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Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us Eph 3:20 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Tuesday, November 18, 2025
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :Infiltration in the Jerusalem Church (Galatians #12) Bible Verse:Galatians 2:3-5 (DP Bible) "All my concerns were, thankfully, illusory. Peter, James, and John, the pillars of the Jerusalem church, all offered me their right hands in brotherhood. Nobody even asked that Titus be circumcised (he being a Greek) although there was a group of people who tried to suggest it. These were phony Christians who had wormed their way into the Jerusalem church to spy on it, hoping to despoil the freedom we have found in Christ and divert us back towards slavery. 5 But it didn’t work. We did not yield an inch to these impostors. We preserved God’s word for you, unadulterated. " Message:
Paul delivered his revealed Gospel to the church leaders of Jerusalem and they approved of it wholeheartedly. Paul has, independent of them, promulgated a theology and factual background that is completely in accordance with their own. Not that it is identical; the theology of Paul often has a markedly different emphasis than the letters of the three men mentioned here. But Paul tells us that there was no point of dispute, and we hear no point of dispute from any of them in their own epistles.
Roosters fighting from illuminated Bible
An interesting side note here is the anecdote about Titus, who was Greek and not circumcised. The issue of whether Christians would have to be Jewish was hotly contested for many decades, until the issue was put to rest, once and for all, by the Council of Jerusalem. A full history appears in Acts 15.
In fact, this is going to beget extensive discussion in Galatians, leading to one of Paul’s most primary theological tenets: the primacy of faith in salvation. He begins to stir the sola fides (faith alone) pot in these early verses, by pointing out that the Judeo-Christian apostles of Jerusalem did not ask that Titus be circumcised — circumcision being the critical outward mark of the Hebrew covenant.
The Apostle Paul
Rembrandt 1657 The Apostle Paul Rembrandt 1657 But circumcision was a big issue with the enemies of Christ, i.e. the Sanhedrin — the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jerusalem. From their point of view, the followers of Christ were a heretical Jewish sect based on a blasphemy: that Jesus was the Son of God. And as part of their campaign to stifle the heresy, they sent secret agents to be baptized and feign conversion, no doubt to report back to them and to engage in provocation. One of their tactics was to provoke the Judaizers: those who wanted circumcision as a prerequisite for acceptance into the Christian church. Paul will clarify exactly what he means by “diverting us back into slavery” as the epistle progresses. In a word, he viewed Judaism as a dead end. The law of Moses was given only to show men that they could not be free of sin by their actions. Trying to follow the law was futile, and was intended to be such by God. Once the Jews were able to realize this fact, by trying to live under the law and failing, they would be ready for the freedom that Christ’s grace provided. To follow to the law, thus, was to be a slave to sin; and to return to Judaism after Christ’s resurrection was equivalent to a freed slave seeking out his old chains. Meditation : “I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish He didn’t trust me so much.” ~ Mother Theresa Prayer : May I go in peace, with God and with his other children, and may we love one another as Christ taught us. May I follow the example of good saints of old, and may God comfort and help me and all who believe in Him, both in this world and in the world which is to come. Amen. |
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