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Tag: galatians

Stand fast therefore in the liberty
It’s Memorial Day (celebrated holiday in the not-so-united States).

Flags for freedom flown for feasting leaders of the free world or drawn to half staff for some politically offensive act of violence by an ungodly man.

Hardly a memorial to any who have died for the freedom of any man or woman who suffers the ravages of war and injustice in an evil world of the year of our Lord 2022.

Therefore, claimer of Christ, communicant of the Church, Evangelical Patriot who claims the crusade of christian UNDER GOD, it must be US who have failed in our pursuit of freedom, liberty and most of all righteousness as an example to our fellow man (that is, creating being in the image of the Lord God).

Letter of Paul to the Church at Galatia (1st c. A.D.)

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 NKJV

A Question to ‘christians’

I ask YOU,
- ‘evangelical christian’
- roman catholic
- orthodox christ claimant
- liberal tolerant lover of anyone of the world
I ask you the same question as Paul asked the Jews in first century Galatia:

For once YOU ran well.

Who hindered you from obeying the truth?
Galatians 5:7 NKJV

Paul speaks to the Jews of his day, but his question about freedom applies to US, WE THE PEOPLE who use GOD and claim CHRIST in those times when it is most politically expedient to claim TRUTH.

The Truth of Freedom

Although men and women may fight for it, be maimed by it, flee from it and even die for it; liberty and freedom have little to do with ever-changing currents of political action in places of providential blessing or demonic deference to rule of some despot.

God in Christ Jesus calls any who would run this race of mortal – yes MORTAL, not immortal LIFE – to not again be yoked in the slavery of sin.

For you were called to be free, brothers and sisters; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love.
Galatians 5:13 Christian Standard Bible

For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement:

Love your neighbor as yourself.

But if you bite and devour one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.
Galatians 5:15 CSB

Are WE THE PEOPLE truly ‘ONE NATION under god’ in the Common Era of error led by sinful man recreating US in the image of resconstructed truth?
Roger@TalkofJESUS.com

Do WE THE PEOPLE truly believe, in A.D. [the year of our Lord] 2022:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident,
- all men are created..
- that certain ‘rights’ are endowed by their Creator
- That the ‘Bill of Rights’ forbids Congress from both promoting one religion over others NOT promoting FREEDOM FROM RELIGION?
The basis of law is the LAW of God.

A CLAIM under GOD.

WE THE PEOPLE may not memorialize evil as we no longer as a NATION stand faithful anymore than ISRAEL could still claim covenant which they broke long before the REDEMPTION by CHRIST JESUS, the Son of GOD WHO was and IS and will judge all men.

Orthodox? Catholic? Evangelical?

As in Galatia, our CLAIM to Christ is not enough.

Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar.
I am warning you about these things — as I warned you before — that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19-21 CSB

24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Thank God Almighty that we are FREE — FREE at last in Christ Jesus.

“Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?
The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ from Mark 8:18
May 30, 2022
Who is this Saul, Apostle to the Gentiles?
“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

Saul: a Jew of Some Reputation

We are familiar with Saul the first King of Israel, ultimately killed in battle then replaced by David. – שָׁאוּל

His Hebrew name šā’ûl means ‘desired,‘ however Saul of Tarsus was not the ‘hebrew of hebrews’ that any follower of The Way currently wants to meet.

A brilliant and well-educated man under the tutelage of Judah’s most respected Rabbi, Saul was an up-and-coming leader bound for greatness in the eyes of all of the sanhedrin. A keen observer of their political and religious tutelage, Saul seized his potential claim to fame just as the Apostles had disrupted all Jerusalem.

Saul: Witness at the Stoning of Stephen

ACTS 7 HNV

“Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed at him with one accord. They threw him out of the city, and stoned him.

The witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man named Sha’ul.

They stoned Stephen as he called out, saying,

“Lord Yeshua, receive my Spirit!”

He kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them!” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

It had been some scene!

That was the day many disciples began fleeing Jerusalem and now, this Saul of Tarsus pursues them in hopes of more trials and executions like that of Stephen.

Damascus Road: Witness into all the World

Acts of Saul in Damascus

Click for English, Ukrainian & Russian translations of Деяния 9

10 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”

And the Lord said to him,

“Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.”
ACTS 9:11-12 NASB – The Word of the Lord to Ananias in a vision

We have already witnessed the Apostles laying hands on people who then received healing. This disciple of Jesus, Ananias, may have witnessed such signs or perhaps even the stoning of Stephen.
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At this time Peter stood up among the brothers and sisters (a group of about 120 people were there together), and said,
Acts of the Apostles 1:15

“Lord, I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on Your name.”

Do you fear a high official of the priestly court who has authority to murder you?

Of course you do; but it is the Lord speaking in a vision to this saint in Damascus.

15 But the Lord said to him,

“Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer in behalf of My name.”
ACTS of the Apostles 9:15-16 – The word of the Lord to Ananias

Ananias anoints Saul

So Ananias departed and entered the house,

He placed his hands on him and said,

“Brother Saul,

the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road you were traveling, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

OBEDIENCE to the Lord! on the part of Ananias.

The Lord says, GO, and he goes to Saul. And though he has good reason to fear him, Ananias fears the Lord more. He also addresses Saul as ‘brother.’ [Click here to see the embrace of this greeting to the saints.]

18 And immediately something like fish scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight,

and he got up and was baptized; and he took food and was strengthened.

Saul: Now I can see!

Савл проповедует в Дамаске
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Савл провел несколько дней с учениками в Дамаске

²⁰Immediately he began proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues:

Yeshua is the Son of God.
ACTS of the Apostles 9:20b, Complete Jewish Bible – Proclamation of Saul of Tarsus

You have to picture this NEW witness of Saul

.. in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying,

“Isn’t this the man in Jerusalem who was causing havoc for those who called on this name and came here for the purpose of taking them as prisoners to the chief priests?”

But Saul grew stronger and kept confounding the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.
Acts of the Apostle Saul 9:22

Many Days – Saul some three years later..

Luke records a little more of Saul’s conversion story in ACTS of the Apostles 9; however his reference to later readers some three decades later begins, ‘ὡς δὲ ἐπληροῦντο..’ that is: ‘When many days had elapsed..’

Saul, later records in his letter to the church in Galatia:

but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus.

Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him for fifteen days.
Paul’s letter to the Galatians 1:17b [above] & 18 NASB20
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ACTS of the Apostles - To be continued...
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February 28, 2022
Free?

How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

We are slaves to our past. We are slaves to our culture. We are slaves to our traditions.

“I was born (Hispanic, Asian, black, white… whatever excuse.)”

The Pharisees were proud of being born Hebrew; proud of their Jewish past. In fact, they were slaves of their past, culture and traditions. Like many of us, they were slaves of their sin.

They were under the rule and slavery of Rome, who granted Jews (for a time as was politically expedient) a measure of freedom to worship and live as they were accustomed. Like us, they did not realize that they were slaves of God’s providence and timing – God’s circumstances for application and witness of faith through difficulty.

Jews were so proud to have escaped the slavery of Egypt, that they did not recognize the slavery of their own disobedience to ‘elohiym hä·yä hä·yä – Yĕhovah Yĕhovah.

Yet their lives under the slavery of Rome required continual compromise of their freedom. These righteous rulers of the people slipped more and more into sin until they no longer had relationship with Almighty God.

The Temple was no longer a place of truth. The worship of God had become as false as the faith of the Pharisees.

Then God, Who had been silent since the days of the Prophets, returned to the Temple in the Person of Christ Jesus.

John 8:

“Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

“You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world…”

The Truth Will Set You Free

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave[b] to sin.35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Jesus is LORD. But is Jesus lord over YOUR LIFE?

Have you slipped into the sin of your past… just as the Pharisees? Are you bound to the slavery of our sins?

Two Christian sisters have pointed out this week their deep sorrow over the addictions of loved ones to heroin. (It would not have to be heroin, though we realize more the inevitable consequence.) It could be gambling, or beer, booze or wine. It could be cigarettes or over-eating. It could be pornography or partying with the sexual sin of the world.

And worst of all for our witness of Christ (just like the Pharisees), we may at the same time CLAIM to be Christians.

42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God.The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

We seek the sin that will satisfy in the shadows of darkness and self-delusion. To continue in sin is to have sin shackle you.

Romans 6

English Standard Version (ESV)

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

6 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

Why do christians so easily return to our chains of addictions to the sins of our worldly past? — a life of slavery? — before Christ Jesus freed us by His Blood of the Cross?

Galatians 5

English Standard Version (ESV)

Christ Has Set Us Free

5 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions,divisions, 21 envy,[d] 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.

Is Jesus your Lord?

OR Is your sin your lord?

What is the TRUTH?

John 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

PRAY for those yet chained to the sins and addictions of their past.

1 Peter 2:16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.

October 2, 2013