Be With Me: 7 Minutes of Biblical Wonder

"The Law" definitely gets a bad rap in the sense that in the end, we are "cursed by the law." But the story doesn't stop there.  Jesus rides in and perfectly accomplishes the law, becomes the perfect sacrifice and saves those of the world who have faith.  So, in that sense, we are all SAVED BY THE LAW.  It is just not by OUR accomplishment of the law.  It is by HIS accomplishment of the law and our faith in His accomplishment.

Oh, and BTW, Abraham wasn't a Jew.  There were no Jews when he got started.  Abraham was a pagan; a gentile.  In a sense, he was the first proselyte.  That is, he was an outsider who was invited into the family of God.  Just like you and me.

How did Abraham "achieve himself" into the family of God? BY FAITH, (and God's wonderful invitation); just like you and me.  He was saved by Faith alone.  I am saved by faith alone directed at Christ alone, who fulfilled the glorious law perfectly.  Please share with your favorite person inside and outside the family of God. bewithme.us or [email protected]

Paul is yelling at the Galatians to have faith.  He uses the great Abraham who gets an opportunity to make this deal with God: No land, No children, No food, No heirs, No freedom, and No unmodified male genitalia. Why would anybody take this deal?

Well, because there are a couple of kickers in the deal:

• You get ME. The PERSON of God. I am your very great reward
• You get PROMISES of all that good stuff above.

In other words, I want you to take the deal because of ME and my trustworthiness to the PROMISES I am making.  Essentially, 2000 years ago, the deal with God was by FAITH.  Now, in 48 AD, you Galatians get the opportunity to make the SAME DEAL WITH GOD.  It too is by faith in a whole bunch of PROMISES you don't yet see, and in the PERSON of God.

And now, 2000 years down the road from the Galatians, God offers the SAME DEAL to me: 1. the PERSON of God. You get ME. I am your reward. 2. Bunch of PROMISES you don't yet see.  Abraham takes the deal. The Galatians take the deal. You too can take the deal, BY FAITH, just like they did.  Share this with your favorite person. Subscribe at BEWITHME.us. Sign up for a daily podcast at Apple, google, stitcher, Spotify. Like and follow on Facebook or instagram.

Faith is the special-sauce that makes what is true of Jesus before the Father, true of us.  We ride His coattails of crucifixion and its' effects; and Christ living within and helping me with real life right now.

Paul yells at the Galatians.  If you are living the old way, it is nullifying the great things Jesus did for you.  You are extinguishing Jesus.  You are killing Christ and His effects.

Remember, you didn't earn the Spirit.  It came out of the blue in grace and surprise.  You never qualified for it.  Nobody does.  So, knuckleheads, don't forget the way He came.  If you do, you are nullifying the Spirit; extinguishing Him; "killing" the Spirit too!

If you qualified for an indwelling God, you wouldn't NEED an indwelling God.  Let's not Kill Jesus for nothing; Let's not kill the Spirit for nothing.  Let's live by faith and subscribe at bewithme.us

As if the call to be on "Team Crucifixion" wasn't impossible enough, Paul now calls the Galatians to be on "Team Not-Living".  It too is impossible without the critical ingredient: FAITH.

He's telling them that they are now Christians and here is what it means.  This is how you should be acting in the here and now.  He is here to help us with the lives we are ACTUALLY living, by living-as-if-we-are-dead, and trusting God by faith.  

Listen 7 minutes as we work through how 2 impossible things (being currently crucified and being currently not-living) are actually possible spiritually. If you have real needs, then this is the real answer to be helping you.  This is the most famous verse in Galatians! Let's figure out why together.  Then subscribe for tomorrows challenge at bewithme.us

Paul says, "I have been crucified with Christ."  But he actually has NOT.  He's not been up on the Roman crucifixion machine.  So, how then is it true?

When Manchester United plays, its' fans declare, "WE WON today." Really? Did a million people strap on their cleats and shin guards? No.  What they mean is that by ASSOCIATION, by attachment, they participate in the win.

Similarly, we are NOT crucified.  Christ is. Our attachment to Him achieves the benefits.  And how do we attach?  By being super-Jewish as the Galatians recommend? No, by FAITH, by confession, by agreement, by calling on and setting our seal to HIM.  

I HAVE been crucified with Christ.  Have you?  Think on this today. Please like, share, and subscribe at bewithme.us. Then, come back tomorrow.

A famous preacher said something like, a "sermon is that which leaves you happy." Well, not exactly. You gotta be a little unhappy to receive the happy.  Today is that day. Here is the bad news:

• we cannot be right with God without the help of Jesus
• we don't earn this help of Jesus by our actions, words, or traditions
• we cannot fix this ourselves by being good enough

The only thing that fixes our problem is belief.  A particular kind of belief. A directional belief that hits the right target.

Stay tuned.  Tomorrow is the happy podcast ;-). bewithme.us

In 48 AD, Paul yells at Peter for disobeying something the Lord clearly told him in 38 AD.  It was very clear.  He sent a vision.  He repeated it 3 times.  Peter verbalized the lesson. Peter demonstrated understanding of the lesson by his behavior with Cornelius in Caesarea.  He defended the lesson before inquiry with his sending church in Jerusalem.  THEN HE FORGOT.

When Paul finds out about this matter of "settled theology", and "settled personal conduct" that Peter is disobeying; standing in the way of; in a sense OPPOSING GOD, then he opposes Peter to his face and publicly corrects him.d

In other words, we should be obeying STUFF THAT GOD HAS ALREADY CLEARLY TOLD US.  Let's go back to the Lord's BACK CATALOG of revelation to His OLD MERCIES that we should be obeying and perhaps have slid back on.  Yikes.  We'll probably need His help, as usual.  Please subscribe if you haven't done that for a 7 minute blast tomorrow and the next day.  Bewithme.us or [email protected] or stitcher apple google Spotify podcasts.

Paul is going to defend the true gospel from one that is distorted, deserted, different; a gospel-contrary.  To do so, he is discussing his ministry qualifications.  Paul has been ENTRUSTED with the true gospel; he's been given a real grace by the Lord; and the same Lord is at work in the gentiles as in the Jews. We are part of the same family.

Now can people in the family of God have to go through some work to get things right? Absolutely.  Already, this is not the first time in church history that there has been conflict from WITHIN the church.  Likely, there is a spot of bother in your church too. I know there is in mine.  Can we work it out? Can they?  Stick around and watch how they fix a critical question.  To their credit, they fix it so well, it is no longer a disputed issue at all!

God loves the family of God.  He always has. Now, God loves His new church of Jews and Gentiles in unity.  Let's admire and learn how to handle disagreements with those who have the right hand of fellowship. Share. Like. Re-tweet. Review. Subscribe at bewithme.us

People want to make sure Paul, 14 years after his conversion, is really a Christian.  Paul gathers the evidence and presents it to the Jerusalem church.  He accounts for the time, because he's been accused of NOT BEING A CHRISTIAN (Acts9:26) 3 years into that 14 years.  

No wonder Paul has to "give his credentials" to the Galatian believers.  It took him a long time to win the trust of the church.  Killing people has a tendency to make people look at you in a certain way.  Today Paul is filling in the blanks about that 14 years.  

• conversion in Damascus, Syria where they wanted to kill him
• 3 years in Arabia (where the Lord disciples him)
• 15 days in Jerusalem where they wanted to kill him so he is sent to 
• Tarsus for 10 years or so
• To be found there by Barnabas and Brought to Antioch, Syria for a one year stint of ministry.  It is there the church is first referred to as "Christians"
• Finally, Barnabas and Paul head back to Jerusalem with a pile of cash for famine relief

Paul defends his ministry before the "1st" missionary journey.  Did he run in vain all those years? Have I run in vain for the last 14 years?  Listen 7 minutes and find out. bewithme.us

Paul is making a defense of the Gospel.  To do so, he displays his qualifications a bit.  ie: Hey, these are the reasons that you should listen to me. They are that he has had a pretty special experience with God.  He recalls a dramatic conversion that starts with actually seeing Jesus and ends with his blindness. 

So I got visited by Jesus. I did not recognize him (embarrassing for a guy who prided himself on knowing God) I have been pursued since that time.  I escaped Damascus after preaching there.  I visited Jerusalem and was pursued there too.  In between, I went to a special retreat into Roman Arabia for 3 years.  (I think this is a 1000 days of learning of God at least and maybe 1000 days of learning FROM God in a unique way) Then I have been ministering far away near my own home town for 10+ years.  I am an apostle.  I have rebuked an apostle to his face. God has been revealing Himself to me. I am qualified.

In this context, now we can get to the bottom of a distorted, desertional, and "gospel-contrary" gospel vs. the real thing. Listen for 7 minutes and admire Paul's journey BEFORE the first missionary journey. bewithme.us