Legalism - Go deeper.

Scripture References NT and OT (in order of use in this post)

The question arose in class this week about legalism and what that term means. Legalism in the Biblical context is an unbalanced focus on rules and behaviors as a means to salvation. The Jewish community in the first century were highly legalistic in their practices and we see that throughout the New Testament. Pharisees tried to "catch" Jesus breaking all kinds of rules so that they could persecute him for false teaching (Matt 9:11-15; 12:1-3; 15: 1-3; Mk 7; Luk 6:1-11, to name a few). The pharisees got so wrapped up in piety (dutiful devotion to god and observance of religious principles -- Thank you, Dictionary.com!) that they had no relationship with God. They had no heart for holiness, but only a daily to-do and not-to-do list that they checked off as they went about their business.

The idea that God is after a willing heart is not one that is exclusively New Testament. Genesis tells us "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness" (Gen 15:6). David was called a man of God's own heart and, as history would have it, became the greatest king Israel had. There is an interesting illustration of this idea in 1 Samuel 15. In this story we have Saul, the anointed king of the Israelites and Samuel, the priest and judge over the nation, responsible for the spiritual health of the people. God, through Samuel, gave the orders to Saul to completely destroy his enemies, the Amalekites, and, "...destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them. Put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys" (v. 3). Saul destroyed the Amalekites, but did what he thought the religiously right thing to do would be. He plundered and kept the best sheep, cattle and livestock for the purpose of sacrificing them to God. But he missed the command, "Destroy everything." When Samuel heard this his response speaks to this topic clearly:

"Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than to sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams" (1 Sam 15:22-23)

God wants obedient hearts. The sacrifice here is a practice that was created out of the disparity caused by disobedience! What God would have preferred is that Saul would have listened, as Mal and I tell our 4-year-old niece, "the first time."

The tie-in to our study in James is that we will begin to see much language dealing with behavior. James' message, however, is that we show the world our heart with the outpouring of markedly different behavior. The behavior must come from the heart and then be reflected outwardly. That's my challenge for you. Have a blessed week!

A Three-year Sabbatical: The Ultimate "Seminary" Education

 I'll be referring largely to two passages here, so I've pulled them up in a link. Click Here or any of the scripture references in the post for the passages to pull up all in one place!

In Monday's post, we discussed the brief background of S(P)aul and his story. Paul, as he is later known, was at one time the leading zealot of "Christian" persecution (I only use quotations because Christ's followers have not yet been called Christians). After his conversion he became the "Apostle to the Gentiles" (Gal 2:8) and the single largest contributor to the writings of the New Testament. The conversion might seem sudden but there was a lot of training that took place. By looking into Paul's other writings we can gain a more comprehensive view of his story.

Immediately after Saul is converted he begins to preach the word in Damascus, right where he was. His heroic escape (Acts9:25), however, comes later in the story after his second stay in the city. Galatians 1:11-24 is Paul's defense of his authority to preach, which we mentioned in Monday's post. Not only was he called by God, but he says in v.15-17 that when he was called, he "did not consult any man" or even "go see the apostles in Jerusalem" but instead went immediately to Arabia and then came back to Damascus. During his time in Arabia, we can assume that God revealed himself in many ways to Saul, based on Barnabas' testimony in Saul's defense (Acts9:27) and his own defense in Galatians 1:11-12.

In Acts 9:27, the word for "see" translates loosely. It could mean that he physically saw with his eyes, but also that he saw with his mind or even that he "became acquainted with by experience." We also know that one of the requirements for being an "apostle" is that you personally walked with and experienced Christ (Acts 1:21 separate link). The implications of this are very important. First of all, he would have been a normal disciple had he simply been taught by the Twelve but it took him three years (Galatians 1:18) to make their acquaintance. The second reason is that in reading Paul's letters in the NT you may be tempted to question certain things. He covers topics of Christian living in more detail than Christ himself did, and in many cases, says things that we have no record of Christ saying. If you believe Paul's experience to be true you will understand that anything he said outside of what issues Christ spoke specifically to are supplemental and not contradictory. They came from Christ's personal  revelation to Paul after his own death. He was preparing Paul to go out and preach to the Gentiles and teach them how to live and the audience would be much different that Christ's audience of religious Jews.

The second bit of proof is that Saul endured incredible amounts of punishment for his beliefs. Read the 2 Cor passage for Saul's account of his sufferings. This is not Larry King bringing your opponents on his show or picketing outside your home. Saul survived life-threatening, physical torture for his faith in Christ. Had this been a lie that he had fabricated, he would have lost EVERYTHING he had built up until the point of his conversion (remember, he was an ambitions man) and then been beaten within inches of his life for nothing and stuck to his guns? No person would do that. We can assume that there was something more than Saul himself behind his ministry. Additionally, the fact that he endured all that he did and lived speaks to the power of God to deliver His servants when they are faithfully attempting to fulfill His will. 

As you read through the New Testament and find challenging passages, try to find confidence in the fact that it was truly God-inspired and not just for that society at that time. Trust that it is God's voice being given to you. We are, after all, the gentiles in the "ends of the earth" who Paul was sent to minister to. See you Sunday!

Paul: the "Super Apostle"

This week we'll be studying the apostle Saul (later known as Paul), from Acts 9:20-31. I want to challenge you to do a couple of things this week: 1) read the passage and some of the supplemental passages that I'll send and 2) look for things that either stick out to you or can be applied to your day to day life this week. Here's the passage:

Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. ²⁰At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. ²¹All those who heard him were astonished and asked, "Isn't he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?" ²²Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.^[a]

 ²³After many days had gone by, the Jews conspired to kill him, ²⁴but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. ²⁵But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.

 ²⁶When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. ²⁷But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus. ²⁸So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹He talked and debated with the Grecian Jews, but they tried to kill him. ³⁰When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

 ³¹Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.

A brief background on Saul is that he was a ferocious persecutor of Christ's message. He was a witness to the stoning of Stephen in Chapter 6 and when we see him converted he had the very rare authority of the Sanhedrin (Jewish governing council) to extradite and imprison any of Christ's followers that he found in Damascus. After his conversion, however, he is given the title 'Apostle,' begins to go by his Greek name (Paul) and goes on to write 2/3 of the new testament as we know it. Romans, Galatians, Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus, Philemon and Hebrews were all letters penned by Paul to either specific believers or churches as instructions on living a life for Christ. The most amazing thing about all of this is the extent of NT scripture penned by a man who was not really even present during Christ's ministry. 

The term "Apostle" comes from the greek "Apostolos" which means "messenger" or "one sent with orders." For Paul to call himself an Apostle (Look at the first verse of any of the above-mentioned letters) when he was clearly not sent by Christ during his time on Earth was quite the claim! If all scripture is God-breathed and inerrantly true, by what authority was this great apostle commissioned?

Later this week we will look at the source of Paul's knowledge and authority.