Did Paul Bring a Better Gospel Than Jesus? #2

Fred R. Coulter—December 20, 2008

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A lot of people believe that you don't have to keep anything in the Old Testament because that's all fulfilled, and that even the Gospels you don't have to believe anything there because Jesus only preached to the Jews and it's not for anybody else.

They say, 'We have a gospel of grace and love that we get out of the Epistles of Paul. What they do is that they 'slice and dice' the New Testament even more than before. This is really one of the doctrines of Protestantism that is going to throw it into the 'death throws.' Here's one of the Scriptures they use.

Romans 15:8: "Now, I tell you that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the Truth of God, so that He might confirm the promises given to the fathers." There it is; 'anything He said was only to the Jews,' including repentance and baptism. Therefore, you don't have to do it. But if you read the next verse:

Verse 9: "And that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, exactly as it is written…" We've already covered that. This is just in review so we can set the stage for what we're going to cover today. Here's one that they read, Eph. 3. It's going to really be something when we read this. Here is a perfect example of tunnel vision. You read what you want to read, you pick out what you want to pick out and you leave all of the rest.

They don't believe everything that Paul wrote. Things that have to do with the commandments, and so forth. No, they just take the things concerning grace, love and mercy. Like this woman said, 'Every day is Holy. We don't have to keep the Sabbath.' I forgot to ask her: When do you work? If someone says, 'Every day is Holy.' Your first answer ought to be, 'Oh, really, when do you work?'

Ephesians 3:3[transcriber's correction]: "How He [God] made known to me [Paul] by revelation the mystery (even as I wrote briefly before…" WOW! God let this mystery be known to Paul! 'He has a superior gospel.'

Verse 4: "So that when you read this, you will be able to comprehend my understanding in the mystery of Christ)." They stop right there. Like I said in the first message: always read the context, because that will tell you what you need to know.

Verse 5: "Which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His Holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit." So, God revealed it to all the living apostles at that time and the prophets. Who are the prophets? Those are the ones who gave inspired speaking! Not a foretelling of the future, but a forth-telling of the Word of God. It wasn't just to Paul.

Then we reviewed 1-John 3:1 and 2-Pet. 1. Paul had a special education from Christ in Arabia for three years. He didn't learn it from any man. Where did the original twelve apostles learn it from? From Jesus Christ! Equal footing.

If Paul would have shown up in Jerusalem, and would have said, 'I had a vision; I've seen the light,' after he persecuted and caused to be killed many of the Christians, he would never have been accepted. He would have been run out of town. If they had a one rail system at that time, they would have put him on it and gotten rid of him, because he was considered by the Jews and even the Jews within the Church… Let's see how Paul was called.

• yes, he did go to Arabia
• yes, he did learn those things
• yes, it was three years

Let's see the background of his calling and his baptism right here in Acts 9. This is after he was knocked to the ground. That's rather startling. He's walking up to Damascus. He has his party with him and all of a sudden, BAM! There's a great light. He's flattened on the ground. Then he hears a voice:

Acts 9:4: "And after falling to the ground, he heard a voice say to him, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?' And he said, 'Who are You, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the pricks'" (vs 4-5).

Have you ever seen that thorn vine that is weaved into a crown of thorns? That's what it's talking about, or something very similar to that! That's very hard to do. You do it once and you're wasted.

Verse 6: "Then, trembling and astonished, he said, 'Lord, what will You have me to do?'…." Complete change of attitude, you talk about instant repentance!

"…And the Lord said to him, 'Get up and go into the city, and you shall be told what you must do.' Now, the men who were traveling with him stood speechless; for they indeed heard the voice, but they saw no one. Then Saul arose from the ground; but when he opened his eyes, he saw no one. And they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus. But for three days he was not able to see, and he did not eat or drink" (vs 6-9). Three days of thinking it over.

Does instant repentance mean that he didn't repent further? Of course he repented further! That's why the three days that he wasn't able to see and didn't eat or drink. What do you suppose that he was doing at that time? Probably praying an awful lot!

Verse 10: "Now, there was in Damascus a certain disciple named Ananias. And the Lord said to him in a vision, 'Ananias.' And he said, 'Behold, I am here, Lord.' And the Lord said to him, 'Arise and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one named Saul from Tarsus; for behold, he is praying,… [that's what he was doing] …And he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming and putting his hands on him, so that he may receive sight'" (vs 10-12).

Notice the reaction. This is why God dealt with him the way that He did and taught Paul separately. You had to be taught by Christ to be an apostle. All self-appointed apostles out there, listen up. You're not!

Verse 13: "Then Ananias answered, 'Lord, I have heard from many people about this man, how many evil things he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And even in this place he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.' But the Lord said to him, 'Go, for this man is a chosen vessel to Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel'" (vs 13-15).

If the Gospel that Jesus brought was for Israel and the Jews, and we no longer need that because it was for them, why did Paul get this commission to also go to the children of Israel? Wherever he went, where did he go first? Into a synagogue of the Jews!

Verse 17: "Then Ananias went away and came into the house; and after laying his hands on him, he said, 'Brother Saul, the Lord has sent me, even Jesus, Who appeared to you on the road in which you came, so that you might receive sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.' And it was as if scales immediately fell from his eyes, and he instantly received sight; and he arose and was baptized" (vs 17-18).

Remember that baptism is dying together with Christ. When Paul says, 'We died together in Christ,' that means baptism.

Oh, they love Gal., because it looks like it does away with the laws of God. After all, that's what they want. We'll examine a little bit of that. Not too much of it, but just a little bit of it. {note sermon series: Epistle to the Galatians. We also have, in the second edition of Occult Holidays or God's Holy Days—Which? Paul's difficult to understand Scriptures explained.

Galatians 1:1: "Paul, an apostle, not sent from men nor made by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, Who raised Him from the dead." As we go through here, I want you to ask:

• If Paul received a better or superior gospel than Jesus taught, why does he mention Jesus Christ and the Lord Jesus so many times?
• Why don't you do a real in-depth study and go through all the Epistles of Paul?

You can do a computer search or a concordance search and look up every place where it says:

• Jesus
• Jesus Christ
• our Lord Jesus Christ
• Jesus our Savior

Look all of those up and see how many times that Paul writes of that and ask yourself: If Paul had a better or superior gospel than Jesus had, why does Paul mention Him all the time? We're going to see something very important in Gal. 1. This is why this is a key chapter.

Verse 2: "And all the brethren who are with me, to the churches of Galatia: Grace and peace be to you from God the Father…" (vs 2-3)—But not Jesus Christ our Lord, because 'I have a better gospel.' NO! It says:

"…and our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave Himself for our sins, in order that He might deliver us from the present evil world, according to the will of our God and Father; to Whom be the glory into the ages of eternity. Amen" (vs 3-5).

What we're going to find in the book of Galatians is one of the heresies that came along. One of the things that men have always wanted to do, beginning with Cain, of which Jude, the brother of Jesus, wrote just before the collapse of Jerusalem, that people were following the 'way of Cain.'

The 'way of Cain' is exemplified in what Cain did when he brought an offering to God; he brought an offering of his own devising and not after the commandment of God. Here is the principle: If you add anything to the Word of God or subtract anything from the Word of God, you are in the 'way of Cain'! Everyone who says, 'Jesus came and abolished the Law' are in the 'way of Cain.' If they say as they do with this latest watered down gospel, even less than the New Testament, that only the Epistles of Paul bring the gospel, you're in the 'way of Cain.' You are coming to God and saying, 'God, I did this out of the goodness of my heart and You must accept it because I'm sincere.'

That's the direct attitude of Sunday-keeping. All you Sunday-keepers out there, listen up. You better check it out. If you keep Sunday regularly, you're trying to impose upon God a day that He never made Holy. You are in the 'way of Cain'! You have taken away the seventh day Sabbath that God made Holy. Not every day is Holy, as some people claim.

Let's see what Paul did; v 6: "I am astonished that you are so quickly being turned away from Him Who called you into the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which in reality is not another Gospel; but there are some who are troubling you and are desiring to pervert the Gospel of Christ" (vs 6-7). The 'way of Cain'!

I have yet to find more than one Jew—there may be some more out there—who believes in Jesus Christ and God the Father, who has forsaken every single Jewish tradition. I've yet to find anyone else. I wish I could. All the traditions that the Jews added—if you don't have the Code of Jewish Law you will never understand Galatians—all of those are in the 'way of Cain'!They are adding to it to improve the Word of God. The sum of the matter is this: Any changes to the Word of God, God must make, not man!

Once you really take a closer look at the Bible you will see how it was put together for the very purpose of helping to clarify many of these things with the Protestants. That's why we have in The Holy Bible In Its Original Order, A Faithful Version, Appendix H: How Did Jesus Fulfill the Law and the Prophets? You have to understand what He did. Only Jesus could do that because He is the One Who gave the laws and commandments to Israel.

We also have a little outline study inAppendix I: A Comparison Between the Old and New Covenants, so that you can see going right down the line the same general things are there. For example:

• they had a tabernacle, or temple, we have a temple in heaven

You still have to go to the temple. Now we don't have to journey to Jerusalem, we can pray on our knees, wherever we are.

• they have sacrifices, we have a sacrifice:

Jesus Christ, the perfect sin offering!

• they had circumcision of the flesh, the New Covenant has circumcision of the heart

Every element in the New Testament has the same elements of the Old Testament, only they're raised to a spiritual level. We are not only to keep the commandments of God in the letter, we have to do that, but also go beyond in the spirit. That's what Jesus brought.

All of those things are a perversion of the Gospel, a perversion of the Word of God. As I've mentioned before, I'll mention again: Everyone who doesn't believe in tithing, and any ministers who do away with the commands of tithing have to set in another system which is separate from God's way! Notice how serious that this becomes:

Verse 8: "But if we…" Who are 'we'? You could say that it's all the brethren that were with Paul, but who is Paul including? He's including the apostles! We'll see that he talks about them. So, he's talking about apostles.

"…or even an angel from heaven, should preach a gospel to you that is contrary to what we have preached, LET HIM BE ACCURSED! (v 8).

We're dealing with pretty severe penalties. Accursed means that you don't have any salvation. If someone comes along and preaches a gospel, saying that Paul brought a better gospel than did Jesus, and Jesus was only for the Jews and we don't have to follow it….

Could you not view the same thing with the pope that whatever he says is God inspired? No, because the truth is when you read about what you 'bind on earth shall have already been bound in heaven,' anything that is 'bound or loosed' is only a judgment on already existing laws and commandments of God, not what you think or desire! The Catholics thought it would be good to initiate the Inquisition and the pope signed it so, 'it's the will of God.' It was evil and wretched!

All of you who are professed, good Catholics out there—I know you're probably sincere—but have you ever read the Bible? I mean even the Douay Version of the Bible, the Catholic approved Bible, with the imprinteur of the pope. Have you ever read it to find out what it really says? If you read the second commandment, it says, 'You shall not make unto yourself any graven image of any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, that is on the earth beneath or that is in the waters beneath the earth, and you shall not bow down to them'—which includes genuflecting—or worship them. For I, your God, am a jealous God, visiting upon the children to the third and fourth generation the iniquities of their fathers and to thousands of generations, blessings to those who love Me and keep My commandments.'

The whole basis of the Roman Catholic Church is idolatry, beginning with worship of the pope. You're worshipping a man. He does not sit in the seat of Jesus Christ. Peter never went to Rome. The whole substance of what you believe is based on a lie and God is not a liar, but Satan is the father of it. God is going to hold you responsible for determining, Who you worship. You can't say, 'I've been a good Catholic. My parents have been good Catholics and their parents have been good Catholics.' They've been deceived!

• Do you want to remain deceived?
• What are you going to do?

Verse 9: "As we have said before, I also now say again…."—this shows that it has to be the apostles from the point of view that the brethren weren't preaching it as official preachers.

"…If anyone is preaching a gospel contrary to what you have received, LET HIM BE ACCURSED!" (v 9).

Verse 10 is a direct verse against politics. We're going to see when we get to Gal. 2, that it was Judaism's religious politics and not a commandment of God. Furthermore, let's just clarify one thing here: No one who keeps the commandments of Jesus Christ counts on those in place of grace for justification! We keep the commandments of God because God requires them, and if we don't keep the commandments of God we are continuing to live in sin. If we continue to live in sin, then we have no forgiveness of our former sins. So, you're not under grace. That's why it says, 'The doers of the Law shall be justified,' because:

• there needs to be repentance, first
• are starting to keep the commandments of God, second
• then repentance and baptism, third

so you can have your sins buried under the blood of Jesus Christ. That puts you in a justified standing before God, through grace.

Verse 10: "Now then, am I striving to please men, or God?.…" Every minister needs to ask himself these questions:

• What are you trying to do?
• Who are you trying to please?
• Am I motivated to please men?

If someone out there comes up and says, 'Pastor wouldn't it be nice if we had a lovely Christmas tree in the church? It would just brighten it up for the winter. We could put these wonderful, beautiful lights on it and all of these ornaments. It would just be wonderful!' What are you going to tell them? Wrong! Jer. 10 says, 'Don't do the customs of the people.' Besides, the star on top is not symbolic of Christ but the fallen star of Satan, the devil! Most of the ornaments on there are sex ornaments. The nice tinsel that you wrap around it, you step back and look at it and you're looking at a serpent around the tree—are you not?

• What should you do if you're a minister? We don't do that in this Church! That is pagan and going against God!
• What if she was a real big donor; maybe she gives $100,000 a year to your church?
• Now what are you going to do?

If you tell her no, you're going to lose $100,000 and you won't have any salary. It should not be a big decision because God could replace that with five widows who would give $100,000 a piece, if necessary.

"…Or am I motivated to please men? For if I am yet pleasing men, I would not be a servant of Christ" (v 10). That doesn't mean that every minister has to make himself nasty, but it means that he better tell the truth. He better preach the Truth and he better preach Christ the way it ought to be. This is what Paul is saying.

Verse 11: "But I certify to you, brethren, that the Gospel that was preached by me is not according to man." The gospel preached in the Roman Catholic Church, they have even claimed that 'we can preach the gospel of the Roman Catholic Church without the Bible,' and it is a gospel of a man, whoever the pope is.

Verse 12: "Because neither did I receive it from man, nor was I taught it by man; rather, it was by the revelation of Jesus Christ." What does it say of Jesus Christ?

Hebrews 13:8:"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever." If Paul was taught by revelation of Jesus Christ, would He bring Paul a different gospel than He taught the twelve? If He did, then Christ's not "…the same yesterday, today and forever."

Paul explains what happened; Galatians 1:13: "For you heard of my former conduct when I was in Judaism, how I was excessively persecuting the Church of God and was destroying it; and I was advancing in Judaism far beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more abundantly zealous for the traditions of my fathers" (vs 13-14). Political climbing! Doing works to be recognized by the chief priest and the counsel of priests.

Verse 15: "But when it pleased God, Who selected me from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace." So, Paul was called from the time he was born.

Verse 16: "To reveal His own Son in me, in order that I might preach Him as the Gospel among the Gentiles…" Would that be any different than what Jesus taught the original twelve? Of course not!

"…I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Peter, and I remained with him fifteen days. But I did not see any of the other apostles, except James the brother of the Lord. (Now the things that I am writing to you, behold, before God, I am not lying.) Then I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. But I was unknown by face to the churches in Judea which are in Christ; they only heard, 'The one who once persecuted us is now preaching the Gospel—the faith which he once destroyed.' And they glorified God in me" (vs 16-24).

They had a problem because there were Pharisees coming down from Jerusalem. The circumcision party of Pharisees coming down and disrupting the Gentile churches by saying that all the Gentiles had to be circumcised as all proselytes to the synagogue in order to be saved. We're going to see that Peter was the big fault here in this dispute in Gal. 2.

Who did God send first to open the door to the Gentiles? Peter! He sent him to Cornelius! Peter went there with a special vision and Cornelius sent for Peter with a special message from an angel. When Peter came, Cornelius bowed down to worship him and Peter said, 'See that you don't do that. I'm a man like you and God has shown me that I should call no man common or unclean. You know that it is not lawful for one who is a Jew to come into company with a Gentile.' That's not in the Bible. That was a law of Judaism! Peter knew better.

After he was getting close to finishing his message and speaking to the whole household of Cornelius, the Holy Spirit came on them and everyone was shocked and amazed. How could God do this? They're uncircumcised! Then Peter said, 'Who can deny them baptism,' so, they took them out and baptized them. Why did God do it this way? To show to Peter that they did not have to be circumcised, and He was going to give the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles exactly as He gave it to them! Same Gospel!

When we come to Gal. 2, we see that Peter was the one at fault. What happened here is that he went up, because there were those coming down preaching that they had to circumcise all the Gentiles. This is heart and core to the central issue:

• Did Paul bring a better gospel than Jesus Christ?
• If he did, then he is greater than Christ!
• Would that not be true?
• If he's greater than Christ, then he's closer to God the Father than any other human being!
• How could that be, because the Father's in heaven?

Galatians 2:1: "Then after fourteen years I again went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus with me also…. [there's a reason for bringing Titus] …And I went up according to revelation, and laid before them the Gospel that I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those of repute… [Peter, James and John.] …lest by any means I should be running, or had run in vain. (But indeed, Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was not compelled to be circumcised.)" (vs 1-3)—by order of those apostles, because it was a Pharisaic thing.

After the conference they had there in Acts 15, where they said that the Gentiles did not have to be circumcised, you never read of the Pharisees again within the Church of God. They couldn't stand it! They wanted to add to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and make them be circumcised or they cannot be saved, when salvation is of the heart and the mind and not of the flesh.

Verse 4: "Now, this meeting was private because of false brethren brought in secretly, who came in by stealth to spy out our freedom, which we have in Christ Jesus, in order that they might bring us into bondage." Bondage to a physical thing! What were they doing? This has to be latrine inspection: Are you? or Are you not?

Verse 5: "To whom we did not yield in subjection, not even for one hour, so that the Truth of the Gospel might continue with you. But the Gospel that I preach did not come from those reputed to be something. (Whatever they were does not make any difference to me; God does not accept the person of a man.)…" (vs 5-6). Think of that for a minute. If you come along and:

• re-devise the Gospel
• slice and dice
• cut here and there
• include this that you like
• throw out that that you don't like

What are you doing? You're asking God to accept you as a person because of who you are and what you're doing, rather than you come to God repentant, are baptized and receive the Holy Spirit of God on God's terms! If you do that, you're making yourself better than Christ. You know better than Christ. Why was it fourteen years? Because he was out there preaching for fourteen years!

"…For those who are of repute conferred nothing upon me. But on the contrary, after seeing that I had been entrusted with the Gospel of the uncircumcision, exactly as Peter had been entrusted with the Gospel of the circumcision; (for He Who wrought in Peter for the apostleship of the circumcision wrought in me also toward the Gentiles); and after recognizing the grace that was given to me, James and Cephas [Peter] and John—those reputed to be pillars—gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, affirming that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcision" (vs 6-9).

It does not mean that it was a different gospel. It means that God commissioned them to do it this way.

Verse 10: "Their only request was that we remember the poor, which very thing I was also diligent to do."

Here comes the confrontation. Again, with the background that I explained about Acts 10 and Cornelius, let's understand here, what happened. This is fourteen years into it. Remember, though James was the apostle in Jerusalem, not everyone under him did what they necessarily should. It became a political thing. A lot of the Jews in Jerusalem wanted to hold on to all of the rituals, circumcision and everything like this. They also clung to the custom that it was not proper for a Jew to eat with a Gentile.

• During the days of segregation in America, what did they have? White bathrooms, black bathrooms, white fountains, black fountains to drink water!
• What did you have in the synagogue? Jews on this side, women on the other side, Gentiles in the back! You couldn't even enter the synagogue unless you had been circumcised in the flesh!

Under the Old Covenant, that would be true. Now there's a greater circumcision: circumcision of the heart and mind! So, the physical circumcision was no longer required, because if you kept company with someone uncircumcised, you committed a great sin. You became unclean.

Acts 11 is after Peter baptized Cornelius and the whole group there and after he had remained with them a number days. Not only did Peter go in there and eat with them, he preached to them, he baptized them and he stayed there a number of days. We don't know how many days that is; that's got to be probably more than a week.

Acts 11.1: "Now, the apostles and the brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the Word of God; and when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision disputed with him, saying, 'You went in to men who were uncircumcised and did eat with them'" (vs 1-3). Great sin! The reason I'm bringing this out is because this bears on what happened in Gal. 2 some years later.

Verse 4: "But Peter related the event from the beginning and expounded everything in order to them, saying," Then, telling exactly what it was.

After they received the Holy Spirit, Peter said, v 16: "Then I remembered the Word of the Lord, how He had said, 'John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' Therefore, if God also gave them the same gift that was given to us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to dissent?Do I have the power to forbid God?" (vs 16-17). Of course not! No one has the power to:

• tell God anything
• forbid God
• modify His Word
• or change it

Who changed it? Jesus Christ! Not an arbitrary decision by men by saying, 'Just think how many people we can get in the Church if we just go down and baptize all the Gentiles without having them be circumcised. Just think how many tithes and offerings we can get and how much they can send up here to Jerusalem. Won't that be wonderful?' That's not the way it happened, but that's the way human beings think.

(go to the next track)

Verse 18: "And after hearing these things, they were silent; and they glorified God, saying, 'Then to the Gentiles also has God indeed granted repentance unto life'"—same status, same thing. Now it's the circumcision of the heart rather than of the flesh.

Let's see why Peter was so much at fault; Galatians 2:11: "But when Peter came to Antioch, I withstood him to his face because he was to be condemned." We'll see that Peter and the other Jews did this publicly. This had to be done publicly and not privately, because it affected all of the Jews and the Gentiles.

Verse 12: "For before certain ones came from James…"

I also want to bring up something that is very important that I touched on. The Jews had such an absolutely hateful attitude toward Gentiles. They considered them to be as animals and dogs. They had a superior attitude, and that even carried unto the Church, though these were converted. They come down with a superior attitude, which the Jews still have today. Jews come into a Christian organization and they seek to set it right with their traditions even to this day. Rather than:

• humble themselves
• learn from Christ the way they ought to learn
• get rid of the traditions
• repent like all the Gentiles have to repent
• come to God

So, here comes this entourage from Jerusalem.

Verse 12: "For before certain ones came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles. However, when they came, he drew back and separated himself from the Gentiles…" Here's the politics. Here's Peter, the apostle to the circumcision, probably on a journey, and he stopped by Antioch. He was there probably during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Here comes an entourage from Jerusalem and Peter didn't want to get in bad politically, with the ones in Jerusalem. This was a political decision on his part, because he knew better. That's why Paul wrote in Gal. 1, 'If I yet seek to please men, I would not be the minister of God.' So, Peter thought to please the circumcision party from Jerusalem to show, 'I'm still a good Jew and I'm apostle to the circumcision.' He forgot all about what was recorded there later in Acts 11, that he was at fault in this instance, grossly at fault.

"…being afraid of those of the circumcision party…. [politics] …And the rest of the Jews… [there were Jews and Gentiles in Antioch] …joined him in this hypocritical act… [a division right down the middle of the congregation] …insomuch that even Barnabas… [who was formerly a Levite and then was made an apostle] …was carried away with their hypocrisy" (vs 12-13). Paul walks in and he sees this and he says, 'What's this!'

Verse 14: "But when I saw that they did not walk uprightly according to the Truth of the Gospel…"—which he received from Jesus Christ, which also Peter received from Jesus Christ, the Truth that the Gentiles did not have to be circumcised. You could stay with them, live with them, eat with them and not be condemned by God. Here it is years later, Peter fell into a political gaffe.

"…I said to Peter in the presence of them all, 'If you, being a Jew, are living like the Gentiles… [eating with anyone] …and not according to Judaism…" (v 14). This was a law of Judaism and not a Law of God. That's where all of the Protestants don't understand this. They are totally ignorant of the truth of this matter.

"…why do you compel the Gentiles to Judaize?" (v 14)—by making them separate.

'Hey, kids, you've been in the bus, now's the time to go back of the bus. We Jews who are important are here and we can't be bothered with your dirty, unclean presence.' That's virtually what that said. Peter knew better! It's not a Law of God. Where in the Old Testament do you read that? You don't read it any place! This is a tradition and law of the Jews.

Verse 15: "'We who are Jews by nature—and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by works of law…'" (vs 15-16). You need to read in The Holy Bible In Its Original Order, A Faithful Version, Appendix R: What Is Meant By 'the Works of the Law?" It's not as it is in the King James, 'the works of the law.' In the Greek, there is no definite article before works or before law. This is 'works of law' of any kind, not from the laws of God. That's why they come up with such inane doctrines that, 'Paul had a better gospel than Jesus Christ.'

Verse 16: "Knowing that a man is not justified by works of law…"

• What forgives sin? Repentance!
• How is that forgiven? By God in heaven above through the sacrifice of Christ!

All of that is of the heart and the action of God to bring forgiveness and put you in right standing with Him. That is the beginning of grace! No law can do that. Law was never, never, never designed to justify anyone before God the Father in heaven above. The rituals that they had at the temple only justified them to the temple. That was it! They weren't called to salvation. They didn't have the Holy Spirit.

Now we're dealing with a really terrible situation here. If Paul did not take his stand right here, against the circumcision party, against Peter, against Barnabas and all of those who were there from James—and they all knew better because they knew of what was recorded in Acts 10 and 11—the Church would be saddled with traditions of Jews. God did not want that! That's why this is such a key thing. God does not want the traditions of men in His Church at all, anywhere, by Jew or Gentile—period!

• Was Paul conversant with the Old Testament? Yes!
• Did he know Hebrew? Yes! He spoke it and wrote it!

He wrote the New Testament in Greek. He used the words:

• 'Kurios' for Lord
• 'Theos' for God
• 'Rios' for Son
• 'Jesus Christos' for Jesus Christ
• 'Pater' for Father

If Hebrew sacred names were required in the New Testament, he would have written it!

All of you sacred namers are trying to impose upon the Church a teaching originating from a man who thinks he can improve the Word of God by changing it and putting in Hebrew sacred names when the New Testament does not have them. If you are in a Hebrew-speaking church, then however the Hebrew names are pronounced would be perfectly fine. That does not mean that it follows through into every language.
It's like one man who really is an advocate of sacred names, he's in Texas with a thick Texas accent, and it's 'Yaw-way.' We are told that if you don't pronounce it exactly correct God won't hear you. What are you going to do with an accent like that? If it was such a thing that they go to heaven, he'd get up there at the pearly gates and Peter would be there and he'd say, 'Who are you?' 'I'm a Yaw-way preacher.' 'What?'

Verse 16: "Knowing that a man is not justified by works of law…" That term, 'works of law,' means any work of any law, including Sabbath-keeping, Holy Day-keeping, and all the laws of God. All the laws of God are for us to keep, because God commands it and it shows our obedience to God. We keep them in the Spirit of the Law through the grace of God. No law anywhere was ever designed to replace repentance, baptism and receiving of the Holy Spirit through the mercy and grace of God! That's what they were trying to do with this by saying, 'We are better and in better standing with God if we don't eat with the Gentiles.'

That didn't make them in better standing with God. That made them sinners and hypocrites and Peter knew better. Most Protestants read that and they read it in the 'idolized' King James Version. The only version they have is the 1611 King James Version. The 1611 King James Version, for you're information, is not sacred language. It was originally written in Greek. God intends it to be in every generation to have a proper and good translation for that generation. The 1611 was good for them.

"…but through the faith of Jesus Christ… [Christ's faith in us] …we also have believed in Christ Jesus in order that we might be justified by the faith of Christ…" (v 16)—which is what He did, because He loved us, the faith that He gives us because we believe in Him and not by 'works of law.'

Let's just set up a quick law here for trial. What if it was required that in order to get into the Kingdom of God you had to keep a minimum of 1,000 Sabbaths and it had to be 1,000? It couldn't be any less. It could be more, but not less. What if you were going to church on that very day and you were to have your 1,000th Sabbath and it was going to be a celebration. You had it absolutely made to be in the Kingdom of God.

BAM! There's a car wreck and you're killed. At the resurrection, Christ says, 'Huh; I see here on the record that you didn't meet the minimum requirement. You missed it by one. Sorry about that, go to the Lake of Fire.' That shows the absurdity and the impossibility of any law replacing the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin and being put in right standing with God through His grace.

What Paul's saying here, by using the phrase 'works of law,' is that he's making it clear that no law, how great or how small, can do away with the sacrifice of Christ to justify you and put you in right standing with God. A lot of people say, 'Oh well, that being the case, I don't have to keep any law.' No, that's not the case. The purpose of law is not to justify. The purpose of law and commandment-keeping is to keep you from sinning, to have you walking in the 'way of the Lord.'

"…and not by works of law; because by works of law shall no flesh be justified" (v 16). God never used law as a means of spiritual justification unto salvation!

Verse 17: "Now then, if we are seeking to be justified in Christ… [through His sacrifice and blood] …and we ourselves are found to be sinners…"—by reverting back to:

• traditional laws of Judaism
• traditional laws of Catholicism
• traditional laws concerning anything
• add-ons or takeaways that men would do

Those are all counted as sin!

What Paul was saying here is that what you're doing is sinning. You're missing the whole principle that those things can't make you right with God. You're trying to usurp the operation of God through Christ, His sacrifice, mercy, forgiveness, baptism and receiving of the Holy Spirit, and replace it with a law of Judaism. That's why they were sinners.

"…is Christ then the minister of sin?…" (v 17). All you Protestants listen up. If you, by tradition, follow the Roman Catholic Church, and if you don't have Rome's Challenge to the Protestants—found in Appendix N of The Holy Bible In Its Original Order, A Faithful Version, and is in several of our other publications—where they tell you very flatly that you Protestants in keeping Sunday are following the Roman Catholic Church because they instituted it. Guess what? If you accept it and follow it as a tradition of men manufactured by Constantine, a pagan Roman emperor, and you accept that, you're a sinner.

You go to church every Sunday and the minister assures you that 'by grace you are saved.' 'Hallelujah! We're here. You can do anything you want. Christ did away with the Law. Paul has a greater gospel than that of Christ.' You're out there, 'Oh wonderful. Oh lovely, nice!' Christ is going to say, 'How dare you do that? How dare you change My Holy Sabbath and make the weak excuse and say, 'Every day is Holy.' God never made every day Holy—or:

• Christmas
• Easter
• New Years
• Halloween
• all of those things that men have added to it

They are not ministers of Christ and Christ is not the minister of sin Who is going to endorse it! Those who do it are sinning. They need to have it that plain.

I know some people won't like what I'm saying. As someone said when I got done bringing a few things to the woman who brought this up on the radio program, 'You were a little hard on her.' I said, 'No, not really.'

"…is Christ then the minister of sin?" (v 17). This harkens all the way back to Cain—does it not? What did God tell Cain with his offering because He didn't regard it? God said, 'If you do well, you will be accepted. But if you do not well, sin lies at the door.'

"…MAY IT NEVER BE! For if I build again those things that I destroyed…" (vs 17-18). All of those of you who used to be in the Church of God years ago and you've gone back out into the world—Christmas, Easter and all of those abominations, and you say, 'We're delivered to do this'—you are making yourself a transgressor. As Paul said:

"…I am making myself a transgressor" (v 18). Don't do God a disservice by putting His name on it. Put the right name that belongs on it—Bakas, or Baal, or Nimrod, or Tammuz. Then you'll please all the atheists.

Verse 19: "For I through law… ['the wages of sin is death'] …died to works of law in order that I may live to God." That's kind of hard to figure out. That doesn't mean that law is not to be kept. This means that he died to law as a means of righteousness or justification:

• true righteousness comes from Christ!
• true righteousness comes from the Holy Spirit!
• true righteousness is within!

Everything that we do up to the point to where we repent, are baptized and receive the Holy Spirit is following God, and He's leading you to a certain point and you have to come to that point that you're baptized.

Verse 20: "I have been crucified with Christ…" How was that? Through baptism! He wasn't on the cross with Christ.

"…yet, I live…. [because you're raised out of the watery grave] …Indeed, it is no longer I…'" (v 20). In other words, I now am not going to live my life for me. Me, myself and I, and I give myself a big hug, I love me dearly. No! The Greek word for I is 'ego.'

"…but Christ lives in me…. [through the power of His Holy Spirit, as other Scriptures show.] …For the life that I am now living in the flesh, I live by faith—that very faith of the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness… [justification, to be put in right standing with God] …is through works of law, then Christ died in vain" (vs 20-21). Note sermon series:

• Epistle to the Hebrews
• Epistle to the Romans
• Epistle to the Galatians

They should be studied in that order. Most people like to jump right into the middle of Galatians, which some Scriptures are very hard to understand. It throws them for a complete loop, especially if they read the things about 'the law' when it was never intended to mean 'the Law of God.' You must understand Hebrews. Then go back and understand Romans. Then understand Galatians. Just remember this: No law can substitute for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ!—period! Keeping the commandments of God are important; they are essential for salvation.

This shows us, since we are sinners and we still sin after the knowledge of the Truth and even after being baptized, that God has given the means through Christ alone for forgiveness, not through any works that we do. We must keep the commandments of God. No doubt about it!

1-John 1:5: "And this is the message that we have heard from Him and are declaring to you: that God is Light, and there is no darkness at all in Him. If we proclaim that we have fellowship with Him, but we are walking in the darkness, we are lying to ourselves, and we are not practicing the Truth" (vs 5-6).

Remember, even in the book Change Your Brain, Change Your Life by Daniel G. Amen, M.D., Dr. Amen has understood this principle: the human brain lies to itself! That's how it creates its own fantasy reality to justify living in sin. That's why Paul says here, 'we are lying to ourselves.' If you're in a fantasy reality and living in sin, then the next phrase applies and "…we are not practicing the Truth." What is the Truth?

• Your laws are Truth
• Your commandments are Truth
• Your Word is True from the beginning

Verse 7: "However, if we walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His own Son, cleanses us from all sin." It's a continuous thing.

That's why in the model prayer, what does it say? Part of it says, 'Forgive us our sins as we forgive others!' Every day we are to pray and ask God to forgive us for our sins, acknowledge our sins. God is working at cleaning up our minds with His Spirit internally. God wants us to come to the point that when we have a thought that is sin, which we all have, that we recognize it and put it away and repent of it.

The way Satan comes to tempt you is not with something that is outright evil. Just like with Christmas. 'Oh, it's a wonderful time of the year.' Lovely songs, great hymns, people getting together, everyone is happy, until they get their bill on January 10th for all that they've spent.

Here's how the operation works, v 8: "If we say that we do not have sin, we are deceiving ourselves…" This means that if we say that we do not sin or don't have a sinful nature, we are deceiving ourselves!

"…and the Truth is not in us…. [here's what we do] …If we confess our own sins…" (vs 8-9)—to the Roman Catholic priest. That's how the Catholics read it. No! It doesn't say that! "If we confess our own sins…" to God the Father and Jesus Christ!

"…He is faithful and righteous, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (v 9). God wants 'Truth in the inward parts,' cleansing us of all sin (Psa. 51), and that's a life-long project.

Verse 10: "If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us."

1-John 2:1: "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And yet, if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father; Jesus Christ the Righteous; and He is the propitiation for our sins…" (vs 1-2)—continual atoning; that's the operation of grace. Going back to God and asking forgiveness all the time, and He doesn't charge you a thing for it.

You go to a Catholic priest and you go in the confessional booth, are you really going to tell them everything that you have done? I always ask former Catholics, 'When you went to confession, did you tell the priest everything?' Oh, no! But they had works of justification: 200 hail Marys, 400 our fathers, and so much community work; 'bless you, my son, your sins are forgiven.' One man got tired of that and he went into the confessional booth and the priest said, 'My son, would you like to confess your sins?' Of course, he couldn't see the priest because they have that all secret. So, the man said, 'father, let's begin with yours.' He could ask, 'How many kids have you pedophiled this week?'

Following right on that, v 3: "And by this standard we know that we know Him: if we keep His commandments." You can have your sins forgiven, but if you don't keep His commandments, you'll never know God; it's that simple.

Verse 4: "The one who says, 'I know Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the Truth is not in him." I guess that's where the radio host thought that I was a little hard on this woman who called in, because I read this Scripture. I should have gone on and read vs 5 and 6.

• What does this say about those who say that the commandments have been done away when Jesus said they weren't?
• What does this say about those who say that we're under grace and don't have to keep any laws or commandments?
• It says that they are liars and the Truth is not in them!

They may say this very nicely. They may be a very kindly type people, but that's how Satan deceives. He sends in wolves in sheep's clothing. They look good outwardly. He doesn't send in a flaming dragon.

Verse 5: "On the other hand, if anyone is keeping His Word, truly in this one the love of God is being perfected…." Because now you have not only the Word, you have the commandments and the Word. That's how we are to think. That's how we are to act that could build the character of God: love, joy, peace, faith and all the works of the Spirit—fruits of the Spirit—being perfected. You can't be perfected spiritually without keeping the Word of God, which means His commandments!

"…By this means we know that we are in Him" (v 5). Just like in the Sabbath Day. Many people do not understand this because they don't keep the Sabbath or they don't keep it rightly. If you keep the Sabbath correctly, this is very important for anyone who is teaching. If you do not:

• honor the Sabbath
• teach the Word of God
• inspire the brethren to do so

you will never be perfecting them in the Truth! God has designed the Sabbath this way: Wherever those are who are gathered in His name on the Sabbath Day He puts His presence there and it becomes part of the fellowship:

• between the brethren and God
• between the brethren and the teacher
• between God the Father with all of us

it is

• a day of spiritual fellowship
• a day to be taught of God
• a day to learn of His way
• a day to learn about eternal life is a whole life-long process of learning and growing

That's how the love of God is perfected in us and "…we know that we are in Him. Anyone who claims to dwell in Him is obligating himself also to walk even as He Himself walked" (vs 5-6).

• How did Jesus walk?
• Did He keep the commandments?
• Did He keep the Sabbath?

If someone says, 'Oh, you're a Christian. What day do you keep?' You just answer back and say, 'The same day Jesus did? What day do you keep?' 'Well, everybody goes to church on Sunday.' Yeah, that's what's wrong!

• Was Jesus kind? Yes!
• Did Jesus love His neighbor? Yes!
• Did He follow all the commandments of God? Yes!
• Did He worship God? Yes!
• Did He pray to Him? Yes!
• Did He know the Word of God? Of course! He's the One Who inspired it!

He has given us the Word of God. I think in this age, at this time, as we look down the road, we don't have to look to far, very dangerous times are on the horizon.

• What are you going to do since you have the whole of the Word of God and you don't use it all?

You 'slice and dice' it and say, 'Oh, Paul had a better gospel, a superior gospel than what Jesus did!'

• Where do you think that puts you?

No! It was the same Gospel!

All Scripture from The Holy Bible In Its Original Order, A Faithful Version

Scriptural References:

• Romans 15:8-9
• Ephesians 3:3-5
• Acts 9:4-15, 17-18
• Galatians 1:1-12
• Hebrews 13:8
• Galatians 1:13-24
• Galatians 2:1-10
• Acts 11:1-4, 16-18
• Galatians 2:11-21
• 1-John 1:5-10
• 1-John 2:1-6

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• 1-John 3:1
• 2-Peter 1
• Jeremiah 10
• Acts 15; 10
• Psalm 51

Also referenced:

Books:

• Occult Holidays or God's Holy Days—Which? by Fred R. Coulter
• Code of Jewish Law by Solomon Ganzfried and Hyman E Goldin
• Change Your Brain, Change Your Life by Daniel G. Amen, M.D.

Sermon Series:

• Epistle to the Galatians
• Epistle to the Hebrews
• Epistle to the Romans

From: The Holy Bible In Its Original Order, A Faithful Version:

• Appendix H: How Did Jesus Fulfill the Law and the Prophets?
• Appendix I: A Comparison Between the Old and New Covenants
• Appendix R: What is Meant By "the Works of the Law"?
• Appendix N: Rome's Challenge to the Protestants

FRC: nfs
Transcribed: 11-25-16
Proofed: bo—12/22/16