there's people just openly, you know,
Stay in all manner of evil against pastors that are saved that are you know, not bad people and
People just have this idea that anybody
Can just say whatever they want and I don't agree with that
But anyway verse 11, but when Peter was come to Antioch so now Peter has come to Antioch
This is a different time that's talking about I was stood him to the face because he was to be blamed
For before that certain came from James. So see how that says that certain came from James. He's saying before
So he's saying before that certain came from James. He did eat with the Gentiles. So before all this happened
Originally he ate with the Gentiles, but when they were come he would drew and separated himself
Fearing them which were of the circumcision. So what would you call this? This is called compromise
and Peter you know he did have some issues just like we all have issues you know he's not perfect
he is a pastor Jesus called him Jesus restored him after he messed up but you know Paul is kind of
seeing the situation where he's not acting uprightly he says it right here in verse 14 but when I saw
and the other Jews dissembled likewise with him.
So his bad example, his compromise,
costed other people to cause other people
to do the same thing.
So that's why it's so important that men of God
do not compromise on the things that they believe.
It says, and the other Jews dissembled likewise with him
and so much that Barnabas also was carried away
with their dissimilation.
So even Barnabas, you know,
it's not like they have the gospel wrong.
Peter got up and said, he's the one that got up and said, hey, you know, let's do what's right here,
and it's all salvation by faith, but then he gets a little bit of pressure from these Judaizers,
and now he's not wanting to eat with the Gentiles. And that's peer pressure, you know.
But when I saw that they walked not up rightly according to the truth of the gospel,
I said unto Peter before them all,
So this is before everybody, if thou being a Jew livest after the manner of Gentiles and not
as do the Jews, why compel us thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? So Paul here is, you know,
he's given him a stern rebuke here and just saying, hey, you're compromising, buddy, and you're not
doing what that which is right in God's eyes. It doesn't really say how it went down after that,
as usual when he gets rebuked by someone that's right, he usually does that which is right.
But Paul, you know, being an apostle, he was the guy to do that, I believe.
and nobody else was doing it.
So the apostle Paul, he's not afraid to just stand up
and say what's right.
He's not afraid to just say, well hey,
God doesn't respect any man's person.
And that's just because someone is in,
you respect the office of people's authority,
not necessarily, you don't always have to respect
that person necessarily, but you should respect the office.
And I believe that Paul respected Peter
and he respected the office,
and that's why he had to say something.
He couldn't just let that ride and it's also at Paul's home church basically
It's where he got sent out of and Peter's coming over and just you know
He's causing people to dissimulate which is they're gonna stay away from the Gentiles because oh
We saw Peter doing it and Peters like the leader of all the basically all the Jewish converts and whatever
So the Bible tells us to beware of dogs,
beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.
The concision are the Jews, they're the circumcision.
We should beware of them, why?
Because we are the circumcision.
which worship God in spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh see the
Concision they want to glory in your flesh. They want to circumcise you. They want to bring you back
under bondage and
We need to avoid
Anything like that, but how do they do it to us now? Well, they just get a you know their influence reaches inside Christian churches
And these churches teach work salvation or you got to have the works, you know, I mean
It's a slippery slope
I mean there's churches that were the pastors say but they said well
I mean you don't have to do works, but you know you should still see their works, right?
It's like no, I mean you're kind of treading into some territory. It's not true
Now, I know that there's say people that believe that, you know, hey, you should have the works or whatever, but that's not what the Bible says.
If we don't even have works, we're still saved. We don't have to have any works. We're justified by faith.
So...
Do we need to watch out for people who would try to judyize us in this way?
Obviously, we're pretty ironclad at this church when it comes to stuff like this.
I mean, we had some false prophet come in and like I think basically any child in our church probably could have shut that guy down.
I mean me and Jack,
me and Jack are just sitting there and he's he's saying all kinds of weird stuff and me and Jack are rolling our eyes,
you know, together. It's like good night.
And I end up just having to freak out and throw him out, but I mean, whatever.
But the guy was just a nut job and was saying that we could, I don't know, I forget what
all he was saying now, but he was definitely a weirdo.
But you know, he was basically saying the same thing, it's by works, and it's not by
works.
Let's look at verse 15.
The Bible says we're justified by faith and what it says.
We who are Jews by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles. What does he mean by this?
Well, it's kind of like growing up in a Christian home versus not growing up
You're growing up as in a heathen home
You know, it's kind of, it's not like they're just better than us because they're Jews.
It's just they're kind of taught the moral, you know, they're taught, they were taught
these things from a young age.
They know the commandments.
So they're not sinners by nature in the fact that everybody has sin in their nature.
I don't think that's what Paul means.
I think he's just saying that, you know, we're taught, you know, we have this culture of not
But it says, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law.
Flat out says it right there.
And you can show these work salvation people this verse right here.
And they'll just like, well, yeah, but what about this one?
And once people just start doing that, you show them a couple of verses like this.
And then they start doing that.
You might as well just walk off, you know, because they're not going to get it.
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ.
even we have believed in Jesus Christ
that we might be justified by the faith of Christ
and not by the works of the law.
For by the works of the law, shall some flesh be justified?
Is that what it says?
Some people are good enough?
No.
It says no flesh shall be justified.
No flesh be justified.
Nobody is getting to heaven.
From the time of Adam and Eve till the end of time that trust in their works nobody is
Cain was rejected when he tried to give up his vegetables look at the vegetables. I brought forth God
No, he rejected those
He said no, I want to I need a lamb that's slain and that's what able he liked able sacrifice because able sacrifice is what God asked for
not the work of his own hands.
So it doesn't get much more clear than that though, folks,
that we're justified not by the works of law
but by faith in Jesus Christ.
And if we've believed in Jesus Christ,
we're justified by that faith.
And justified means declared or made righteous
in the sight of God.
So we're not justified,
you know, justified is like basically saying
like it's just as if I'd never sinned.
And once God declares you justified by the works of Jesus or by, you know, you're declared
righteous by God, it's not your righteousness, it's Christ's righteousness that He imputes
upon you.
It's never our own. It's not because we're so good
It's not because we've done we keep continuing to do works and all this other stuff
It has nothing our works are for rewards and to please God in this life
but it's not to
Have anything to do with our salvation. They're completely separate things
so but of course we get accused of being Jew IFB and
I just don't understand that comment.
I really just am having a hard time fathoming
how we're Jew IFB.
When we are like one of the hardest pushers
of salvation by faith alone.
And like there's people who call people reprobates
over saying stuff, you know, just like,
oh, you believe in repenting your sins?
Well, you're a reprobate, you know, it's just like,
well, I mean, there is kind of a spectrum, but,
I mean,
If someone just sticks to their guns and won't get off of it,
you know, you show them clear verses that repentance doesn't mean that and all that,
then it's like, yeah, I can see why you would think that they're not saved.
But sometimes people do think that repenting of your sins means to just admit you're a sinner
I even though I don't understand why if you correct that in their speech that they still would continue to say it
Sometimes it's just out of pride though, you know some people some pastors just they're not gonna have some layman that just
Visits their first church for the first time is not gonna correct them on the way that they say things
but
You know the new IFB
We are about salvation by faith alone
And we do not mince words about it and we try to be crystal clear when it comes to our presentation of the gospel and about what we believe.
And we do not mix works with faith at all when it comes to salvation.
But of course we push for people to do works.
Of course we push for people to live holy.
That's what the Bible teaches.
The New Testament teaches it over and over again.
I mean, in 1 Corinthians it said, hey, don't be fornicators like they were fornicators
and died in the wilderness 23,000.
I mean, why would he say that if we're not supposed to not be fornicators?
Why does it say flee idolatry?
Was it because Jesus committed idolatry for you so you could just keep doing it?
No.
He wants us to flee idolatry.
He wants us to stay far away from it.
run, like Joseph ran away from Potiphar's wife,
we need to flee from fornication.
So, I mean, James said we need to stay away
from drinking blood, you just don't drink blood, folks.
I mean, I feel like I proved that, that's proven.
Like I don't think that it's just okay to drink blood now.
think James is right. I don't think it's Judaizing at all. But it says in verse
17, but while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found
sinners. Is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.
for if I build again the things which I destroyed,
I make myself a transgressor."
What he's saying here is that
if we just decide to go under the law again
and build those things again,
that God's already, he's already knocked those things down.
He's already made it.
He's already nailed those things to his cross.
He's already gotten rid of those parts
and we don't, and we're under a new Testament.
We're under a new covenant.
So he said, if you just want to be under the law again,
why would you want to do that?
He's not the minister of sin. It's not our faith and our works together.
So he says, for I through the law am dead to the law that I might live unto God.
So we're dead to the law. When we get saved, we have the new man and we're supposed to walk
in the new man. Our flesh
wants to sin. Our flesh is against us. Our flesh, you know, I've brought this up
before, but like, when you're on a diet, what do you want? The thing that you're
not supposed to have. Your body just wants to, it wants to harm you. It does.
It wants to do wrong. And so if you don't have, if you don't have it under
subjection, and you're not walking to the new man, then you're gonna, you are
It says, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.
And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who
loved me and gave himself for me.
Because he liveth in us. I love that song. Christ liveth in me. It's a great. It's a great him and
We live if we live our life in the flesh that we're in now by the faith of the Son of God
Look, Christ loved us. That's a good one to underline right there who loved me. I
Mean, that's personal. Isn't that Paul said he loved who loved me and gave himself for me
He didn't just get you know a lot of times. We'll just say he died for the whole world, which he did
But sometimes it's good to personalize things and that's Paul like kind of personalizing it here. He loved me and
gave himself
for me and
You know, that's awesome that he would have just I think that if there was just one person
He would have died for that person if one person would have got saved you would have died for that person
But he said I do not frustrate the grace of God
For if righteousness
Come by the law then Christ is dead in vain
What's he saying? I'm not going to frustrate things by trying to add
Circumcision back to the back to the things that we do or to add the law back to the things that we do
We're not we're not saved by keeping commandments
He says if that's the case then Christ is dead in vain. Of course. We know Christ isn't dead in vain
But the righteousness does not come by the law
Our righteousness came from Christ and his shed blood. He kept the law for us
He kept every commandment and did no sin so that we could be justified by his blood
so that we could have faith in him
and the fact that his blood was perfect
and salvation is 100% by faith alone,
plus nothing, minus nothing,
and we don't need any works to be saved
or to stay saved,
and we should never allow anybody
to ever even put anything in our brain that's otherwise.
But also I would say this.
Don't let people push you too far in the other direction either because yes, we are saved by faith
Yes, we are saved and in a wheat. We are
Eternally saved no matter what we do once you're saved or always saved
But to sit there and just say yeah, well, I mean God's not going to punish you for the things that you do on this earth
That's crazy. You are crazy if you think that and an ison sapphira
What happened to them? Did they get punished? They got killed
Or they saved according to Pastor Jones. They weren't saved. That's why they got killed
Hebrews 10 that's talking about Judaizers. It's not talking about say people. I mean he just explains away
Every single instance of Christians getting punished. He I mean I just I
Just kind of wonder what he does. What's what do you do? What do you do with the sodomites?
Pastor Jones, what does he do with them?
Because I mean if if we don't have to if we don't have to worry about keeping any commandments
Can Christians commit sodomy now?
And still be saved is that is that what you believe because that's weird if you think that
Anybody that does that is going to get killed
nuked I
Mean if you're if you're saved you're just not going to do that. I mean not willingly anyway
But I just you know, what do you do with first Corinthians 5?
When God says to kick people out and turn them over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh
What do you do with 1 Corinthians 11 when it says
that people that are taking the Lord's Supper irreverently
or that they probably have those sins in their life
that are in 1 Corinthians 5,
that they sleep or they are sick among you?
Are those people saved or they reprobates?
I mean, because if you just go through and explain away
how, and just say nobody gets punished,
What about Hebrews 12 when it says that he scourged with every son whom he received this is that every?
That's every saved person. I'm pretty sure is that every son ever is every still mean every is every mean all
Is that is that what the Calvinists believe no, but that's what we believe
All means all every means every
And so if he punishes and chastises every son,
then that means us too.
So don't get sucked into this whole,
I mean, I'm free grace, but I'm not hyper grace
where you just think that you can just do whatever you want.
And there's no consequences whatsoever on this earth.
That's madness.
And like, Pastor Jones is on like a downward spiral.
He's gonna he's gonna preach against us. He's gonna preach a bunch of sermons against the new FB, and then he's gonna go dark
He says
So whatever that is whatever that means, but he's taking Baptist off the name amen
I'm glad to hear that because
He's definitely not a Baptist anymore. Once you go into Joyce
Joyce Meyer doctrine and Joseph Prince doctrine. It's all downhill from there and also I'm sad about it
You know, I'm sad that it's happened. I really am
but we can't have people teaching that crap
and trying to take the hearts of saved people down a row
that they shouldn't be going down.
Because yes, we're saved by grace and faith,
but you start teaching people,
just like Matthew chapter 519 says,
you start teaching people
that they can just break the commandments
and there's no consequences.
Well, you're gonna be, if he's saved,
He's going to be the least in the kingdom of heaven, teaching that stuff, and you've got to twist and do a lot of mental gymnastics to try to get around that God doesn't punish save people because pretty much every book in the New Testament talks about it.
So anyway, let's pray or we thank you so much.
for salvation and justification by faith, Lord.
I pray that we'd learn the difference
when people try to call us Judaizers
or that we're legalists.
Lord, a legalist, we know what it is
and that's not what we are.
Pray that you'd help us, Lord,
when people try to accuse us of that we just
believe and work salvation,
which is obviously not true, Lord.
I pray you'd help us to sift through lies like that.
And obviously I know that our church
It's not falling for stuff like that, but I pray for those people out there that might just happen upon some of those dumb sermons and think that it's true.
Pray and protect people from that kind of bad teaching.
help us to be able to explain things and to rightly divide the word of truth Lord
at this church and I pray that you just bless us as we go our separate ways keep
us safe and we thank you we love you give you the praise for our salvation we
thank you for loving us and dying for us and Jesus and we pray amen
4-4-1 in the red or the green
Is thy faithfulness, O God, my Father?
There is no shadow of turning with Thee.
No
To
I have proven it.
Great is my faithfulness, Lord.
Sleepy.
Alex, can you close us with the word of prayer? Amen. Word of