Galatians 3:1-22 (AD 48) What’s the problem with the law of God? It shows is that we are hopeless, doomed, incapable of pleasing God. So why was the law given? To show that we are hopeless, doomed, incapable of pleasing God… …and thus entirely reliant on God’s grace, given because of Jesus’ death and resurrection. … More Day 190: When Free isn’t Free
Galatians 2:11-21 (AD 48) All may have looked great in Gentile-Jewish Christian relations until Peter blew it, distancing himself from his Gentile brothers and sisters by refusing to eat with them when the Judaisers turned up. He showed himself, for a time, to be a hypocrite who turned other Jews (even Barnabas) into a hypocrite … More Day 189: Peter Messes Up Again
Galatians 1:11-2:10 (AD 48) Paul told the Galatians that he received the gospel from God and didn’t make it up or hear it on the grapevine (1:11-12). It reminds me of this steaming pile of manure from one of the less-great thinkers of the 20th Century: “[Jesus] was and must always be be regarded as … More Day 188: It’s Not Paul’s Gospel
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+1%3A1-10&version=NIVGalatians 1:1-10 The issue in our previous reading from Acts 15 was the nature and integrity of the gospel. In Galatians chapter 1 we are confronted with the same challenge. The Galatians heard and embraced an anti-gospel message that masqueraded as the gospel. Like some more modern cults, some of the surface descriptions echoed Christian … More Day 187: Damn Heresy
Acts 15 (AD 48) To follow the chronology of the New Testament we go from James into Acts 15, and ‘The Council at Jerusalem’. As you read, remember that this is history, not doctrine. The key players were all Christians trying to do what’s best, but the edicts that came out of the council for … More Day 186: A Perfect, Imperfect Solution
James 4 (AD 48) Some Christians claim that their decision-making, attitudes and opinions are always correct and always good because they have the Holy Spirit living in them. God – via James – disagrees. Other Christians are despondent when they feel a weight of ungodly desires and attitudes. They imagine that if they were better, … More Day 185: Desires That Battle Within
James 3 (AD 48) James 2: you claim to be a Christian? Show it by what you do. James 3: you claim to be a Christian? Show it by what you don’t do and by what you do. Speaking your mind used to be frowned upon. Nowadays, at least in western societies, saying what you … More Day 184: You’re a Christian? Show it.
James 2:14-26 (AD 48) Martin Luther, for many the figurehead of the Reformation, was not the biggest fan of this letter. Today’s passage was a key reason. Luther said, “The epistle of James gives us much trouble, for the Papists embrace it alone and leave out all the rest…Accordingly, if they will not admit my … More Day 183: Faith alone – not faith that is alone
James 2:1-13 (AD 48) Have you ever been a victim of favouritism? It’s hard to imagine that everyone hasn’t, at some point, been on the receiving end. And it’s equally hard to imagine that we haven’t all at some point been the perpetrators of it. James wrote to a poor Christian community. Society was more … More Day 182: Favouritism
James 1:22-27 (AD 48) “But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.” (James 1:25, NIV) Paul pointed out that the Law brought death (Romans 7:10; 2 Corinthians 3:7), and that we are saved … More Day 181: The Perfect Law that Gives Freedom
Paul T Reynolds 