After the first few posts, I look back and realize I have only really posted my outline notes, and not so much my thoughts, which is probably what some would prefer to read. Of course, I assume that "some" are interested in even reading these thoughts in the first place. If you're here, you're either bored, or interested. Either way I'll share my thoughts, and if you find them interesting, leave a note and let me know what you get out of this.
The journey into Galatians was not one that I was planning. You'll notice that the overall title of my blog is "Wrestling with Scripture." I chose this title with the purpose of conveying that I am indeed, wrestling with the scriptures. Over the last few months, I have come to realize that we should, in some way, feel obligated to wrestle with scripture. Obligated in the sense that out of a desire to know God, we must, in some way, work at getting to know Him. That sounds like a circular reference, which it is intended to be. Getting to know God should feel like work. But it should feel like the type of work that you look forward to. I have a friend that says since he started farming several years ago, he has felt like he is on vacation because he loves farming that much. I am sure at the end of 100 hour work week during harvest, he feels exhausted. Yet, that exhaustion is in some way something he probably looks forward to every year. Those of you that enjoy raising a garden, know the work that I mean. Days of sweat, bugs, weeds, rodents, heat, and wondering how things will turn out are all worth it when you stare at the harvest sitting on your shelves or in your freezer. We need to be at a point that we work to get to know God. It will take time, confusion, frustration, u-turns, forks in the road, rabbit trails that lead to more rabbit trails. There will always come a time that you find the answer you need. It may not be the answer you were looking for, but it's always the one you need. You will feel rewarded.
My journey with Galatians started in the middle of the night. Actually several nights. I would wake up at 2 or 3am, feeling wide awake, with the idea I needed to study Galatians and teach it for the bible study that I am involved. For 3 nights, I laid there for hours, usually not sleeping at all, sometimes fighting and sleeping a few minutes at a time. Every night asking God, "Why Galatians? Why me? That letter has too much complexity, and I don't have that knowledge yet. What if others, much wiser than me, ask questions and I don't know the answer? Or worse, I give an answer and it's wrong! Why not another study guide with a DVD that I can just facilitate? How about a study guide on Galatians?" By the 4th night, I gave in. I got out of bed, and started reading. I read through Galatians twice that night. I spent an hour reading and praying. I told God I would do it, but was going to need His help. No study guide. Just me, Him, and scripture. Sleep came easily. It wasn't until after this happened that I realized I wasn't tired that whole week, despite getting no more than 3-4 hours of sleep each night.
So here I am, heading into week 3 of Paul's letter. I already have the lesson prepared and posted, and am working on the next segment where we read Paul's brief statement of confronting Peter. So far, it's been an incredible journey. I have found things in scripture that I didn't know were there. I have found concepts that make the letter come alive. I have even found some items in scripture that don't seem to add up to popular teaching (see my Lesson 3 - Galatians 2:2 about Paul going to Jerusalem because of a revelation). I won't repeat what is already in the outline.
Here's my whole angle... I want to do justice to Paul's writing. Some of the last words that Peter left us, which became scripture, is that Paul's letters contain "some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist" (2 Peter 3:16). The last thing I wanted to do was twist any scripture, intentionally or unintentionally.
I have decided to not use a specific commentary or study guide. I wanted to. God really worked on me to tell me not to. My approach has been to pray, read Galatians, write my thoughts out, pray more, look for other scripture, and after having what I feel is a solid understanding of what Paul's intent was, then I will search the web for commentary to validate what I've already written. I do not use any commentary that does not have multiple scripture references to back up their theology logic. I seem to be drawn to commentary that is approaches from a perspective that incorporates cultural history in their dialogue. I haven't dug a lot into history at this point, but I anticipate I'm going to have to start reading more. I hear Josephus is a good resource. Anyone else?
I decided to approach Paul's letter by getting to know who Paul was. Paul was a brilliant man. He was educated, articulate, intelligent, and zealous for God. He definitely got on the wrong path at one point, but thankfully God corrected that, and used his zeal for good.
I have found that contrary to what some would believe, Paul did not abandon the Torah (poorly translated into the word law). Paul did not create a new religion. I keep finding evidence in scripture that proves just the opposite. Paul simply opened the existing religion of following the God of Abraham to a world that had no idea who He was. Paul extended the words of God to the nations. Never with the intention of segregating into a new religion. He didn't open new churches and abandon synagogues. He tried to keep all believers in the Messiah together as one assembly. He wanted the metaphorical and physical wall between Jew and Gentile torn down (Ephesians 2:14).
Paul seemed to address three different types of people in his different letters. Brothers (fellow Jews), Sons of Abraham (proselytes), and Godfears (non-converted Gentiles who believe in the God of Abraham). Notice the URL of my blog. I believe that Paul wanted us Gentiles to be able to worship right next to the Jews, in the same assembly, to the same God, praising and believing in the same Messiah. I believe that was his ENTIRE point. Not that we are one in the same. We are two different sets of people. God separated His chosen, the Israelites, for a purpose, made a covenant with them, and I am fully confident He will make good on His promise to His people. I pray that I will be one of the many in the Nations allowed to tag along.
Paul, or any apostle, never intended to abandon God's word, the Torah. Paul, absolutely preached against following the law (which I believe he meant Torah + Traditions) as a means for salvation. But I do not believe for a second that he intended for God's law to be abandoned or done away with. I am still weeding through that concept and trying to understand which part of Torah applies to all of us, and which applies only to Jews as part of a covenant. That's a whole different study that I am taking slowly. For now, I do the best I can to understand.
As I read through Acts, Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, etc, I see more complete pictures. I can see how there is one reference after another of the apostles did not abandon their Jewish roots. They stayed in synagogues and taught. They participated in the feasts. They kept the Sabbath.
Paul did make it very clear that the law was not to be used as a standard for salvation. He was perfectly clear that faith in Jesus as the Messiah was the only way to salvation. The water seems to have gotten muddy in the last 2,000 or so years as to whether he was giving instruction to abandon the law. I will be digging into that during this study, God willing.
This has turned into a long post, but those that know me are not surprised in the least. My future posts will have a lot more of my complete thoughts. I will probably still include the outline I'm using for the bible study, but I will be sure to add complete thoughts for those that are interested.
In Him...
