Episodios

  • 973. Two Different Covenants: Slaves and Guardians, Children and Heirs

    973. Two Different Covenants: Slaves and Guardians, Children and Heirs
    Jul 28 2024
    Bible chapters and verses can cause us to trip, skip and miss the crux of the context. Paul isn't hopscotching around on a variety of topics as he writes to the Galatians, but keeps making his points that piggyback off of one another as the letter flows. And it all revolves around a law of works that was once given to Israel and how it contrasts with life found in grace through faith for all people (Jew and Gentile). This time, we're in Galatians 4, where there is verbiage being used about slaves, guardians, and stewards ... along with children and heirs ... and how the illustration involving some cultural things of that day compare to two covenants (the old and the new). One covenant from Mt. Sinai brought bondage because of human effort, while the other brought freedom through a promise that God made. --Available on Amazon - "Clash of The Covenants: Escaping Religious Bondage Through the Grace Guarantee" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0713ZSKY7
    Más Menos
    18 m
  • 972. Not One Line Item From the Stone Tablets Could Give Life (The Promise of a Better Covenant)

    972. Not One Line Item From the Stone Tablets Could Give Life (The Promise of a Better Covenant)
    Jul 21 2024
    There is one true promise keeper - God. None of us were even nominated or received honorable mention. No "A" for effort. It is an unchanging and eternal promise for those who believe, which began in the days of Abraham and carried through to the Seed - Jesus Christ. Once the Seed had come, the Jewish people were no longer considered as being under the "guardian" ... known as the law of commandments. Many from the twelve tribes would struggle with Paul's message along these lines. But because of this truth—both Jew and Gentile were able to begin to identify as children of a royal family by faith. The law was a dead-end street and was not connected to the faith freeway. But those who belong to Christ are considered as Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. We're mining for gold in Galatians Chapter 3. Available on Amazon - "Clash of The Covenants: Escaping Religious Bondage Through the Grace Guarantee" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0713ZSKY7
    Más Menos
    18 m
  • 971. Jews Redeemed From the Curse So Gentiles Might Receive the Promise of the Spirit

    971. Jews Redeemed From the Curse So Gentiles Might Receive the Promise of the Spirit
    Jul 14 2024
    Continuing in Galatians Chapter 3, Paul was providing these believing Gentiles with a hard-hitting explanation of why they do not want to pursue works of the law — which they were never under — in order to perfect themselves. They began in the Spirit and were being coerced into thinking they needed Jesus plus works in order to be justified. This was a common mindset among believing Jews in the early church. After all, it wouldn't be "fair" for believing Jews to be required to continue in the law while non-Jewish people were let off the hook regarding that burdensome ministry. Redemption for both Jews and Gentiles came by a promise, through faith ... and the law was not of faith. It came by inheritance, gifted to us who have received the promise of the Spirit through faith. Available on Amazon - "Clash of The Covenants: Escaping Religious Bondage Through the Grace Guarantee" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0713ZSKY7
    Más Menos
    17 m
  • 970. Abraham Believed and Was Declared Righteous (Faith Not Works)

    970. Abraham Believed and Was Declared Righteous (Faith Not Works)
    Jul 7 2024
    Paul appears frustrated as he addresses "you foolish Galatians" in the beginning of Chapter 3. Why? They had started out receiving the Spirit of God by faith but were being lured by a more popular persuasion from men who came from James - and had started to convince these Gentiles to adhere to the old Jewish law in combination with faith in Christ. This led to Paul carefully laying out an explanation over the next couple of chapters or so of how works and faith could not be mixed when it came to their salvation and right standing with God. Abraham and the foundational message of a promise made to him by God will be Paul's launching pad to explain how the law was a curse and was not of faith. It will be fruitless and ineffective for them to think perfection could come through works (the flesh). Available on Amazon - "Clash of The Covenants: Escaping Religious Bondage Through the Grace Guarantee" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0713ZSKY7
    Más Menos
    19 m
  • 969. "Draw Near to God! Cleanse Your Hands! Purify Your Hearts!"

    969. "Draw Near to God! Cleanse Your Hands! Purify Your Hearts!"
    Jun 30 2024
    We're wrapping up our series about some things found in the letter from James to believers in Jesus from the twelve tribes of Israel ... and the contrasts found with Paul's writings. One example we'll look at is in James 4, where an old covenant mindset is communicated as James tells believers to draw near to God, to cleanse their hands and purify their hearts. Paul communicated that believers are already near to God, cleansed and purified. Are we saying James shouldn't be in the Bible? Listen in as we discuss the bigger picture of what was going on in the early church and how James' epistle fits in.
    Más Menos
    24 m
  • 968. After the Cross: The Mixing of Law and Faith

    968. After the Cross: The Mixing of Law and Faith
    Jun 23 2024
    Throughout the pages of the New Testament, we see numerous examples of Jewish people coming to believe in Jesus, but understandably also believed the law of Moses was still in place for them. The Apostle Paul came along a short while later with a gospel message he claimed was taught directly to him by divine revelation ... to declare the former law had been put aside and nailed to the cross. But he was in the minority and suffered much persecution because of it. Various places within the New Testament show how James and his council of leadership within the Jerusalem church were part of this persuasion who believed that the Mosaic law was a component towards attaining salvation/justification (for the Jew). By not ignoring this important part of the big picture within the scriptures, we can begin to see how all of these books (including the works-based letter from James) harmonize with each other to tell the story of what was happening with the struggles in the early church at that time.
    Más Menos
    19 m
  • 967. "The Law of Liberty" - Something New or Something Obsolete?

    967. "The Law of Liberty" - Something New or Something Obsolete?
    Jun 16 2024
    Continuing with Program 3 of our series on being a "doer of the word" and what this was meant to be about. The "law of liberty" is seen twice in the New Testament, both times used by James in the first two chapters of his letter written to the twelve tribes of Israel which had been scattered to different regions. In context, he encourages his audience to follow all of that law and to speak "and do" as those who will be judged by that law - what he calls a law of liberty - but had just defined it as the Mosaic law. James would double down to say faith without works is dead (useless) and that one cannot be justified by faith without works (of the law). He would declare that faith is perfected by works ... the precise opposite of what Paul said in his writing to the Galatians at the beginning of chapter 3. Even when using the example of Abraham, there is a conflict with what Paul said along the same lines, which we will cover more on the next program.
    Más Menos
    20 m
  • 966. "Be Doers of the Word" (But What Is the "Word" in This Instance?)

    966. "Be Doers of the Word" (But What Is the "Word" in This Instance?)
    Jun 9 2024
    James made a statement in his letter to the twelve Jewish tribes ... believed by most historians to be the earliest writing in the pages known as The New Testament. "Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" (James 1:22). This passage, along with what follows has a consistent but curious theme of externals, doing and works - and all under the topic of righteousness, salvation and justification. In Program 2 of this brief series, we continue to take a closer look at the entire context of what James said shortly before this (and after). Have you ever stopped and asked yourself what he meant by "the word?" Modern day believers may skim over it and think that James is telling us to be a doer of the Bible (whatever that means). But in order for these Jewish believers to be able to meet this goal of identifying as a "doer," it would have to be something specific that they were already familiar with ... and something they could see, hear and do - dare we say - something being read and heard in synagogues every week on the Sabbath.
    Más Menos
    18 m