Slow Walk thru Galatians April 24

General Faith
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Galatians 1:15-17

“But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.”

Day 4 of Galatians

Paul touches on the knowledge of God and His eternal plan for mankind. Paul knows that his future was determined beforehand, even from his birth, and he was destined to preach the message of Christ to the nations. That’s a hard thing for us to understand. That our God knows the end from the beginning and can declare a thing so before it happens.

We live in time and we’ve always lived in time. We’re born into it, walk in it and one day we die in it. God lives in eternity and eternity has been described as the absence of time. To get a mental grip on eternity isn’t possible. We can know it. We can believe it, but we don’t understand it. It’s something we’ll know when we know all things.

It wasn’t just Paul telling people about Jesus. It wasn’t just words. Jesus was in Paul and God made that known to others by revelation. This is the power of the gospel. Jesus being made known through the message to anyone who listened. Paul spoke the words that revealed Jesus in him. Without that revelation, the gospel becomes foolishness to those who are perishing.

Thoughts?…

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J.

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Thank you for this @Johann . That was very thoughtful of you and I appreciate your sharing it. What I’m hoping for in going through the book of Galatians is the question, ‘What does it say to you?’. What do you think it means or is there something in your life or witness it reminds you of? I’m looking for something personal. There are a lot of resources, preachers etc on the web who comment or go step by step through the book and any one of us can easily look it up for ourselves. What I can’t do is found out what Johann thinks about it or what it reminds Johann of, and that’s what I’m hoping for.

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I don’t share my personal testimony in an online setting, @bestill, nor do I treat a letter like Galatians as a devotional or a platform for personal storytelling, since its purpose is to establish the truth of the Gospel and guard justification by faith apart from works ~Galatians 1:6–9; 2:16.

2Co 12:1 It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.
2Co 12:2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.
2Co 12:3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)
2Co 12:4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
2Co 12:5 Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.
2Co 12:6 For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me.
2Co 12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
2Co 12:8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
2Co 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. **Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. **
2Co 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

It is not that testimony should never be shared, but that it must never replace the Gospel itself, for the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation ~Romans 1:16, and faith comes through hearing that Word, not through personal narrative ~Romans 10:17.

A testimony is only fitting when it clearly magnifies God’s grace rather than human activity, so that no one boasts in himself but in the Lord ~Ephesians 2:8–9; 1 Corinthians 1:31, and when it is anchored in the central proclamation of Christ crucified and risen ~1 Corinthians 15:3–4.

Even Paul, when compelled to speak of his own experience, deliberately redirected attention away from himself to the sufficiency of Christ’s grace ~2 Corinthians 12:5–9, showing that the message, not the messenger, carries the saving weight.

What Johann thinks ultimately carries no authority, because the final standard is Scripture itself, for all Scripture is God-breathed and governs doctrine, salvation, justification, sanctification, and the work of the Holy Spirit ~2 Timothy 3:16–17; Romans 5:1; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; Titus 3:5.

Thank you and have a blessed day in Yeshua.

J.

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God knows and has planned everything, yet gave us free will?
The age old question of is that really free will, I actually had this discussion recently. my belief is
God stands out of time, God sees not one, but infinite possibilites, yes we have free will, which path we choose is our choice, yet God sees the path we didn’t take aswell, he sees if we stopped to take this turn or that, even if we headed straight
He loves us enough that we are given the road map, and the rules, if we choose to be stubborn and ignore them, thats on us.

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That’s fine Johann. Your choice.

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I appreciate the break down, explantion, and example. It helps me to understand better if I can relate it in someway to life or an experience, so thank you @Bestill , looking forward to tomorrows post.

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