Posts

Showing posts with the label Law

Where Does Our Righteousness Come From?

short notice Who are the Judaizers? The Apostle Paul warns his readers about the Judaizers who oppose the gospel (Phil 3:2–3). Paul’s conflicts with the Judaizers can be seen in greater detail in Acts and Galatians (e.g., Acts 15:1–19; Gal. 2:15–21; 3:6–4:31), as well as in the rest of his letters. Paul rejected their teaching that Gentiles must first become Jews and obey all the OT laws in order to be saved. In contrast, Paul has given up his spiritual and ethnic privileges for the sake of knowing Christ (Phil. 3:4–11). His righteousness comes through Christ, not the law (Phil 3:12–16). The justified /righteous person in the New Testament “Justified” means “counted righteous” or “declared righteous” by God (acc. to ESV footnote). If people obeyed all of God’s perfect moral standards, they could be justified by their own merits. But Paul says that this is impossible for anyone to do (see Romans 1–2). "Works of the law" means any human effort to be justified by ...

The main difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament

Image
This is what I learnt: The main difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament is not just that in this actual age we can communicate directly with God. It is also crucial to learn the essentials in person, by doing, in practice, rather than having to complete a List of Things to Do. A man under the Law is a man of tasks. When he has come to know Christ, his actions are motivated by love and they are inner driven. If not, it is out of fear or compulsion to perform sg, driven by self-righteous motives. The Christian, New man acts from an accepted & adopted position, in the beginning as a child, but later, often "independently", out of a desire: inspired by the Saviour as the godly character is being developed in him. The man without God needs a mediatorial layer to access heavenly things. The Christian man is himself an intermediary because Christ the Lord is the Mediator between God and man. When this relationship is built and flourishes, the...

Cause and Effect

Image
meditation I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. You shall not... You shall not... You shall not... Exodus 20:2 .. call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me. Psalm 50:15 In your steadfast love give me life, that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth. Psalm 119:87-88 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Mt 6:9-10 ..seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:32-33 Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that ...

Two women

Image
Joseph Marie Vien: Sarah Presenting Hagar to Abraham Based on the Galatians 4 you can read here an overview +teaching about the old and new status of the believers. According to the apostolic teaching the old, child like status describes Israel and the new status refers to the adoption we have got in Christ. Meanwhile, the symbolic image of the two women, the two mothers (Abraham's concubine and his wife), gives a detailed picture of the complex spiritual family relationship between the Jewish and the Christian believer. We will use the ESV Bible. Pre When the apostle Paul speaks of the life of Abraham and about the Law, we need to see two states. One is a blessing: based on the voluntary mercy and grace of God, the other is a system: which God has prepared for the deliverance of His people and the building up of the Jewish nation. We can see that the promise, Abraham's blessing came 430 years before the giving of the Law. Moreover we will see that...