Bible in One Year Day 346 (Acts 25, Galatians 4-6, Proverbs 29: 15-17)

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Day 346: Fruits of the Spirit 

Agape Bible Study Acts 25 

Chapter 25: Paul Appeals to Caesar

 

Acts 25:1-5 ~ Festus Confers with the Sanhedrin Concerning Paul

After two years why are the Jews still determined to kill Paul if it wasn't that his influence in teaching about Christ was still having an impact on Jews and bringing about conversions? The answer has to be that Paul was continuing to make trouble for them by his teaching.
Question: Why do they plot to kill Paul rather than accuse him and try him in court of law?
Answer: They do not have adequate grounds to demand the death penalty for Paul.

Even though he wants good relations with the Jewish religious leaders, to his credit Festus does not immediately agree to turn Paul over to their jurisdiction. 

Render to Caesar - Titian

Acts 25:6-12 

Question: Why does Paul refuse to turn himself over to the Sanhedrin for trial? What does he do instead?
Answer: He knows he cannot get a fair trial in Jerusalem. According to his right as a Roman citizen, he asks to appeal his case to the jurisdiction of the Roman Emperor. 

In this way, Paul broke the deadlock between the protective custody of the Roman governor and the plan of the chief priests to kill him. Caesar at this time is the infamous Nero Claudius Caesar Germanicus (37-68 AD) who assumed the throne after his mother, Agrippina the Younger, murdered his step-father (who was also her uncle) the emperor Claudius in 54 AD.

Acts 25:13-22 ~ Festus Discusses Paul's Case with King Agrippa

King Herod Agrippa II and Bernice have decided to visit the new Roman governor. They are the older brother and sister of Drusilla the wife of the former Roman governor Felix. All three are the Jewish great grandchildren of King Herod the Great by the Jewish princess Mariamne, and they are the children of King Herod Agrippa I who ordered St. Peter's execution but who was himself destroyed by God's divine judgment (Acts 12:20-23).⁽⁴⁾

How does one entertain out-of town-guests? If you have a notorious prisoner, you invite your guests to interview him. Festus tells them that Paul's accusers did come to Caesarea to accuse him, but as in the case of Gallio (Acts 18:12-17), the Romans are not interested in religious disagreements. To Festus' credit, he did not turn Paul loose only to be taken by the Jews but instead upheld Paul's right as a Roman citizen to appeal to Caesar. King Agrippa II expresses the desire to hear Paul speak about his beliefs.

Acts 25:23-27 ~ Festus Presents Paul's Case to Herod Agrippa and Bernice

Question: Why is Festus at a loss to know what to write to the emperor about Paul? How does he hope King Agrippa might help?

Answer: The Romans worshiped many gods and they respected the gods of the foreign nations they conquered. It is beyond the governor's comprehension why Paul's slightly different beliefs about the God of the Jews should cause such upset. He hopes the Jewish Agrippa will be able to shed some light on the problem so he can explain it in his letter to Nero.

Agape Bible Study Galatians 4 - 6 

Galatians 4:1-11 ~ Come to Freedom in Christ as Children of God
    

Paul makes another comparison to the Israelites under the old Law and an heir who has not come of age to receive an inheritance. The Israelites/Jews are the chosen people of God and the presumptive heirs, yet under the Sinai Covenant, they were only slaves to the Law like an heir in his minority (verse 3).

It is Paul's argument that the period in salvation history from the Law of Moses until the coming of the Christ was a time of minority for the children of God who lived under limited freedom like a slave/child in his minority. During that period we were enslaved to the elemental powers of the world (verse 3; also see verse 9). The Greek word is "elements," and in Scripture the same word was used to refer to:

1. The stars and other heavenly bodies that were deified by the pagans (Dt 4:19).
2. The spirits/gods that pagans believed controlled the cosmos and were worshipped by them (Wis 13:2).
3. The basic principles of education or religion (Heb 5:12).
4. The physical elements of the world (2 Pt 3:10).

In this passage Paul is probably referring to the Galatians former pagan practices when they worshipped a storm god or goddess of the moon (see verse 9). But the "we" in verse 3 also probably means Paul is referring to life under Mosaic Law (also see verse 10). The old Law taught the rudimentary principles of religion and was based on a lunar liturgical calendar for observances of annual festivals and periodical feasts that constituted a state of slavery under cosmic forces from which Christ has freed them. Using the same reference to "elements" in Paul's letter to the Christians at Colossus, he will later write:

• See to it that no one captivates you with an empty, seductive philosophy according to human tradition, according to the elemental powers of the world and not according to Christ (Col 2:8).
• If you died with Christ to the elemental powers of the world, why do you submit to regulations as if you were still living in the world (Col 2:20)?

So long as they live under the old Law they are only "of the world" and under its powers; they have not "come of age" to inherit what is not of the physical world.

Galatians 4:12-20 ~ A Personal Appeal to Follow Paul's Example

After using several theological arguments to urge the Galatians to return to the Gospel he taught them and to reject circumcision, Paul now changes course and makes an emotional and personal appeal to the Galatians to remember his past close relationship with them:

1. He urges them to imitate his life of faith and obedience (verse 12a).
2. He reminds them of the closeness of their former relationship (verse 12).
3. He warns them about the motives of the outside agitators (verses 16-17).
4. He expresses parental concern for their spiritual wellbeing (verses 18-20).

Galatians 4:21-31 ~ An Allegory on Christian Freedom

St. Paul continues to support of his Gospel by using Scripture to further his argument as he did in Galatians 3:6-18. This time he tells an allegory using the relationship of Abraham with his wife, Sarah, who was a freeborn woman, and Hagar, the Egyptian slave woman. The focus of the allegory is the contrast between the sons of Abraham born to each of the women: Isaac who was the son of Abraham's legal wife, Sarah, and Ishmael the son of the slave woman, Hagar. 

Question: What contrasts can you make between the two women and their sons from Scripture? 
Answer: 

1. Sarah was Abraham's legal wife and Hagar was her Egyptian slave girl.
2. Hagar's son by Abraham was named Ishmael. He was conceived in the natural way. 
3. Ishmael was not the legitimate heir, nor was he "the son of promise."
4. Sarah was barren until the birth of her son Isaac. Sarah's son was born through God's divine intervention.
5. Isaac was the heir and the "son of promise" through which the covenant between God and Abraham was to continue (Gen 17:15-21).

Paul quotes from two passages from Old Testament Scripture:

1.   For it is written: "Rejoice, you barren one who bore no children; break froth and shout, you who were not in labor; for more numerous are the children of the deserted one than of her who has a husband." In verse 27, Paul quotes from the Septuagint Greek translation of Isaiah 54:1and applies the passage to Sarah "the barren one" who, by God's intervention, became the mother not only of Isaac but of all those who believe in Jesus and are the "children of the promise" (verse 28).
2. But what does the Scripture say? "Drive out the slave woman and her son! For the son of the slave woman shall not share the inheritance with the son" of the freeborn.  In verse 30, Paul quotes from Genesis 21:10 and applies the passage about Hagar to the Jews who want to hang on to the old Law but must be "driven out" because the inheritance of God blessings in Christ Jesus belongs to the sons of daughters born by divine will through the Sacrament of Baptism.

 Hagar represents the city of Jerusalem and Temple worship in Paul's day that taught the commands and prohibitions of the Sinai covenant and bound the children of Israel in a kind of slavery to the Law. In contrast Sarah and her son Isaac, the "son of promise", represent the promised freedom of the New Covenant in Jesus Christ and the new Jerusalem "above", "our mother" from which children are born into the New Covenant Church "born supernaturally like Isaac "from above" or "again" through water and the Spirit in Christian Baptism (Jn 3:3-5). Ishmael was a threat to Isaac and his inheritance, just as the Jews have become a threat to Christians (verse 29) who are the heirs of the promise like Isaac.

Hagar Old Covenant worship/earthly Jerusalem	Sarah New Covenant worship/heavenly Jerusalem
Hagar was a slave/the Old Covenant worship was a form of slavery to the Law.	Sarah was freeborn/the New Covenant offers freedom in Christ Jesus.
Hagar's son was born naturally ("of the flesh") as the son of a slave.	Sarah's son was born from God (supernaturally) as the freeborn son and heir of the covenant promises made to Abraham.
Circumcision under the Old Covenant only yields "children" bound by an earthly covenant under the old Law.	The Sacrament of Baptism yields "children" who are born supernaturally as heirs of the covenant promises made to Abraham*.

Chapter 5: An Exhortation to Christian Living

Galatians 5:1-6 ~ The Importance of Faith and Christian Liberty

In 5:1, Paul offers his conclusion to the allegory in 4:21-31. He also begins an exhortation that continues through 6:10. 

1. Paul focuses on the consequences of depending on circumcision as a path to salvation.
2. He appeals to the Galatians to side with freedom in Christ as opposed to slavery under the old Law. 
3. He repeats his argument from 2:16 and 3:3 that it is faith and not circumcision that counts toward their justification and ultimate salvation.

Question: What three arguments is Paul making in 5:2-4?
Answer: 

1. Every man who submits to circumcision as necessary for salvation is declaring that Christ's sacrifice is of no benefit to him and forfeits his promise of eternal salvation.
2. If a person declares him/herself under the old Law, that person has to observe all the commands and prohibitions of the Law or that person is a hypocrite.
3. Just as those who decide to live in bondage to the works of the law must fulfill all the requirements demanded by the law, those who profess faith in Jesus Christ must stand firm in their freedom.

To return to circumcision and other aspects of old covenant ceremonial law would be to renounce the freedom brought by faith in Jesus Christ. This warning applies today to those Jewish Christians who call themselves "Messianic-Jews" who want to observe the dietary restrictions, rituals and feasts of the Sinai Covenant and still declare themselves as belonging to Christ. To legitimately observe the old rituals of the Sinai Covenant is no longer possible. There is no Temple and no altar of sacrifice; therefore there is no twice daily liturgy of worship and no Temple sacrifices, including all the festival sacrifices, which means there is no reason for the ritual purity rites. One cannot say one observes the Sinai Covenant because that is no longer possible; therefore, rabbinic Judaism is not Biblical.

Faith alone is not sufficient to justify the sinner. If faith is not transformed into a living and active faith that is demonstrated in acts of mercy and service, it is empty. As St. James wrote, "faith without works is dead" "it is like a body without a soul (see Jam 2:14-26). In 1 Corinthians 7:19, Paul also declared the irrelevance of circumcision. In that passage he associated the labor of faith and love with obedience to the moral commandments of God, which of course also includes Jesus' two great commandments that are love of God and love of neighbor (Mt 22:38).

Galatians 5:7-12 ~ You Were on the Right Path But You Have been Misled

In verses 7-12 Paul tries to persuade the Galatians to disassociate themselves from those who are trying to add circumcision and ritual observances of the Mosaic Law as a cause for salvation to the Gospel of Christ:

1. Paul asks the Galatians two questions (verses 7 and 11).
2. He makes a statement that the false teaching they have received does not come from God (verse 8).
3. He tells them a proverb (verse 9).
4. Paul gives a stinging curse-judgment against the agitators (verse 12).

After warning the Galatians of the consequences of accepting circumcision as a path to salvation, Paul turns his attention to the agitators. He only knows that Judaizers have caused the problem with the Galatian communities. He does not know their names, but he does know that God who called the Galatians to faith in Christ Jesus did not send them. 

9 A little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough. 
In the Old Testament leaven was often used as a symbol of sin. In the observance of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, no leavening agent was to be permitted in the houses of the Jews for a period of seven days as a sign that the people had cast all sin out of their lives and were in a state of ritual purity (Ex 13:6-7). In addition, only bread without leaven was burned on the altar of sacrifice in the Temple (Lev 2:4-5).  Paul is using leaven as a symbol of an evil influence that can spread, like leaven can greatly expand a little dough. His point is, even if only a few Galatians submit to circumcision as necessary for salvation, their actions could have negative consequences for the entire community.

The Flesh Versus the Spirit

In verses 13-26 St. Paul elaborates on the true meaning of freedom as a Christian:

1. Freedom does not mean the license to behave badly (verse 13). Bad behavior makes one a slave to sin and can cost one the gift of freedom in eternal salvation (verse 21). 
2. The new life of faith in Christ is fulfilled in the freedom of loving service to God and to one another "its only law is love (verse 21). 
3. Those who belong to Christ do not live in slavery to the works of the flesh; instead they live in freedom according to the gifts of the Spirit (verses 22 and 25-26).

Galatians 5:13-21 ~ The Works of the Flesh

In verse 13 Paul reminds the Galatians that they were called to freedom (13a), followed by a warning regarding the works of the flesh (13b), and his assurance that love is a remedy for the temptations of the flesh (13c).

The law is fulfilled in the commandment to love one's neighbor as oneself "therefore, Paul tells the Galatians to serve each other through love. Do not miss that Paul distinguishes between "doing" the Law and "fulfilling" the Law. The circumcised are obliged to "do" the Law, but those who have faith in Christ fulfill the Law through the love commandment. 

Galatians 5:22-26 ~ Liberty and Love Through the Fruit of the Spirit

Paul contrasts the "works of the flesh" in verses 19-20 with the "fruit of the Spirit" in verses 22-23. Notice that it is not the Law but the Spirit that bears the fruit of these good traits.

Chapter 6: Living in the Spirit

Through the Holy Spirit we are restored to paradise, led back to the Kingdom of heaven, and adopted as children, given confidence to call God "Father" and to share in Christ's grace, called children of light and given a share in eternal glory.
St. Basil, De spiritu Sancto, 15.36

Galatians 6:1-10 ~ Life in the Community of Christ

The ethical exhortation that began in 5:1 continues in chapter 6:1-10 with Paul's practical advice for the individual Christian and for his community concerning the faith and freedom of the Gospel. His practical advice includes:

1. The responsibility to correct a fellow member of the community who is sinning (6:1a).
2. The accountability of the individual to do a self-examination.
3. The responsibility to bear the burdens of brothers and sisters in the family of God (6:2).
4. Individual accountability for one's works and bearing one's own burden (6:3-5).
5. The responsibility to support the teachers of the community (6:6).
6. Individual accountability for actions (6:7-8).
7. The responsibility as a community to do good deeds (6:9-10).

 

Galatians 6:11-18 ~ Conclusion

Paul concludes his letter with:

1. A notice that he is writing in his own hand and not a secretary (6:11).
2. A summary of his argument concerning circumcision (6:12-17): a final warning concerning the agitators (verses 12-13), and a final statement of his position (verses 14-17).
3. His closing blessing (6:18).

Some scholars believe this letter was written by a secretary in Paul's service, and he has now written the postscript himself, as he did in 1 Corinthians 16:21 and in 2 Thessalonians 3:17. Paul's letter to the Romans was also dictated to a secretary name Tertius who included his own greeting at the end of the letter (Rom 16:22). However, others believe Paul has written this letter himself. Paul is writing with "large letters" either for emphasis or because his eyesight is poor (Gal 4:15).

Having been crucified with Christ, we have also been raised to new life in the Spirit to become sharers in divine life: ... he has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you might come to share in the divine nature, after escaping from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire (2 Pt 1:4). Why a "new creation"? Because the regenerating grace of the New Covenant in Christ Jesus will come to permeate and transform the entire cosmos (Rom 8:19-23; Rev 21:1-4).

18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen. 
Paul's final blessing is similar to most of his other letters (see 1 Cor 16:23; 2 Cor 13:13; Eph 6:24; Phil 4:23; Colos 4:18b; 1 Thes 5:28; 2 Thes 3:18; 1 Tim 6:21b; 2 Tim 4:22b; Tit 3:15b). It is a reminder that it is the gift of the grace of Jesus Christ that gives us a renewed spirit and the promise of eternal salvation.