Thursday: Paul and the Galatians
However clear the council, there were those who sought to go their own way and who continued to advocate that the Gentiles keep Jewish traditions and laws. For Paul this became a very serious matter; that is, it wasn’t trifling over the fine points of faith. It had become a denial of the gospel of Christ itself.
Read Galatians 1:1-12. How serious does Paul see the issue he is confronting in Galatia? What should that tell us about the importance of this question?
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As stated before, it was the Galatian situation that in large degree prompted the content of the letter to Rome. In the Epistle to the Romans, Paul further develops the theme of the Galatian epistle. Some Jewish believers were contending that the law God had given them through Moses was important and should be observed by Gentile converts. Paul was trying to show its true place and function. He didn’t want these people to gain a foothold in Rome as they had done in Galatia.
It is an oversimplification to ask whether Paul is speaking of ceremonial or moral laws in Galatians and Romans. Historically, the argument was whether or not Gentile converts should be required to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses. The Jerusalem council had already ruled on this question, but some refused to follow its decision.
Some read in Paul’s letters to the Galatians and the Romans evidence that the moral law, the Ten Commandments (or, in truth, only the fourth commandment), is no longer binding on Christians. Yet, they are missing the point of the letters, missing the historical context and issues that Paul was addressing. Paul, as we’ll see, stressed that salvation was by faith alone and not by the keeping of the law, even the moral law. Yet that isn’t the same thing as saying that the moral law shouldn’t be kept. Obedience to the Ten Commandments was never an issue; those who make it an issue are reading back into texts a contemporary issue, one that Paul wasn’t dealing with.
| How do you respond to those who claim the Sabbath is no longer binding upon Christians? How can you show the truth of the Sabbath in a way that does not compromise the integrity of the gospel? |
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Hello, is Mr Michael Fracker can send lesson plan for this week?
Thank you for inquiring, Willy. Mr Fracker tells me he is overwhelmed with work and taking a month's break. He will submit lesson plans again in November.
So now you have the opportunity of examining his previous plans, noting the pattern he follows, and you can make up your own plans. It will take a bit more work, but I guarantee you will be blessed in making the effort yourself. 🙂
First the Sabbath came way before the "law" , it was a gift from God in the Creation so we could spend time remembering who we are( God's creation), whom we belong to, our purpose and mission here( since we were created as God's image) and He is love, we should also reflect His love.
When the Sabbath is mentioned in the law, it only continues to remind us of God as our Creator and that we are His. That is truth that exist and can't be denied. So even if we were not to agree with all the rest of the ten commandments the truth of the Sabbath would still exist.
Hi Rose! You are absolutely right. I like your approach of directing us (and believers that think that the Sabbath is no longer binding) back to the fact that the Sabbath was given to us at Creation.
I would like to add to your approach. I would use your approach, and also direct the person back to Creation also, by asking them, "Do you understand why God gave us the Sabbath at Creation, and what the Sabbath means?" The Sabbath is a day of Rest. Genesis 2:2 says:
"2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. (Note: This is before the law was given to Moses or any of His people)
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made."
God does not need to rest; however, He knew back then that "we are only flesh" (weak flesh) who would need to rest. The Sabbath gives us that opportunity to not only "rest" from the physical responsibility of work, but also allows us the mental and emotional rest to refresh and recharge us for the next week. On the Sabbath, we lay our cares and problems aside for that 24-hour period to allow our mind to rest from the stresses of this world. So, God knew before He created us that we would need a weekly Sabbath day of rest. That's why the Sabbath is still binding today!
And i can attest to the fact that God indeed forsees the future, resting on Sabbath for me has been a blessing, leaving me charged and energized for the next week.
I don't see how the sabbath was given to man at creation. Given to man in what way and to do what with it. Kindly clarify
Uzoma, Jesus said the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. In Ps. 95 God is quoted, "I swore in my wrath they would not enter into my rest." In Hebrews 4 the writer refers to Ps. 95 and defines the "rest" as referring to the "Sabbath rest." The 4th commandment is in the law of God which is eternal and is a transcript of His Character.
My question, since the principle is eternal, what was the principle that motivated God to write the 4th commandment on the tables of stone? What was the reason God rested on the Seventh day of Creation that He wants us to know and experience that He made a special repeating day for?
I believe that this Sabbath rest principle of God's Character was the motivation of God when He made the Seventh day Sabbath. It was/is that He is interactive with all His creation. He does not create and leave His creation on its own unless that which He created has a choice to separate from Him and it chooses to do so. This, of course, causes destruction of the creature unless the plan of salvation is evoked like when Jesus was procreated and restored the relationship through the amazing Love of God demonstrated in His Life and death and resurrection.
In this we see in scripture that the whole Godhead was at work in Jesus when He claimed to be the I AM, when He said "I do nothing of mine own self, but the Father teaches Me all things...", "If you have seen me you have seen the Father.
Jesus was/is 100% human and 100% God through the work of His Spirit which brought the Mind of the Father into His human brain to motivate His entire life. Therefore, the Father and His Spirit lived in and through Him. This is an example of how the "Sabbath Rest" can work in us also as we allow God's Spirit to motivate all our thoughts and feelings and put His mind and His Righteousness in us to make us like Him.
God changes not!
Nearly all the opinions over the Sabbath observance have reached the saturation point for over a half century that I am aware of. What is often missing is the importance of the other nine. God did write ten for the best reason that I know of. Because it was what God chose. We reference Matthew 22:37-40 more often than not. We cannot pass up the opportunity to point out the error of our ways to other denominations that do not worship on the seventh day Sabbath. No love lost there ?
The REST IN JESUS is the best rest of all even over the SEVENTH DAY SABBATH REST.
I do believe that Hebrews 4 is a good study of the Seventh-day-Sabbath. To me it is obvious Paul was supporting the Seventh-day-Sabbath from Genesis. The Four Gospels support the Sabbath they just don't come right out and identify the Sabbath as the seventh day. But they didn't because they never dreamed in a 100 years that anyone would try to change the day to Sunday just because they didn't identify the Sabbath as the seventh day. The fact is every one who was a Christian kept the Seventh-day-Sabbath until 300 and some years later, when man, not God, changed the day to Sunday and even then most Christians kept the Seventh-day-Sabbath through much of the Middle Ages.
Happy Sabbath, yes as Paul puts it in Hebrews 4, let us enter into His rest on the seventh day.
John and Don
I am going to keep this post short, which gives rise to the risk of misunderstanding, but I will leave that up to God to impress on the hearts and minds of the readers.
The writer of Hebrews is not referring to a Sabbath rest. His point is that there is a type of “rest” that the Israelites did NOT enter into. We know that the people kept the Sabbath, or else they would have been stoned – Num 15:32-36 – that was the required punishment. We do not read of more than one instance of the stoning happening. They kept the seventh day Sabbath throughout their time in the wilderness. They committed other sins, but they certainly “kept” the Sabbath.
Yet the Hebrews writer is stating that they did not enter into God’s rest.
Therefore, there has to be something else he is talking about.
Jesus explained the true rest. In Matt 11:28 His invitation was: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
To hammer home that point, in the very next verses - Matt 12:1,2, Jesus sought to expand and correct the view of the Sabbath. You can carefully and prayerfully read the entire context from Matt 11:25 to Matt 12:14.
The true rest, is the resting from “our works” and trusting wholly and completely in Jesus for salvation and for victory in our daily walk. Jesus is the true rest.
Please read the entire letter to the Galatians as a whole and see clearly what it is saying concerning the law.