Comments on: Falling from Grace: Why the Different Result in Galatians?

By: Ed Boggess

Ed Boggess — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:42:29 +0000

Judaizers had come to Galatia and undermined Paul’s authority and taught it was necessary for Gentiles to keep the law of Moses in order to be saved. Paul first asserts his authority as an apostle and second shows that the law with all of its commands was to bring us to Christ, that salvation is only in Christ where there is freedom from the law and living in Christ means walking by the Spirit with all of its implications. Therefore, to attempt to achieve salvation by keeping the law, whether days, circumcision or its moral demands is to become estranged from Christ and the promises in Him.
On the other hand, some brethren in Rome were evidently keeping some Jewish holy days. If they had in doing so believed they were achieving righteousness so as to be saved, Paul would have dealt with it as he did in Galatians. So apparently they were not thinking in terms of achieving justification, but in terms of pleasing God by their walk of faith, just as one avoids the works of the flesh and produces the fruits of the Spirit when walking by the Spirit. It is not to achieve salvation, but to walk worthy of the vocation of being a child of God. So in this sense the matters of Romans 14 were indifferent, weren’t they? Of course, I could be wrong. I’ve been before.

By: laymond

laymond — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:12:15 +0000

Jay wasn’t that a way to be justified of men, and didn’t Paul say somewhere he didn’t care what men thought of him, or something to that affect?

By: Jay Guin

Jay Guin — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 02:41:50 +0000

Desertwanderer,

Thanks. It’s a good point. Paul circumcised Timothy so he could preach to the Jews — but not so that he could be justified. And that was far from a sin. Do the identical thing in order to be justified, and you fall from grace.

By: desertwanderer

desertwanderer — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:45:06 +0000

Even a further contrast (as I see it), or paradox, from Galatians to Romans, is the perceived contradiction between Galatians 5.2-3 and Acts 16.1-3 where Paul circumcises Timothy because of the Jews in the area Paul and Silas where traveling in.

The issue has to be faith in Christ rather than faith in self (self justification) as seen in Gal. 5.4 or else Paul has just condemned Timothy to the fires of hell by obligating him to the “whole law.” Now we know in light of 1 Cor. 9 what Paul’s motivation for such actions would be, “so as to win those…” I assume Paul considered the Jews in Acts 16 not ready for a teaching such as found in Galatians 5, so he circumcised Timothy knowing it had nothing to do with self justification but rather to further the spread of the gospel and God’s grace on free and slave, weak and strong, Jew and Gentile alike.

Today I know I still struggle with buying into Satan’s garden lie; I will be like a god. Meaning my rightness depends on me, I must self justify. And so our adding requirements to faith fall into the same mind set of we are in control because we can “be like gods”. And because of our self justification we can not see that our law that we add on others is the same as that spoken against by Paul in these verses (i.e. ceremonial law vs. moral law arguments).

You stated, “That’s it. Faith in Jesus saves. When we add a law to that one, extraordinary gift of God, we ‘fall from grace.’…It’s a bad place to be.” How true, how true.

Steve Valentine

By: Royce

Royce — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:28:27 +0000

Paul addressed Romans to: “To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints”. (Romans 1:7) And, he addressed the Galatians letter to: “the churches of Galatia” (Galatians 1:2b)

These letters along with Hebrews (author unknown) and others were widely distributed and read to individual local assemblies. We have no way of knowing how many people heard the letters read at one setting but I think the crowd could have been quite large. It is also very likely that the hearers would include believers and make believers, those who were true Christians and those who were imposters or not yet Christians.

All of us (even a person with Calvinist tendencies like me) agree that those who claim Christ MUST live lives of obedience if we are saved. As you correctly said in another post, 1st John shows who is and is not saved.

Jay, if you wrote a letter to my congregation you would likely address it to “Brothers and sisters” but when it was read to the assembled group believers and not yet beleivers would be hearing the message. I believe this truth is part of the key to understanding Paul’s intentions, especially in Galations. Worthy of note is the phrase you quoted in Galatians 4 “Or rather known by God”. That little phrase is very important in my view.

Thanks for your hard work in presenting these important posts and for your charity to some of us who are at times a pain in the back side.

Royce