Once a seed puts its head above the ground, it enters the environment of hope. Hope can only respond to the root of Faith. How a plant behaves in hope, depends on where it is grounded. The self-righteous faith will develop by what it sees, It will see a world, and will hope things will be comfortable, hope things will get better, hope the world will treat it well. The self-righteous will demonstrate a life of works, ‘See what I have done’, or ‘I did it my way’. It rarely owns failure, it cannot be at fault, ‘They stopped me, or ‘Circumstances hindered me’.139 ‘Christ-righteous’ faith will grow on what it has heard. It will build on promises it can trust. It will recognize its own failings using words like repentance140, forgiveness141 and humility142, it will develop joy not happiness, peace of mind not peace of circumstance, patience not control143.
Once growth puts its head above the ground, it will find itself in Hope-world, full of weather. These are trials of hope which produce character. The self-righteous tree will produce thorns and thistles,144 the Christ-righteous tree will produce a harvest of goodness and an acceptable fruit.145
Character is the part of us that will one day have a new body. Your character, your personality, Your motivation will pass beyond the grave, not like a disembodied phantom, but fitted with a new body, fit for the new kingdom. 146
The fruit of the self-righteous life will produce adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; These will not pass the grave to inherit the kingdom of God.
The fruit of the Christ-righteous life will be love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness meekness, temperance and so on. These are not under the Law, will not die with the body at the grave, but will pass over into a new body in the kingdom of God.
That is how the New-Testament contrasts the two kingdoms.
Chapter 7
Galatia
The History:
Galatia is a region not a town or city. It is in North-Central Turkey147. The name comes from the Greek for ‘Gaul’, because Celtic-Gauls settled there around two-seventy-seven BC. Galatia was part of the territory overrun by Alexander-the-Great and so became Greek in culture. Then it became Roman under the conquest of Rome in one-eighty-nine BC.
The letter to Galatians is a letter written, by Paul to all the Christian communities in the area. Paul and Barnabus had just attended a Council of Churches, meeting at Jerusalem. In it, the first and foundational declaration of the doctrine of Salvation laid down:
Any person may be saved, by God’s grace channelled through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
The conclusion of that council was, nothing is to be added or subtracted from this foundation. And as Paul makes clear:
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we have preached to you, let them be under God's curse!148
The agenda at that meeting then turned to the issues of practicality concerning conditions for church membership, (no doubt raised by Paul and Barnabus). Here there was clearly debate on issues of circumcision, keeping the laws, and kosher diet. James, as chair-person, summed up the debate at the end:
Therefore, our judgement is that we do not trouble those of the Gentiles who have turned to God; But that we will write to them to abstain from pollutions of idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled and from blood149
So it was that James, as the chair-person, and separately Paul, as the apostle to the Gentiles, wrote to all the Churches in the region of Galatia, clarifying the situation around fifty AD. The decision of the conference was written down and sent to other churches also, including the Churches in Jerusalem. This letter was to be ‘on headed note paper’, (so to speak). Some ‘right-wing’ Pharisees were using the council as their authority to preach Judaizer-doctrines, so the letter was written in defence of the council, and to distance the council from this group. The opening Paragraph was to be as follows:
Inasmuch as we have heard that certain ones among us, [former Pharisees] who went to you, have troubled your souls with words, saying, 'You are obligated to be circumcised and to keep the law'. We gave no such command150
The Letter:
There are three categories of letter written by Paul. Personal, Specific and Open, this is an ‘Open letter’ to all the saints (assemblies) scattered in Galatia. The letter was probably the first letter written by Paul, and written about fifty AD 151. It was written because the area had been targeted by the Judaizers and Greek Libertarians.152
The letter gives us great insight into Paul’s understanding of his own calling, It also gives great clarity of the essential gospel, It also gives great insight as to how Paul understood God’s mind for spreading the Gospel. The gospel is going to collect a goodly number of barnacles as it travels outward. All sorts of people are going to want to adopt it, adapt it and distort it for their own purposes, (now as then). Paul clarifies the essential nature of salvation and then warns them not to deviate either by adding to it or taking away from it. It is a book every generation from then till now should revisit, to clean off the unhealthy growth the gospel has collected through time or intention. Today more than ever the Church has been contaminated by those wanting to add to the gospel, and those that want to subtract from it. We are not confined to well advertised warnings against Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mary Eddie-baker or Joseph Smith and their version of Gnostic-interpretation, we are also well warned against legalists shaping the Church. One commentator asks, ‘How large is your church constitution’? That is the first place you will find subtle legalism. The constitution of a church can be an enemy to the culture of a church, it can destroy a church by taking prominence over the essential culture of the pure gospel within a church. Church becomes Church-Plus the constitution, when it is upheld by the letter of the law and not the spirit.
Today, new-age, universalism, and syncretism are encroaching rapidly. Such libertarians take away from the gospel and end up killing church with a long list of things which Paul has warned can never be part of the kingdom of God153.
This letter is Paul’s first chance, with the Blessing of the apostles and founders conference, to warn that enemies of the gospel will attack from both sides, legalism and licence; Church-Plus and Church-Minus. Greek influence will lean to licence and Jewish influence will go for legalism.
This was Martin Luther’s favourite letter. It was the base of his justification by faith. Reformers viewed it as, ‘the pebble that slew the pope’. On the other hand, modern church values of tolerance and tact must be clearly seen as for what they are, an encroaching syncretism that will incur God’s wrath154.
That is to say that not by ourselves, neither by our works which are less than ourselves, but by another help, Jesus Christ who redeems us from sin, death and the devil to make us partakers of eternal life.155
After the usual introduction, Paul has to start defending himself. Judaizers had been to town, and they saw Paul as enemy number-one. ‘If you cannot win an argument, trash your opponent’,156 is not a modern phenomenon it was taught by the Greeks in their debating tuition classes. So Judaizers157 ‘trashed’ Paul. Paul is forced to starts with his accreditation. Educated at the third most prestigious university in the world, (Tarsus), under the most renown scholar of the day, circumcised, Zealot, chosen by Jesus Christ himself on the way to Damascus, endorsed by Peter, James and John, and with fourteen-years of apostleship experience. But all that is nothing when it comes to the Gospel.
What is the Gospel?
Salvation by Grace through faith. Not by works (Law). Not even by faith plus (Legalism). Not by exploiting grace (libertarianism), Not by faith alone (belief). But in faith, demonstrated by obedience to the God, the source of our faith (faith through Grace). Growing in faith produces hope and hope produces fruit. (deeds)158
In Chapter-three, Paul outlines the logical result when you add to the gospel. If God wants all people everywhere to be saved, there can be no hidden mysteries. God promised the means of salvation and described it by announcing it to Adam. This was long before Abraham was circumcised or Moses gave the law. So, the law cannot be said to be necessary for salvation.
In chapter-four, Paul lays out what will happen if they even listen to gospel-plus propagators; their own spiritual growth would be stunted. Not only that but if they return to the law they will lose God’s favour. His argument is:
‘Abraham had two sons, the first produced by works with Hagar and the second by faith in God’s promise by Sarah. God, ignored works favouring faith. He chose Isaac as the seed of promise because of faith’.
In chapter-five, he again makes the strong connection between faith and hope, warning that the law stifles the spirit of hope. Law is a contraceptive to fruit. Faith brings with it the spirit to produce fruit, The Spirit produces fruit through hope, but the law poisons it.
However, there is another enemy, those that separate the body and spirit under the modern Greek thinking. ‘Keeping in step with the spirit’, does not just apply to the spirit, it keeps the flesh in check also. You cannot live as you like in the body and expect salvation to apply to a phantom spirit. The spirit will have a body, either a physical body here, or a new body there. Body and Spirit are intertwined:
People's desires are aligned to their bodies making them give in to immoral ways, filthy thoughts, and shameful deeds. They worship idols, practice witchcraft, hate others, and are hard to get along with. People become jealous, angry, and selfish. They not only argue and cause trouble, but they are envious. They get drunk, carry on at wild parties, and do other evil things as well. I told you before, and I am telling you again: No one who does these things will share in the blessings of God's kingdom. They will die like their earthly bodies.
God's Spirit however, makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled. There is no law against behaving in any of these ways. And because we belong to Christ Jesus, we have subjected our selfish feelings and desires to God's Spirit, and He has given us life, and so we should follow the Spirit. But don't be conceited or make others jealous by claiming to be better than they are.159
139 The seven markers of self-righteousness : 1)The self-righteous see themselves as better than, not better together. 2)The self-righteous blame others for their failures rather than take ownership of them. 3)The self-righteous are selfish, not selfless. 4)The self-righteous are repulsive, not attractive. 6)The self-righteous are haughty, not humble. 7)The self-righteous need more self, not more Jesus. [Josh Laxton].
140 Hebrews 6: 1 ; 6: 4
141 Ephesians 1: 7 ; Colossians 1: 14
142 Philippians 2: 3-8 ; 1 Peter 5: 5
143 Galatians 5: 23 ff
144Hebrews 6 : 8 ;Ephesians 5: 11
145 2 Corinthians 9: 10 ; James 5: 7
146 2 Corinthians 4: 16
147 Anatolia
148 Galatians 1:8
149Acts 15: 19 - 20, see also verses 28 - 29.
150 (Acts 15: 24)
151 Some people think it may be later and others think it was written before the Jerusalem council. As it covers nearly all the issues James covers, it seems to me the two are motivated by the same event.
152 See section Judaizers in the introduction to this book
153 1 Corinthians 6
154Revelation 2: 15
155 Martin Luther
156 The Etonian ‘Gish- Gallop technique’
157 We know about them we covered them in the introduction
158 James uses this word to describe the fruits of faith. This is not the same as works but the manifestation of a living faith.
159 Gal 5: 19 ff