August 7, 2009

• What Should We Do With the O.T. Law?
  A Study of Galatians
  

  First a few words about a translation I am going to use today and some additional study helps…

  You know I kinda like the “New Living Translation” although I use “New
  King James”, (or sometimes old King James) for my mainstay.  Hubby
  likes the “New American Standard”.  There are lots of options out there
  these days!  BTW, just to let you know, the NLT is not
  a “paraphrase” like the old “Living Bible” was.  People get these
  confused but they are completely different. The NLT is an actual
  translation.  I just happen to like how “plain” it says things, so you
  may see me use it frequently here.  I am after all kind of a “plain
  talker” ….. yup…. no “wordy eloquence” coming out of this site!
  Although I hope it is truth… understandable truth.

  I know some people who get “heartburn” over various translations.. and to be
  honest there are probably some kind of issues with every one of them. 
  But I would encourage you not to just stick with one.  Look at all of
  them… dig into the original languages… leave no stone unturned! 
  This is part of true Bible study also.  For those who want to dig
  further into translations and Bible study helps I have linked to some
  resources below.  I do have one word of caution however concerning
  study helps.  Don’t just go to the “commentaries” and read what these
  old dead guys wrote and pick the one you like the best!  Please don’t! 
  When you do that you rob yourself of the blessing of allowing the Holy
  Spirit to take the Word of God and make it come alive in your heart and
  not just in your mind!  The Holy Spirit will take the Word of God and
  do the Work of God, never forget it.  All Bible study must be
  “Bible centered”, so cling to the Word!

  Below is a quick list of online “study helps” in case you have not discovered these for yourself.. enjoy!

  Bible Gateway,  http://www.biblegateway.com/

  Blue Letter Bible,  http://www.blueletterbible.org/

  E-Sword,  http://www.e-sword.net/

  Online Parallel Bible, 

  http://bible.cc/

  Online Greek Interlinear,  http://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/Greek_Index.htm

  Hebrew Lexicon,  http://www.studylight.org/lex/heb/view.cgi?number=3727

  Commentaries,  http://www.biblestudytools.com/Commentaries/

    Bee

  Galatians Study 
  “Where Paul is Coming From”

  Last time, we left Paul as he was “lowering the boom” on some guys
  distorting the Gospel. Paul stops for a minute here as if to “take a
  breath” and essentially says
  … “O.K. guys here is where I am coming from … just so you know why
  all the passion…. Here is some background… here is my story.”  And
  it
  is a wild story…. Paul’s life was definitely a “God thing”… and as
  we will see Paul’s message was a total “God thing” as well!

  Galatians 1:10-21 (NLT)

  “Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of
  God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant. 
  Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel
  message I preach is not based on mere human reasoning. I received my
  message from no human source, and no one taught me. Instead, I received
  it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ. You know what I was like
  when I followed the Jewish religion—how I violently persecuted God’s
  church. I did my best to destroy it.  I was far ahead of my fellow Jews
  in my zeal for the traditions of my ancestors.  But even before I was
  born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. Then it
  pleased him to reveal his Son to me so that I would proclaim the Good
  News about Jesus to the Gentiles.  When this happened, I did not rush
  out to consult with any human being.  Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to
  consult with those who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went away
  into Arabia, and later I returned to the city of Damascus.
  
  
  
  Then three years later I went to Jerusalem to get to know Peter, and I
  stayed with him for fifteen days.  The only other apostle I met at that
  time was James, the Lord’s brother. I declare before God that what I am
  writing to you is not a lie.
  
  
  
  After that visit I went north into the provinces of Syria and Cilicia. 
  And still the Christians in the churches in Judea didn’t know me
  personally.  All they knew was that people were saying, “The one who
  used to persecute us is now preaching the very faith he tried to
  destroy!”  And they praised God because of me.”
  
  
  Paul will go on with his story in chapter two which we will begin next time but I want to pause for a minute to consider something.  Most
  of us can not relate to being even remotely responsible for someone’s
  murder… yet what was Paul confessing here?  He was not only
  responsible but he was excited about murdering these people!  He tried
  to destroy as many as possible!  Not only that… they were innocent
  people… family men, women, children!  (We know this from the
  histories of the first century martyrs.)  I don’t know if it ever
  really hit me like it did today but I just realized…. PAUL WAS A
  MONSTER!  (Before he came to know the Lord that is.)  How on earth could he live with himself knowing what he had
  done!?  The only reason these innocents were murdered was because they
  loved the Lord Jesus Christ!  I have to wonder if Paul struggled with
  “flashbacks” or moments of guilt that would rush back into his mind? 
  Perhaps he saw the face of Stephen in his nightmares and recalled that first
  sickening thud as the stone hit his innocent body…
   
  Acts 7:58 “..and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the
  witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named
  Saul.”
  
  It goes onto to say.. in 8:3 “As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women…”
  
  
  I don’t know if Paul struggled with those thoughts or not… but I do
  know that God can and will transform and forgive so completely that
  after He has cleansed and forgiven us….. we should not even be called
  by the same name!  Hence Saul became Paul.  Wow… the amazing
  redemptive work of God transformed this “Monster” into an Apostle and
  it changed the whole world! 
  
  

  • 12:24 am
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