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Tag: galatians

Sanctification – saints washed in Christ’s Holiness
Sanctification occurs only 5-10 times in the New Testament, while “sanctify” occurs 70 times in 65 verses in the KJV throughout the Bible.

Doesn’t sanctification require someone or something to be ‘sanctified?’

What is sanctification?

How is it different since Christ Jesus?

Sanctification in the Old Testament

Moses on Sinai

Exodus 19 NKJV excerpt

And Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain..

‘Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant,

… ‘And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’

Exodus 19:3-6 except NKJV

So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes.

קָדַשׁ qâdash,

to be (causatively, make, pronounce or observe as) clean (ceremonially or morally):—appoint, bid, consecrate, dedicate, defile, hallow, (be, keep) holy(-er, place), keep, prepare, proclaim, purify, sanctify(-ied one, self),

Exodus 21:5-7

“Also let the priests who come near to Yahweh set H6942 themselves apart H6942 as H6942 holy H6942, lest Yahweh break out against them.”

And Moses said to Yahweh, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You [testified to] warned us, saying, ‘Set bounds about the mountain, and set H6942 it apart H6942 as H6942 holy H6942.’”

Exodus 19:22-23 LSB – noting H6942 meaning Sanctify or Hallow

שְׁמֹות (Exodus) 19 :: Masoretic Text

19:22 וְגַם הַכֹּהֲנִים הַנִּגָּשִׁים אֶל־יְהוָה יִתְקַדָּשׁוּ פֶּן־יִפְרֹץ בָּהֶם יְהוָה׃
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19:23 וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה אֶל־יְהוָה לֹא־יוּכַל הָעָם לַעֲלֹת אֶל־הַר סִינָי כִּי־אַתָּה הַעֵדֹתָה בָּנוּ לֵאמֹר הַגְבֵּל אֶת־הָהָר וְקִדַּשְׁתּוֹ׃
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Does this washing for holiness before God bring any sanctifying fear over you before facing the LORD your Maker?

An Old Testament Word

You may recognize the same word in a couple of important places in the Bible.

Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified H6942 it, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created in making it.

Genesis 2:3 LSB

זָכוֹר אֶת־יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת לְקַדְּשׁוֹ׃

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep H6942 it holy H6942.

Exodus 20:8 WLC, LSB
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AND perhaps like me, you recall a similar sanctification from the Word of the Gospels. 
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Pray then like this:
Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Matthew 6:9 RSV

Sanctification then prepares unholy sinners to face the Most Holy.

Sanctification in the New Testament

The A.D. first century Greek verb Jesus and the Apostles use is hagiazō.
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verb - From ἅγιος (G40) adjective (most holy thing, a saint) 
- From hagos adjective (an awful thing) [cf ἁγνός (G53) adjective, properly, clean, i.e. (figuratively) innocent, modest, perfect:—chaste, clean, pure. 
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- to render or acknowledge, or to be venerable or hallow
- to separate from profane things and dedicate to God
- to purify
  - to cleanse externally
  - to purify by expiation: free from the guilt of sin
  - to purify internally by renewing of the soul
    
    Strong’s G37 – hagiazō
The Apostle Paul, in referring to a long list of sins of the Corinthians writes:

And such were some of you; but you were washed,

but you were sanctified G37,

but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

1 Corinthians 6:11 LSB

Therefore, dear chosen of Christ Jesus, do you see yourself as:

a most holy thing, a saint ?

The A.D. first century Greek adjective of the same root is hagios.

Are YOU a HOLY Saint of JESUS Christ, therefore sanctified to Him in your mortal AND eternal life?

Sanctified saints

“For their sake I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

Gospel of John 17:20 LSB

In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting for God, for whom and through whom all things exist, to make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.

For both the One who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.

Hebrews 2:10-11 BSB

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

John 17:17 CSB – Jesus’ prayer for disciples

Sanctification of children learning to walk in Christ

To the saints in Galatia:

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

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?

Paul’s letter (epistle) to the Galatians 4:8-9 ESV

To the saint sitting with you in church:

In conclusion, the best way to examine some of the jargon of Scripture like anointed, consecrated, sanctified, justified and holiness is in prayerful time in the Bible itself.

How better to explain sanctification (or any ‘Christian’ jargon) to a new child of the faith with whom you worship than with Biblical text?
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READ any of the links provided in the Scriptures above. 

OR For more on the topic of Sanctification you may search it here on TalkofJESUS.com OR simply read the earlier post below with my closing thought. 
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Sanctification – a refining of our holiness in Christ

For this is the will of God, your sanctification.. For God did not call us to impurity,

but in sanctification.

Consequently, he who sets this aside is not setting aside man

but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

1 Thessalonians 4:3a, (3b-6 short list of our impurity) 7-8 LSB

~A.D. 51 – Paul writes to encourage the Thessalonian Church
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A look back from 2025 CE to an earlier look at Sanctification
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Paul’s unfinished encouragement of the Thessalonians

Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel
February 8, 2025
NO Divisions in our Church ?
I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other.

Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.
1 Corinthians 1:10 New Living Translation

‘IMPOSSIBLE !’ you say. Impossible in Corinth.. and certainly impossible in our local Common Era Church.

This is the challenge of the Apostle in his exhortation for the Corinthians who Paul has addressed so graciously in his introduction.

1 Corinthians 1 – 4

The Apostle’s approach, translated variously in 1 Corinthians 1:10 sets both the tone and outline of his epistle:
- Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.. – KJV
- Now I plead with you.. – NKJV
- I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ.. – NLT
- Now I urge you, brothers and sisters.. – CSB
- Now I exhort you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you.. – 1 Cor 10a LSB
παρακαλέω – parakaleō – Lexicon :: Strong’s G3870 – parakaleō
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to call near, i.e. invite, invoke (by imploration, hortation or consolation):—beseech, call for, (be of good) comfort, desire, (give) exhort(-ation), intreat, pray.
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How to sustain a CHURCH in the Gospel

Paul loves these people of the Corinthian church to whom the apostle writes from Ephesus.

He is beholden to this church he started across the Aegean in a city embracing every imaginable sin – Corinth, where many Greeks and some Jews received the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit through his witness.

SO HOW IS PAUL TO APPROACH THESE CORINTHIANS SIMPLY BY SENDING A LETTER TO THEIR CHURCH?

Corinth is a large administrative capital where important policies of ROME must be managed wisely every day.

Even well-educated Roman Centurions and well-to-do families recognized the benefits of applying a Greek-style wisdom and logic to the goals of their everyday lives.

The Jews and their religious traditions have an acceptable presence in Corinth as well.
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ANSWER:
"The Wisdom of the Cross Purifies and Unites Believers, the Wisdom of the World Pollutes and Divides." 
- Kress Biblical Resources Overview Outline of 
1 Corinthians
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The Wisdom of the Cross
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TODAY we will examine Paul's initial approach ONLY from the beginning of 1 Corinthians.
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The Apostle will address more relationships of Christians and the CROSS later in his epistle, but Paul begins with the ROLES of certain people (ministers).

The wisdom of the cross and Christian ministers
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Problem #1
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For I have been informed concerning you, my brothers, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you.
1 Corinthians 1:11 LSB

Rumor?

Hearsay?

YOU heard THAT about OUR church?

A.D. 55 – the Corinthian Church

What is evident here is that the Apostle has been and is in communication with this church he started back in Corinth. His sources are both reliable and concerned for the right outcomes of their church ministry.
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Kress Biblical Resources provides a helpful outline of Paul's approach to this problem of CHURCH QUARRELS.

The Apostles first states
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- the report of divisions over Christian ministers, THEN
- rebukes their divisions over Christian ministers, and finally
- Paul provides the remedy for divisions over Christian ministers
ἔρις quarrels

BEWARE, Christian leader (minister), these divisions could divide and conquer a church once faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ.
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ἔρις éris, er'-is; of uncertain affinity; a quarrel, i.e. (by implication) wrangling:—contention, debate, strife, variance.
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Note the gravity of some headings from 1 Corinthians:
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- Sectarianism Is Sin – NKJV
- Divisions in the Church – ESV
- Taking Sides – Contemporary English Version
- A Church Divided Over Leaders – NIV
A.D. 49 – Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians

Paul, in writing to the Galatians six years ago back in A.D. 49 included the same Greek word, translated as ‘strife,’ in a list of what NOT to do.

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Paul’s Letter to the Galatians 5:19-21 LSB

Whether is was the ‘foolish‘ Galatians, these Corinthians or YOUR CHURCH, quarreling and strife are serious challenges of the flesh which work against ministers of the Gospel.

Paul contrasts OUR expected behavior to such foolish quarrels.

Now those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Galatians 5:24 LSB

1 Corinthians 1:10-

Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 1:12 NKJV

https://talkofjesus.com/apollos-and-paul-apostles-crossing-paths

Note Paul’s list from divisions include Christ in addition to Peter and Apollos, the powerful preacher who had followed Paul in Corinth.

The Apostle then asks:
- Has Christ been divided?
- Was Paul crucified for you?
- Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
ALL with the same implication for Peter or Apollos or whatever PREACHER they might follow in the place of CHRIST.

Paul disavows any loyalty to any other than Christ, taking no side of any Corinthian (or any other) claimant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul’s summary of the Corinthian Report

I thank God that I baptized none of you…

Paul mentions a recalled exception [v.14] of Crispus, Gaius, and [v.16] also the household of Stephanas which mentions later in his epistle.

For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom or words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

gar christos apostellō me ou baptizō alla euangelizō ou en sophia logo ina mē ho stauros christos kenoō
1 Corinthians 1:17 οὐ γὰρ ἀπέστειλέν με Χριστὸς βαπτίζειν ἀλλ᾽ εὐαγγελίζεσθαι οὐκ ἐν σοφίᾳ λόγου ἵνα μὴ κενωθῇ ὁ σταυρὸς τοῦ Χριστοῦ

Again, the context of Corinth is Greek as an international language and philosophy of an authoritarian ROMAN EMPIRE which created the culture of the Corinthians and Judeans and everybody else.

NEXT, God-willing, the Apostle’s rebuke of ministers

Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel
June 15, 2024
Letters from Proselytes of Galatia to Paul
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Premise: The Apostle Paul likely received one or several letters to which the Apostle responds with Epistles to several churches and certain important persons.
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Who wrote to the Apostle Paul?

Think about this —

Paul and other Apostles come into your town or city, proclaim some Good News, build a church of Christ followers, establish some local leaders. AND then after some time these missionaries leave to go somewhere else into all the world.

ACTS of the Apostles details some of these encounters which occur after numerous encouraging visits of various apostles sent out to them.

Apostles Sent to the Gentiles with a Letter of the Council

Many apostles and letters communicate Good News of one faith in Christ for all the world.

Although we have no preserved documentation of any messages or letters delivered to the Apostle from the Gentiles, I suspect that Paul perceives a crisis of faith in the churches of Galatia — a crisis conveyed to him by faithful disciples of the risen Christ and perhaps even believers considering IF they should abandon The Way of the Lord for a more prevalent cultural Judaism.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

The Apostles, including the Twelve and Paul, James and other church leaders communicate in person and by messenger by the Spirit who has sent them out into each mission.

Who are the Galatians?

In Paul’s day, the word Galatia had two distinct meanings. In a strict ethnic sense, Galatia was the region of central Asia Minor (modern Turkiye) .. a Celtic people who had migrated to that region from Gaul (modern France) .. (in) 25 B.C. when Galatia became a Roman province, incorporating some regions not inhabited by ethnic Galatians (e.g., parts of Lycaonia, Phrygia, and Pisidia). In a political sense, Galatia came to describe the entire Roman province, not merely the region inhabited by the ethnic Galatians.

Paul founded churches in the southern Galatian cities of Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe (Acts 13:14–14:23).
Commentary of John MacArthur – BlueLetterBible.org
You will recognize these Galatian cities from Paul's early missions into all the world.
WHY did Paul write to the Galatians?

Regardless of who founded any of the Galatian cities in the A.D. first century Roman Empire, every town had an ethnic challenge common to all churches established by the apostles in every Roman province.

Proselytes – Judaizers fleeing Persecution for the Cross of Christ

The covenantal culture of the Jews opposed the pagan practices of peoples of other cultures. SO the Jews insisted on certain traditional identifications of Jewish men such as circumcision.
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Who are these proselytes?
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Even as Paul, Barnabas, Silas and other apostles had encountered opposition from Jews seeking their own disciples, so had the Lord Jesus.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
Gospel of Matthew 23: 15 LSB
The Lord Jesus Christ describes the culture of Judaizers rejecting their own Messiah

An Apostolic Urgency to Write to the Galatians

PAUL must urgently address the concerns of those men in Galatia struggling in the faith

AND like all Christians, pursued by the Jews.

TWO QUESTIONS HERE:
- WHO represents the earthly authority of GOD?
- IF it is CHRIST, what is PAUL’s authority over the JEW and non-Jew?
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Later, I will get to a Twenty-first century C.E. challenge
of this AUTHORITY in Christ which has now challenged the Church for some 500 years.
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How will the Apostle answer?

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”
Galatians 5:1 KJV

Galatians 1 – Paul’s Authority
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The Apostle begins his Epistle to the Galatians by firmly establishing his authority and leadership of the churches.
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Paul, an apostle—not sent from men
- nor through man,
- but through Jesus Christ
- and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead—
- and all the brothers who are with me,
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Pretty convincing.

Paul opens fire against familiar enemies of Christ (Judaizers).
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6 I marvel that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel, which is really not another, only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
- Paul clearly states that the Galatians must choose:
  - – between him as a representative of God the Father and Christ Jesus OR
  - – teachers of a false and distorted gospel
    
    (which is not good news but a Jewish tradition chained to the Law and regulations of the flesh).
Paul defends not only his credentials and calling by Christ, but once more presents his case of Christ’s freedom to these gentile believers caught between the Gospel and the yoke of the Judaizers.

2:17 But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be!

I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.
Galatians 2:21 LSB
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PAUL goes straight to the QUESTION of deceitful men claiming a GOSPEL other than Christ crucified and risen -- Judaizers seeking to lure these Galatian Christ-followers back to a Law of social Judaism. 
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3 O foolish Galatians, who bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?

THEN the Apostle clearly asks these men of the church a key QUESTION of their calling.

2 This is the only thing I want to learn from you:

Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law,

or by hearing with faith?

“The righteous shall live by faith.”

What does Paul seek to prove here refuting Judaizers requiring circumcision of gentile proselytes?

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying,

“All the nations will be blessed in you.”
Galatians 3:8 LSB

The Apostle QUOTES Hebrew SCRIPTURE from BEFORE the LAW.

From Genesis 22:

22:18 וְהִתְבָּרֲכוּ בְזַרְעֲךָ כֹּל גּוֹיֵי הָאָרֶץ עֵקֶב אֲשֶׁר שָׁמַעְתָּ בְּקֹלִי׃
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 “By Myself I have sworn, declares Yahweh, because you have done this thing and have not spared your son, your only one, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies.

“In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have listened to My voice.”
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LATER comes THE LAW of Moses by which the Christ was crucified on a Cross as a redemptive Sacrifice for our sins. (It was NOT ONLY for the Jews, but for ALL the seed of Abraham — every sinner.

The Apostle makes further legal arguments and adds an allegory comparing:
- Ishmael & Isaac
- flesh & promise
- Hagar & Sarah,
- Jerusalem and Mount Sanai and slavery,
- Moses & Christ
- the Jerusalem above and freedom. (Study its juxtaposition if you like.)
The Apostle’s closing argument
1. 5:4 You have been severed from Christ, you who are being justified by law; you have fallen from grace!
2. For we through the Spirit, by faith, are eagerly waiting for the hope of righteousness.
3. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.
Faith Reformed in Fact

Jewish faith — to Christian faith — to Scriptural faith informed in the Good News of the Word of God…

Who has believed our message?

The Galatians and every other culture encountered by the Apostles —

~ ano Domini 49 – 50

~ A.D. 49 Paul has just written to the Galatians out of the Apostle’s concern for their failing faith being replaced by a false gospel.
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NEXT: Paul will also write to the THESSALONIANS out of his same love for the children of Christ Jesus the Apostles have led so far.
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WHERE could other gospels lead these Christian flocks of the Empires?

A fall of Rome, a division with an Orthodox New Rome (Constantinople) and Western father of Bishops and Princes competing for pawns of populace.

New temples built as CATHEDRALS for poor pilgrims to look up to God and well-mannered robed men who could actually READ the Holy Bible of God…

And then printing presses and challenges by Reformers pointing to Scripture in place of the yoke of Law and even Church law.

In my heart reigns this one article, faith in my dear Lord Christ, the beginning, middle and end of whatever spiritual and divine thoughts I may have, whether by day or by night.
From Luther’s Introduction, ano domini 1538

THEN what should happen in yet another 500 years once common men and women of the Common Era COULD (yet did not) actually READ the BIBLE?

a brief application …

My HOT reaction to a 1st. c. Hot Topic

Talk of JESUS .com

Comment on Scripture + Share the Gospel
January 26, 2024