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Tag: Christ

From now on I will go ethnos
ACTS 18 continued..

ἔθνη – ethnos
“Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
ACTS of the Apostles 18:6b ESV – Paul’s curse toward the Jews rejecting the Gospel in Corinth

Paul’s persistence in ACHIA for 18 months

Our 2nd mission to Jews and the ethnos so far..

As we near the end of Paul’s second missionary journey the author of Acts who is also witness to this part of it shows his readers how the ethnos (gentiles) continue to be a challenge to the Jews.

Once again Paul began this second mission from Antioch Syria where the apostles’ depart with an epistle to all the churches from church leaders in Jerusalem.

Previously:

But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
ACTS of the Apostles 15:1 ESV

Even an epistle from Jerusalem from leaders of the church did not solve this issue of the ethnos joining the Jews in worship.

[In Derbe] Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem.
Acts of the Apostles 16:3-4 ESV

6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia..
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By the way, as all this has happened Paul writes a letter back to the Galatians addressing some of these same issues of ethnos.
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“This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.”

.. they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagog ESVue of the Jews.. he reasoned with them from the Scriptures..

4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks.. 5 But the Jews were jealous..

.. the Jews from Thessalonica.. came [to Berea], agitating and stirring up the crowds. ¹⁴Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there.
excerpts from ACTS 17 ESV

more about the resurrection?

with the Jews of Corinth
- Paul waits in Athens for Silas and Timothy to return by separate sailing from Macedonia.
- 17:34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
- 18 After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. ²And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla..
- 18:5 ..Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia..
- (Most Biblical scholars believe that Luke, author of LUKE-ACTS, arrived with them.)
Luke – an ethnos physician from Antioch Syria

Luke was a frequent companion of the Apostle Paul, at least from the time of Paul’s Macedonian vision (Acts 16:9, 10) right up to the time of Paul’s martyrdom (2 Tim. 4:11).
BlueLetterBible.org commentary of John MacArthur

When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.
ACTS of the Apostles 18:5 ESV

6 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

We will go to the ethnos!

Some Jews chained to the cultural teachings of first century synagogues believed that having been chosen by God then the ONLY way to please God was to stick together.

AND leaders of synagogues (NOT places of worship, but of teaching) stuck to select old testaments of certain ancient Scriptures.

The Jews had updated their LAW with rules replacing a broken OLD Covenant which God’s chosen had abandoned long-ago.

SO HOW DOES THIS LOOK TO A GENTILE like Luke REDEEMED BY and worshiping Jesus, THE JEWISH MESSIAH?

HOW DID GENTILES (ETHNOS) like LUKE view THE CHRIST (Greek for Messiah) OF THE JEWS?

We CONTINUE with LUKE’s 2nd account from this juncture between the FIRST TWO MISSIONARY JOURNEYS OF PAUL and a THIRD MISSIONARY JOURNEY with the Apostle’s focus into all the world directly pointed to the ethnos – the gentiles of the Roman Empire even beyond Greece.

From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

⁷And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue.

The Gentiles (ethnos) ἔθνος
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Lexicon :: Strong's G1484 - ethnos

Before we conclude our 2nd Missionary Journey with Paul let's look at what the Apostle's gentile physician meant in his 1st century account of the early church.
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The KJV translates Strong’s G1484 in the following manner: Gentiles (93x), nation (64x), heathen (5x), people (2x).
- a multitude (whether of men or of beasts) associated or living together
  - a company, troop, swarm
- a multitude of individuals of the same nature or genus
  - the human family
- a tribe, nation, people group
- in the OT, foreign nations not worshipping the true God, pagans, Gentiles
- Paul uses the term for Gentile Christians
LUKE’s NEW TESTAMENT ACCOUNT:
- ethnos – 13x in his Gospel
- Greek ἔθνος (ethnos) – 43x in ACTS of the Apostles
Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation^G1484 under heaven. – ACTS 2:5

And all the circumcised believers who came with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles G1484 also. – ACTS 10:45

Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. Since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles G1484. – ACTS 13:46 [from Paul’s 1st missionary journey]

“Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

To be continued…

NEXT: more from Corinth & the conclusion of Paul’s 2nd missionary journey to the ethnos
June 22, 2023
My HOT reaction to a 1st. c. Hot Topic
As I read my own contemporary REACTION to Paul’s epistle (letter) to the ‘foolish Galatians’ I realized that the Apostle had provoked PREACHING in my own commentary.

Which HOT Topic that matters to YOU will push your button of REACTION?

WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO PERVERSION?

OR YOUR REACTION TO HYPOCRISY?

HOW DO YOU REACT TO SIN?
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IF you even hold that SIN is identifiable in a man or woman.
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IS YOUR REACTION TO OPPONENTS OF GOD SIMILAR TO PAUL’S?
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IF YOU YOURSELF are not opposed to the ONE GOD and JESUS CHRIST?
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REACTION to Galatians
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Think of this an extended personal COMMENT and reaction to my own post 
AND then ADD your reaction to Paul's letter with YOUR comment.

Please forgive any overlap of content from Scripture. It is my hope that these exhortations may also convict 21st century christians in addition to the Galatians.
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HOT topics from Galatians – Perversion of the Gospel

Galatians 1:7b LSB – .. there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

Apostasy appears throughout the Holy Bible when God’s people become unholy.
Roger@TalkofJesus.com

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?

It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.
Paul’s epistle to the churches in Galatia 3:1 ESV

Foolish Reactions of milk-fed christians

(My REACTION to those led to ‘some other gospel,’ as Paul puts it.)

For the turning away^H4878 of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

See Paul’s reference to foolishness according to Proverbs

God’s reaction to worshipers turning from HIM!

Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine:

the soul who sins shall die.
the word of the LORD through His Prophet Ezekiel 18:4

It is NOT ONLY the flesh which will wither and die; but, SAYS THE LORD, ‘the soul who sins shall die.’

Galatians 4:

SON OF A SLAVE! (What’s your reaction to that?)

8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.

DOES THIS NOT CONTINUE TO BE THE CONDITION OF EVERY CHRISTIAN BEFORE WE TURN TO JESUS CHRIST?

So why then, O foolish 21st century sinner, do you speak of reparations for slavery when you continue to refuse release from the CHAINS of CULTURE?

We are ENSLAVED by CULTURE! – the PERVERSE cultures of media leavening every moment of our day; the PERVERSE claims of political leaders PAID FOR secretly by those evil ones of Satan to whom their parties are chained.

The list is endless in these last days of this 21st century since the ascension of the risen Christ until HE returns to judge the living and the dead.

What’s your REACTION to HELL?
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Now there's a HOT Topic to avoid for those who pervert justice and oppose the Gospel of Christ's return. Again Paul's concern for the Galatians ought to mirror our own concern for 21st century church.
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9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?
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OR, foolish claimant of Christ, is your own perversion of the Gospel leading your own soul into inevitable darkness, death, Judgment and right punishment for preaching culture and not Christ?
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15 What then has become of your blessedness? .. 16 Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?
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DO YOU CHOOSE THE TRUE GOSPEL or have you foolishly followed the descending flow of their cultural gospel (which is false) into the very pit of perdition?
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17 They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them.
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The Apostle Paul exhorts so-called christians of the churches of Galatia to return to the GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 

I, too, have cultural HOT buttons of REACTION.
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false – for it is intolerant of Christ and Scripture

Syncretism

You can’t be Orthodox AND Roman..

You’re no longer Catholic..

You can’t be righteous to Allah if you claim Christ..

Moroni and Smith hid in a secretive and false church of Jesus Christ in these latter days..

Our preaching is NOT Universal and CANNOT accept all religions..

GOD calls SELF-worship ‘SIN.’

Buddha can help you find your true SELF..

Our gods of the earth and nature bring you to the karma of this life..

We are ALL good..

The Bible is just another book.. )

DO YOU SEE THE DANGERS?

Evidence of Christ or Signs of Apostasy?

No Bible translation I know is so brash as to use this HEADING for Paul’s closing argument in his case against some members of the churches we call Galatians;

yet I’ll risk closing this HOT topic with such a summation for a jury of my Christian peers.

4 You are severed [cut away] from Christ, you who would be justified by the law;

you have fallen away from grace.

The GOSPEL of Christ’s grace IS good news not only to the redeemed but in its evidence to others.

17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit,

and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh,

for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

CAN THE PERVERSITY OF HYPOCRISY BE ANY MORE OBVIOUS IN ITS WITNESS THOUGH THOSE WHO CLAIM CHRIST?

Perversion of the FLESH? vs. Fruit of the SPIRIT?

WHICH do YOU choose AND what evidence does every juror see, you who have been given the Gospel?

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident:

sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies,

and things like these.

I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;
Paul’s epistle [instructive letter to the churches] to the Galatians 5:22-23a ESV

against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

ARE YOU a christian wearing the Cross of Christ while living in the flesh just as Paul calls out to the Galatians to return to the GOSPEL of CHRIST?
- Does REACTION to your christian claim lead to further apostasy from God?
Does Paul’s HOT Topic #2 for the saints of the churches in Galatia CONVICT YOU?

WHAT FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT do you lack?

OR

Is your witness as a christian saint somewhat steeped in the unholiness of the fruit of the flesh?

COMMENTS? or Questions?
June 20, 2023
HOT topics from Galatians – Perversion of the Gospel
Of course when a Bible HEADING for Galatians 1:6 suggests, “Perversion of the Gospel” our twenty-first century first thought is sexual perversion, but this all-inclusive description of unnamed teachers in Galatia encompasses much more.

Perversion of the One Gospel

Perversion of the Gospel
6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another..
Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians 1:6-7a NASB1995

Although the HEADING of our opening HOT topic is written to church members in Galatia it addresses perversion (which I found above my online KJV) contemporary to our 21st century churches.

Other English editors of the New Testament identify other helpful descriptions of this problem NOT related to this noun but pointedly to the object of Paul’s complaint – the GOSPEL.
NASB ‘Distortion of the Gospel;’ ESV ‘No Other Gospel;’ Lexham English Bible ‘A Different Gospel;‘ NKJV ‘Only one Gospel’

KJV Galatians 1:7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

We find a specific reason for the Apostle beginning his letter with an exhortation. Look at the end of his opening salvo of Galatians 1: verses 6 and 7.

“.. but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.”
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My dear fellow follower of Christ,
Could it be less so in these last days of either the KJB (17th century) or now in this year of our Lord 2023?
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μεταστρέφω – Pervert –

†μεταστρέφω metastréphō, met-as-tref’-o; from G3326 and G4762; to turn across, i.e. transmute or (figuratively) corrupt:—pervert, turn.

Think about it:
Perversion – (It’s more prevalent than we think it is.)

Let's get a little more literal from the Greek:

1:7 ὃ οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλο εἰ μή τινές εἰσιν οἱ ταράσσοντες ὑμᾶς καὶ θέλοντες μεταστρέψαι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Χριστοῦ
Paul’s preaches his HOT Topic to churches where the Apostle had brought the GOSPEL of the RESURRECTED CHRIST JESUS before. The Apostle once more preaches the same TRUE GOSPEL with urgency in the opening of his epistle to the Galatians.

ARE YOU CORRUPTED by some now preaching another gospel?

Galatians 1:

Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers who are with me,..

9 As we have said before, so now I say again:

If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God?

Or am I trying to please man?

If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
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Beloved believers,

Are YOU now trying to please men and women?
Does an easier gospel of some other preacher appeal to you?

HAVE YOU so soon turned from serving Jesus Christ as your Lord?
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Paul’s HOT topic to the 1st century Galatians is not to far removed from the contemporary saints of our 21st century churches.

The Gospel

IS OURS A TRUE GOSPEL OF CHRIST?

From the Apostle’s brief introduction:

the Lord Jesus Christ gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age…
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Certainly this should be GOOD NEWS to those who have not turned from JESUS our One True Savior.
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PAUL HAS PREACHED THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST!
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Does the shepherd of your church preach the GOSPEL OF CHRIST?

(euangelion christos, from the original Greek of New Testament Scripture)
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O, you foolish Galatians! Does your church embrace some other gospel than what the APOSTLES preached of CHRIST?

Servants of Sin or Faith?

(a choice between culture and Christ)
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YES, Jesus' Disciples, his half-brothers James and Jude, and many other Christians did NOT always get it even AFTER the Lord's resurrection.
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WE too may miss the Gospel of Christ when everyday culture confronts our everyday faith.
Roger@TalkofJesus.com

Galatians 2:

9b ..we [Paul and Barnabas] should go to the Gentiles and they [the Twelve and James] to the circumcised.
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This refers back to the Letter they brought to the Gentiles earlier from the Council in Jerusalem. BUT NOW, the clashes of culture slip back into the religion of religious leaders.
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Paul Opposes Peter
11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all,

“If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
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That's the real cultural issue isn't it?
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YOU can’t force YOUR RELIGION on anyone.

WE cannot serve Christ by denying Jesus as our Lord so that WE may fit into a culture turned away from grace and the Good News of God. THAT would be apostasy!

To be continued…
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NEXT: HOT topic #2 from the Apostle's epistle to the Galatians - Apostasy
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Talk of JESUS . com

Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
June 15, 2023