Snoopy Grapples with Galatians
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So here in the first line he states that the Gospel preached was not from Man ----it was not received by Man or taught by Man ---it was by the Revelation of Jesus Christ ---
This is a powerful statement here ------Why ---because Many today preach their own man made gospel not the revelation given by Jesus Christ -----who is the Word ---
Paul is telling them his story of how God called him by His Grace and that he was set apart in the womb to be an apostle -----
God already had certain People picked before they were born to do His will and to bring about His plan as He wanted it to unfold -----and that plan is still playing out today ----
Paul realizes that he didn't just decide to change his heart ---ways and mind by himself ----it was by the Grace of God that he changed ----God intervened in Paul's life to put him in the role God wanted him to be in ---It was God driven not human driven
Today we have grandiose thinking that we can change our hearts --mind and ways all by ourselves without needing God ----
Paul understood that he did not earn this title of Apostle before God ---it was given to him by God's Grace and all he did was Receive it -----
Paul was raised by God for this position -----God allowed Paul to be in opposition to Him ---God allowed Paul to persecute and go after God's Chosen Nation even though Paul himself was a Jew ----God allowed him to have his way ----Until the Right time came for him to fulfill God's Will and Plan to get the Gentiles grafted into His Saving Plan for all -----
Today God still allows us to have our way ----to choose our own path ----to keep our hearts hardened to His call ----to persecute others ----etc ----we are our own keepers of peace or destruction ----we choose our own paths and God allows us to do that -----
We have a Choice unlike Paul who was destined for his role ---we can choose eternal life or eternal death ---and God Agapes us in our choice --
This is a powerful statement here ------Why ---because Many today preach their own man made gospel not the revelation given by Jesus Christ -----who is the Word ---
Paul is telling them his story of how God called him by His Grace and that he was set apart in the womb to be an apostle -----
God already had certain People picked before they were born to do His will and to bring about His plan as He wanted it to unfold -----and that plan is still playing out today ----
Paul realizes that he didn't just decide to change his heart ---ways and mind by himself ----it was by the Grace of God that he changed ----God intervened in Paul's life to put him in the role God wanted him to be in ---It was God driven not human driven
Today we have grandiose thinking that we can change our hearts --mind and ways all by ourselves without needing God ----
Paul understood that he did not earn this title of Apostle before God ---it was given to him by God's Grace and all he did was Receive it -----
Paul was raised by God for this position -----God allowed Paul to be in opposition to Him ---God allowed Paul to persecute and go after God's Chosen Nation even though Paul himself was a Jew ----God allowed him to have his way ----Until the Right time came for him to fulfill God's Will and Plan to get the Gentiles grafted into His Saving Plan for all -----
Today God still allows us to have our way ----to choose our own path ----to keep our hearts hardened to His call ----to persecute others ----etc ----we are our own keepers of peace or destruction ----we choose our own paths and God allows us to do that -----
We have a Choice unlike Paul who was destined for his role ---we can choose eternal life or eternal death ---and God Agapes us in our choice --
paradox3
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To reflect on this passage . . .
It could be suggesting we trust more in our personal relationship with the divine and not rely on human beings.
How then do we know when we need the discernment others can offer us? Especially if we trust that the Holy Spirit works within or among us?
Looking for reactions or personal experiences here. I don't think there are necessarily right or wrong answers.
It could be suggesting we trust more in our personal relationship with the divine and not rely on human beings.
How then do we know when we need the discernment others can offer us? Especially if we trust that the Holy Spirit works within or among us?
Looking for reactions or personal experiences here. I don't think there are necessarily right or wrong answers.
unsafe
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Not quite sure how to answer your Question here because Spiritual discernment is a Gift of the indwelling of Holy Spirit and the person has to pray for the gift of Spiritual discernment -----
In Scripture having the gift of Spiritual discernment gives the believer perception and understanding of Spiritual truths and to be able to distinguish the difference in Spirits --
This is what Strong's Concordance says --Greek word for discern
Usage: The term "diakrisis" refers to the ability to distinguish or discern between different things, often in a spiritual or moral context. It involves the capacity to evaluate and make judgments about what is true, right, or beneficial, particularly in matters of faith and practice.
Psalm 119:125 AMPC
125 I am Your servant; give me understanding (discernment and comprehension), that I may know (discern and be familiar with the character of) Your testimonies.This is the Cambridge Dictionary for Discernment
the ability to judge people and things well:
It's clear that you are a person of discernment.
So the meanings are a little different -----cause one is judging Spiritual things of God and one is judging the person and things ---i assume in this Physical world ----????
Maybe you can clarify your question a bit ---??
On one missionary journey Dr. Luke was a missiojnary companion of Paul. Though he reveres Paul, there is one instance where Luke faults Paul for not recognizing prophetic discernment:
"Through the Spirit, they [the disciples at Tyre] warned Paul not to go to Jerusalem (Acts 2 0:4)."
Here Luke clearly laments Paul's refusal to obey the Holy Spirit's guidance. Luke ends his book without reporting Paul's martyrdom under Nero in Rome, a martyrdom that resulted from his disobedient trip to Judea, where he is arrested. In my view, Luke omits reporting Paul's martyrdom in protest because he believes Paul would have had several more years of effective ministry if he had obeyed the Spirit's warning. I consider Paul the most spiritually effective miissionary who ever lived, but he was not perfect!
The latter. Paul is determined to make a triumphal return to Jerusalem and insists that he is ready to die for Christ if his return trip leads to his arrest.
unsafe
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Well I can use my experience before my conversion ----when I had an identity in my house ---and crazy things were happening and I really didn't believe in hauntings ----so I had to seek out a Spiritual person to ask if they could explain what was going on ------
I can give you a poor judgment case in the Scripture ---Abraham taking his nephew Lot with him when God told him to go and leave his family ---and a bad thing happened to Lot and his wife ----If Abraham had of went to a Spiritual person or prayed for Spiritual advice he might have not taken Lot with him and could have saved himself a lot of grief and hardship ----
We make rash decisions without thinking about the Consequences ----- and a discerned person could give some good spiritual advice to avoid disaster in the outcome of that rash decision ====
Paul's transformation from top persecutor to sold-out apostle makes his blinding light conversion and call by the risen Jesus to be an apostle to the Gentiles more convincing as a witnessing tool.Hey everybody, thanks for joining Snoopy's bible study. A very worthwhile discussion is shaping up here. I always appreciate it when this happens.
Galatians 1: 11-17
Bible Gateway passage: Galatians 1:11-17 - New English Translation
Paul’s Vindication of His Apostleship - Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. For I did not receive it or learn it from any human source; instead I received it by a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former way of life...www.biblegateway.com
Paul emphasizes the divine origin of his faith in Jesus. And he discusses his former way of life. He relates that God set him apart from his birth and revealed the Son to him.
Many, including Jesus' disciples initially thought Paul's conversion story was just a ploy to locate more Christians for arrest.
Barnabas has to accompany Paul to Jerusalem to vouch for Paul's sincerity and the genuineness of his apostolic call.
Paul's transition from persecutor to full-time apostle takes 3 years, a time spent in the desert of "Arabia", where he seems to need time to meditate on his future like Jesus in the wilderness. Then after a brief failed effort at witnessing in Judea, Paul gets discouraged, quits, and returns to his home town of Tarsus.
We might have no Pauline epistles and therefore no NT IF Barnabas didn't come to the rescue once aqain. Barnabas tracks Paul down in Tarsus, persuades him to come with him to Antioch for discipling, and then the 2 of them launch out on Paul's first highly successful missionary journey.
paradox3
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Fascinating story I have stumbled into here! I read Acts after the gospels but never attempted any threads about it. I found the material quite dry and not very engaging.
I had a minister at the time who recommended tackling the epistles after the gospels. So here were are
I had a minister at the time who recommended tackling the epistles after the gospels. So here were are
unsafe
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Just to clarify it was Acts 21:4 rather than 20:4
On to Jerusalem
21 After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Kos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara. 2We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail. 3 After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo.4 We sought out the disciples there and stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem
I say -----It is amazing that someone as Spiritual as Paul refused to listen to good Spiritual advice -----bad decisions without discernment will lead you into disaster situations
BetteTheRed
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I just had a revelation.
The orthodox/traditional/trinitarian has Jesus as the second of the Trinity, so if Paul received his message straight from Jesus, would Paul not have the same status in Christianity as Mohammed does in Islam - a straight pipeline to the divine?
The orthodox/traditional/trinitarian has Jesus as the second of the Trinity, so if Paul received his message straight from Jesus, would Paul not have the same status in Christianity as Mohammed does in Islam - a straight pipeline to the divine?
In orthodox Christian thinking, Paul's considered just a follower and servant of Jesus. His having met Jesus, and his writings, don't equate him to Jesus' divine status.
In Islam, Muhammad's considered the final prophet and a direct pipeline to the divine because Muslims believe he received the final revelation from God through the angel Gabriel, which constitutes the Qur'an
paradox3
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Galatians 1: 18-24
www.biblegateway.com
After three years, Paul went up to Jerusalem where he saw Cephas and James, the brother of Jesus. Afterwards he went to Syria and Cilicia.
He was unknown to the churches of Judea. But they marvelled that the one who once persecuted them was now proclaiming the good news of the faith.
They glorified God because of him.
Bible Gateway passage: Galatians 1:18-24 - New English Translation
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and get information from him, and I stayed with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. I assure you that, before God, I am not lying about what I am writing to you! Afterward I went to...
After three years, Paul went up to Jerusalem where he saw Cephas and James, the brother of Jesus. Afterwards he went to Syria and Cilicia.
He was unknown to the churches of Judea. But they marvelled that the one who once persecuted them was now proclaiming the good news of the faith.
They glorified God because of him.
BetteTheRed
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(f) Galatians 1:19 tn Grk “But another of the apostles I did not see, except…” with “another” in emphatic position in the Greek text. Paul is determined to make the point that his contacts with the original twelve apostles and other leaders of the Jerusalem church were limited, thus asserting his independence from them.
";I assure you that, before God, I am not lying about what I am writing to you!" Why us Paul so defensive? Well, his Jewish critics note that Paul never followed Jesus during His earthly ministry and never had a resurrection vision of Jesus during the time frame of the disciples' visions. So they object to Paul's claims to be an apostle on an equal footing with the 12. So Paul uses the time gaps in his trios to Jerusalem to stress the independence of his apostolic ministry from the disciples, which means he is is not their subordinate. He continues this defense in chap. 2.Galatians 1: 18-24
Bible Gateway passage: Galatians 1:18-24 - New English Translation
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and get information from him, and I stayed with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. I assure you that, before God, I am not lying about what I am writing to you! Afterward I went to...
After three years, Paul went up to Jerusalem where he saw Cephas and James, the brother of Jesus. Afterwards he went to Syria and Cilicia.
Pzul invokes his transformation from perseccutor to apostolic ministry as evidence of his conversion. But to justify his status as an apostle to the Gentiles, he presents hiimself as the new Jeremiah by applying language to himself from this prophet's call in Jeremiah 1:5-10. Like Jeremiah, Paul was "called to be a prophet to the nations/ Gentiles before he was in his mother's womb." And like Jeremiah, Paul elsewhere claims authority for "buidling up and tearing down," though Paul wants to focus primarily on building up. Paul (Saul) is listed among ther prophets of Antioch before his apostolic ministry gets fully underway (aee Acts 13:1).
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