judaizers

Have you been under attack for a falsehood and struggled to know how to respond? — A devotional by Vince Miller.

I stand as a watchman to lift my voice in warning, against a movement that is fast growing in momentum across the evangelical world.  Some call it Hebrew Roots, others call it Torah Observant Christianity — call it what you like, the overriding emphasis is the same.  They tell us that the Gentile Church has been infected with Greek culture and needs desperately to return to its Jewish roots from whence it came!!  When asked what this “returning to its Jewish roots” looks like, one is speedily pointed to Moses and told that in order to be a faithful follower of Yeshua, you must keep Torah! Dietary Laws, Sabbath Laws, the Feasts and Festivals; if we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, then we must do so as Torah observing Christians!

When everything has been said and done, the golden question that every professing believer in Jesus Messiah must answer is this; “Which Covenant are you Under?”.  To whom will you pledge your allegiance, Moses or Jesus Christ?  You cannot serve both! 

As you are about to hear in this PODCAST, we have come to a defining moment in Early Church History—one precious period of time, two events of staggering significance—of which you and I are the direct beneficiaries.

This will explain so much, and put so much into its proper perspective.

Thank you for listening and for sharing this message.

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Paul's genesis as an apostle is established by Christ, not by man. Therefore, the gospel Paul preaches can be trusted to be the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Internal conflict. It can happen in a marriage, a business, a home, or even in a church. And it seemed to be a regular presence in the growing body of Christ during the first century. As if all the external opposition wasn’t enough, the new church found itself dealing with an intense and potentially divisive debate over the heart and soul of the apostles’ ministry given to them by Jesus: The gospel. As the news regarding Jesus’ offer of salvation began to spread outside the borders of Judea and Judaism, it raised some critical concerns among those who had been the first to accept the gospel message: The Jews. If you recall, the 120 individuals who had been in the upper room on the day of Pentecost had all been Jews. They had also been believers in Jesus Christ. Jesus had restricted His ministry to the land of the Jews. He never ventured outside of Judea. And, for the most part, his audiences were made up primarily of Jews. He did have interactions with non-Jews such as the Samaritan woman, but they were rare. But with the coming of the Holy Spirit, the message of salvation by faith alone in Christ alone had begun to spread, with the result being the conversion of more and more Gentiles. And this is where the conflict arose. Some of the more hard-core Jewish Christians were of the strong opinion that the conversions of the Gentiles were incomplete or invalid unless they converted to Judaism first. But Paul would have nothing to do with it and he would do everything in his power to stand against it.

These were exhilarating times indeed for that original company of committed Christ-followers.

In this PODCAST, and in the upcoming weeks, it will be our privilege to relive these salad days of the first ekklesia—in Jerusalem—as we join in a virtual sense these first precious believers, our ancestors in the faith.

Last week, we looked at the four foundational dynamics that characterized this first early church. Foundational for them; foundational for us. You will remember that we considered each of these in some detail—that marvelous biblical blueprint for every local church, both then and now! The elegant simplicity and sincerity of which was breathtaking for us to behold.

Now, we will consider a day in the life of these very first committed Christ-followers. The precious and precarious first hours of this first church’s delicate-if-exuberant infancy.

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God bless you richly as you listen.

Today, in chapter 3 of Galatians, we’ll be covering verses 1-14. In these verses, Paul is going to dig deeper into the contrast between faith and works. He is going to hammer home his strong, unwavering assertion that salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone, with nothing else whatsoever required. In fact, even after salvation, works do not suddenly become the barometer by which God measures our degree of faith. His love for us doesn’t waver based on the quality or quantity of our works. According to Paul, the righteous are not only saved by faith, they are to live by faith, trusting that God’s love for them has only one condition: Their ongoing faith and dependence upon the death of Christ and His righteousness.  

Today, we will be in the second half of Galatians 2, looking at verses 11-21. In these verses we are going to see Paul take on his fellow apostle, Peter, and give him a spiritual broadside regarding his treatment of the Gentile believers in Galatia. The problem Paul had was that Peter’s actions had given credence to the false teaching of the Judaizers. His reluctance to eat with uncircumcised Gentiles was sending not only a bad message, but a wrong one. And Paul would have nothing to do with it. He could care less that Peter was one of the original disciples and a member of Jesus’ inner circle. What he had done was wrong and had contradicted the message of salvation by faith alone in Christ alone that Paul had so faithfully preached.

Romans 16:1-11

All I’m sure are familiar with the concept of a roll of honour, a list of names of those counted worthy of receiving honour; of being highly esteemed in the sight of men and thus to be regarded with great respect.  In the chapter before us, Paul lists his own roll call of honour, of faithful Saints counted worthy of double honour on account of their faithful labours of service in Christ towards the Brethren, not least towards Paul himself.  Among many of the nobles, are the names of women, the first of which being Phebe, who through her labour of love, received a commendation from Paul.

This sermon is an exhortation to the Body of Christ, to strive for that most honourable of all Christian labours, that of Christian service in the area of helps.     

Romans 15:25-33

Having dealt already at length concerning the matter of Christian love, in a variety of Christian contexts throughout this most blessed epistle to the Romans; it is not surprising that once again before long, Paul revisits this great theme in what is yet another application of its manifold beauty!!  Its depths can never be plummeted, its heights never scaled – inexhaustible, indispensable, exceeding all limits, uncontainable, unexpendable – LOVE!!

In the verses before us in this sermon, we find yet another application of love as it pertains to Christian giving.  We take a closer look at this expression of love and allow the Scriptures to speak for themselves on this important matter.  “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially them who are of the household of faith” (Gal. 6:10)

Romans 4

For 1500 years, Israel had been under the heavy yoke of the law.  This had been their rule of life since the time of their coming out of Egypt when God entered into covenant with them at Mt. Sinai.  Paul was clear of one thing (himself being a Pharisee for many years), by the works of the law shall no man be justified in the sight of God!  If any man was going to stand a chance of gaining right-standing with God, it was to be by faith alone that the reward might be of grace!

In this fourth chapter of Romans, Paul seeks to address this seismic shift in religious worldview by pointing out that such a concept of imputed righteousness on the grounds of faith is nothing new!  Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation predated Moses by some nearly 1500 years, yet Abraham had this testimony before God, that he was counted righteous on the grounds of his faith and not by the works of law.  Paul lays hold on this truth and expounds this great doctrine of justification by faith by demonstrating that righteousness must come by means of imputation alone and can never come by the works of the law!