Celebrating the Law
by John Greene
Centuries have produced controversy upon controversy which when compounded by ignorance leads to debate, argument, and frustration. Seemingly there are two camps, those who celebrate the Sabbath and the feasts and live in the Christian world while another camp who says to do away with this nonsense. Both create hard feelings toward one another and this is wrong. As a matter of fact it is sinful and must be repented!
Let's see if by chance the Word of God says anything about this. I suspect that it does! Why? Becauase the Word of God is for today's Christian and must be read and allowed to correct us.
Galatians is an Epistle that was written about the same time as Romans and is considered the "short" version of the doctrinal stance taken by Paul to them.
Gal 2:1-2
Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me. And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain.
Paul goes to the leadership in the church to discuss the gospel that Jesus had revealed to him from the OT Scriptures. Paul had received revelation and his understanding differed from most. Therefore to be in guidance of the Word he goes privately. Titus, his companion, was a Greek, but did not get circumcised simply because the doctrinal stance of so many had stated that the Law and the grace of Jesus Christ may be combined and must be followed.
In verse 3 "Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised." Paul makes Titus' choice clear and his agreement with his stand on the Law.
Paul wanted to deal with false doctrine and he knew how much gets started from the twisting and the changing of God's Word into something that it isn't. This has never stopped.
Vss 4-5, "And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage), to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you."
Paul and the rest that were involved in the ministry to the Gentiles were challenged constantly from many sides. Those soon-to-be-called Judaizers were a group that sought every chance to derail Paul and the furtherance of the gospel! Before we go any further, let's get a definition of Judaizer. A follower of Judaism who wants his beliefs to be kept sound and pure, yet sees the threat of Christianity and the gospel of Paul threatening and challenging that belief system, decides to take on the truth of the gospel and add their belief with it or compromising their beliefs as they are combining them together.
To make this more in perspective to the Scriptures let's look at Acts 15:1 And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." Paul faces the challenge of those Judaizers with the truth of the Word. They want circumcision added for salvation, but in context of what they mean by circumcision must be also understood. These men wanted the Law to be followed as well as adherence to faith in Christ! This is the situation that Paul states in Gal 2 bringing Titus and Barnabas with him.
Paul would reveal the doctrine he taught to these leaders of the church. Paul sates his understanding of all this in Gal 6:12 As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. Those who love Jesus with all their heart and teach and preach a radical doctrine of purity and truth will be challenged to compromise with the world of the Law. The question is begging to be asked, "Can I serve two masters?"
The conclusion of the church leadership (who are Jews to those unawares) can be found back in Acts 15:24-26 Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, "You must be circumcised and keep the law" to whom we gave no such commandment it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This clearly puts the Judaizer's position of the Law and grace for salvation against the Jewish leadership of the church who declare their stand for the truth and agree with Paul, Barnabas, and Titus. Salvation comes through Jesus' blood which is activated in out lives when we repent and confess Him as Lord. Our salvation is maintained as we follow and keep on following Him as we will see a little later in Paul's teaching.
Further in Gal 2:6-9, "But from those who seemed to be something whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows personal favoritism to no man for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me. But on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles), and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised." Paul makes a distinction in ministries between Peter and himself, Peter to the Jew and Paul to the Gentile. The gospel is the same to both, but the approach is different because they are different groups who have faced different lives and cultures many, many experiences.
Paul concludes this difficult situation of the Law with the leadership's response to him and the ministry team. In Gal 2:10 They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do. This is plain and simple enough, so how can we even think that we should observe the Law as the Judaizers wanted. The Law shadowed the fulfillment of itself when Jesus would come and be all the Law required and become the sacrifice that God would require to make possible the gospel that would now be preached to the world!
Now comes the sticky part that some will disagree, but the Scriptures plainly show. Paul reinforces the truth of the gospel with another example, this one also has Peter's involvement, and it reveals that the Law is done away with in the gospel, but also that one can choose to toss aside his or her salvation.
Gal 2:11-13, "Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy."
Paul states the problem, hypocrisy. Paul says in essence that Peter and the rest of the Jews sinned by being hypocrites simply because some men from James visited. Before they cam, they would eat with the Gentiles, but after they came, they separated according to the Law refusing to eat with the Gentiles as the Law calls them sinners. Even Barnabas was caught up in the sin! Notice the reason for Peter and the other Jews, "fearing those who were of the circumcision"! The ones that came from James were not sent by James, but they were Judaizers-those circumcised and claiming the Law as we already have detailed.
Peter's sin was public and caused the public to choose and react, so he must be dealt with according to his sin by being addressed in public. Paul begins with a hard question. In Verse 14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, "If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?" Look at the components of the question. "If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of the Gentiles and not as Jews,..." shows Peter having left the beggarly elements of Judaism for faith in Jesus Christ and now living by and in that faith! Paul completes the question to Peter, "Why compel the Gentiles to live as Jews?"
Verses 15-16 state, "We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified." Paul contrasts the background of people like Paul and Peter who are Jews by birth having the Law and living it, and compares it to Gentiles who are idolatrous by birth living in all manner of cultures and lifestyles. Then he states "...knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law..." Peter must consider what he has done! Peter knows that he is justified "...by faith in Jesus Christ,..." enforcing it with the phrase "...even we have believed in Christ Jesus,..." clearly linking the attitudes of the Jew and Judaism that Peter came from with what he now displays before the Gentiles in his hypocrisy!
Paul builds upon his revelation from the Lord with more hard-hitting truth! Verse 17 says, "But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not!" Most of us read this so quickly that what Paul is saying flies over our heads! The same Peter who says he is justified by Christ is committing this horrible hypocrisy leading the rest into his sin! Peter in his sin also wants to say that he is saved by the grace and faith he has in Christ Jesus! But Paul asks if Jesus is a minister of sin? Certainly not! or in the KJV, God forbid!! Jesus does not justify Peter's sin! But what is Peter's sin? It is hypocrisy! Well let's again remind ourselves about this hypocrisy. Peter said he loved the Lord and walked in faith, but turned aside from this faith for the Law when he was fearful of the Judaizers. So Peter's sin was doing the Law! Peter was going back to legalism if you will!
Paul makes this clear in verses 18-19, "For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God." Peter had destroyed the Law when he was gloriously and marvelously saved by faith in Jesus Christ! The very thing that Peter was saved from, he is now rebuilding in his life and has become a sinner or transgressor.
Verse 20, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Paul confirms what he told the Corinthians and all who would hear the gospel he preached! He may have an earthly tabernacle that houses his spirit and soul, and that flesh may be susceptible to sin and corruption, but he has chosen to walk in the Spirit as a new creation in Christ! Jesus now lives in him and he will allow the one who paid with His life the sacrifice for sin once for all to live in him!! Paul will walk by faith in the Son of God because Jesus was the One who gave Himself for me.
In other words, "Peter, you hypocrite! Your sin, because you fear Jews from Jerusalem, has corrupted all the others with you and caused them to return to the Law! How dare you!! You have made yourself a sinner and Jesus has no sacrifice for the sin you are in unless you repent! Why you might think? It is because you have cast Jesus aside for the legalism of the Law and what Moses had in the covenant of circumcision! You are in danger of hell this very moment! You are casting aside your salvation and have become a Jew all over again rejecting Jesus and the Calvary tree that you shed so many tears over! Don't you know, Peter, that if the Law was any good, Jesus would not have died?"
Let's look at verse 21, "I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain." This blows away the eternal securitist right out of the water! Paul is telling Peter that he himself won't set grace aside by going back to the Law as Peter has done, and therefore makes himself a hypocrite as he has made Christ's death all in vain!
Paul was telling these things to a group of churches in Galatia who were listening to these Judaizers and making these examples come alive for them! Therefore what Paul tells the Galatians elsewhere also has bearing on the Law! In Gal 3:1 "O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?" What did Paul say? "O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you...?"
Should we celebrate the feasts of the Law, should we celebrate the Sabbath or the new moons? Let me conclude with what Paul opened his Epistle to the Galatians. In Ch 1, verses 6-9, "I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed."
Write me!! John Greene