PAUL OR JAMES …FAITH WITHOUT WORKS OR FAITH WORKS ..THE BOOK OF ROMANS PART 1

Now we take a look at the Paul versus James faction book by book .In our last series we have seen that the church was divided into yet it was one .It is just the same way a parent company has subsidiary companies .

Coca Cola USA and Coca Cola Kenya are one company but two because they bear the same name but the way they run their activities is governed by the laws of two countries hence cannot be said to operate the same way.

The Early church had Jews and non Jews and this was a clash of culture because even though theoretically the two were one in Christ , practically they had two different cultures .To avoid the church from turning into a bloody body the church leadership set up different rules for the groups , calling Gentile believers not to keep Jewish customs.

Yet such an ultimatum was not kept to the letter by Paul who stressed  that whether you circumcise or nor , whether you eat pork or not , is not the issue .The issue is living in Jesus Christ and  living a life of repentance.

Today , we are seeing the division very clearly concerning the name of Jesus as the Jesus versus Yahshua groupings are rising up with some saying that the word Christian is not biblical and that we should be Hebrews .Others are up in arms with the use of letter J against Y , letter J being a very new letter which is said by some  to be Illuminati inspired ?? The James and Paul camps are being put up for sure.

Thus in the book of Romans we find Paul clearly dividing the world into Gentiles and Jews , those without the law and those with the Law pointing out that having the law is not the issue because all have sinned ..both Jew and Gentile .

In fact in chapter 3 he goes on to say that if you take the Law as a standard to judge whether one is saved or justified , you will find those who do not have the Law are keeping it than those who have it.

However Chapter 4 is where the rubber meets the road because he declares that faith is not of works yet James says  other wise.

Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had
offered Isaac his son upon the altar? James

James 2:24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by
faith only.

But listen to what Paul says …

4:2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he
hath whereof to glory; but not before

Now Paul is saying Abraham was not justified by works but James is saying he was .Of course Paul was referring to the work of circumcision whereas James was talking about the work of putting Isaac on the altar and not circumcision.

Nonetheless , does what James say go contrary to what Paul taught ?

Did Paul teach that faith only ? For Faith only is the mantra of Protestantism , the oxygen of the Reformation ?

Take time  to meditate as we delve into this in the next part .

Arthur Owiti

PAUL OR JAMES — FAITH WITHOUT WORKS OR FAITH WITH WORKS …THE BOOK OF ACTS PART 2

JESUS FULFILLED THE LAW BUT DID PAUL DESTROY IT ?

In part 2 of Acts we find a  very interesting turn of events after the great Meeting of the Apostles and Elders in Acts 15.

in Acts 16 we find Paul who stood for the group against  Physical Circumcision Salvation circumcising a half Jew half Greek believer Timothy !!

Why did Paul do this yet he had just stood against it ? Paul wanted to preach the gospel to his brethren the Jesus but they knew Timothy was a Greek and thus would not listen to Timothy’s testimony.For the sake of having Timothy , who was an astute minister of the Gospel , he circumcised him .

Yet the ordinances Paul and timothy went to deliver were the letters that stated there was no need to circumcise Gentiles for them to get saved .It seems Timothy was seen as a Jew even though he had a Greek father.

This shows us that Jewish believers really suffered great misunderstanding from their kinsmen and also from kinsmen who were believers of Jesus but still believed in the fathers customs.

Paul kept on preaching the Gospel all over facing wild riots from Jews and Gentiles .

Yet in the end Paul knew he was going to suffer death for being such “a pestilent fellow for the sake of Christ “.

ACTS 21 ..PAUL ACCUSED OF DESTROYING THE LAW ..THE APOSTLES INQUIRE

Now one must not forget that Paul was a Jew and hence keeping Jewish Law was not just about spirituality but about culture.However he always stressed that Jewish culture was not what will take Gentiles to heaven but faith in  the Jewish King Jesus.

Besides Jesus even said that it is not the food you eat that defiles you but what comes out of you .Yet we know that the Law stipulated that some foods were not to be eaten.Yet with the joining of Gentiles to the family of Israel, all foods could be eaten as long as one prays in the name of Jesus.

Yet when Paul went to Jerusalem , the apostles strangely ordered him to take a vow of purification for teaching Jews who lived amongst Gentiles not to circumcise.

21:18 And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all
the elders were present.

21:19 And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what
things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.

 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto
him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which
believe; and they are all zealous of the law:  And they are
informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the
Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise
their children, neither to walk after the customs.

So we see James question Paul’s teachings to the Diaspora Jews and not to the Gentile believers.This is evident in the letters of Paul to the Gentile churches .

For example the letter to the Romans was not addressed to the Roman races but to believers living in Rome and then spread to all other churches .Thus a letter to the  Ephesians included Jews living in Ephesus together with Gentiles , all of whom were believers.

Thus the reports that reached Israel and caused uproar as Jews in the Diaspora who were adhering to the teachings of Paul were not circumcising thus going against Jewish custom.

This was a coup de etat against the Jewish nation according to James and the elders . Thus to avoid violent reaction that was definitely going to come against Christians and friends of Paul , the elders advised Paul to retract the stance of being anti-law by purifying himself according to the Law , Jewish customs.

21:23 Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which
have a vow on them; Them take, and purify thyself with them, and
be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may
know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee,
are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest
the law.

So Paul did as he was told but to no avail as they delivered him to the authorities and later he was deported to Rome to be judged by Caesar.

Paul stood his ground that his message about Jesus Christ was not a coup de etat as such but a confirmation of a promise which was made in the very Law and prophets that the people were saying he was violating by teaching Jewish believers not to circumcise.

Acts 28 shows us that he died when the Jewish nation was still divided on whether to believe in the promise of Jesus or the Law of Moses when actually the Law of Moses agrees with the Promise and prophesied of him.

Thus if Moses testifies of Jesus why should one say faith in him is not equivalent to faith in God .IT IS and you do not have to be physically circumcised to be saved and receive the Holy Spirit .

Arthur Owiti

PAUL OR JAMES — THE BOOK OF ACTS AND THE ISSUE OF FAITH WITHOUT WORKS/FAITH WITH WORKS Part 1

The division between Jewish and Gentile believers has been one of the most stubborn thorn’s in the foot of the church .The real issue or works was the issue of circumcision not the law as a whole .

The early church from its official inception since the day of Pentecost was made up of mainly Jews. This means that most of them still kept the law ,the ten commandments and the other obligations.

Since it was made up of Jews there was no need to delve into the issues of keeping the law .So the Apostles taught them the doctrine of Christ all that Jesus had taught them. However they knew that they were saved BY GRACE .

That is why the Jewish Non- believers hated them because they declared the name of Jesus when they, non believers wanted to declare the name, Moses. Yet Jesus did not destroy Moses and Moses prophesied about Jesus.

FYI, the word church IS NOT A NEW TESTAMENT TERM PER SE. The nation of Israel was the congregation, the church in the wilderness , just as we are also in the wilderness today .THAT IS WHY ALL BORN AGAIN PEOPLE BECOME PART OF ISRAEL AND BECOME JEWS.

This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and [with] our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:
Acts 7:38

So the Non believing Israelites were seen as lost as the New Testament called for belief in Jesus Christ to be saved and not circumcision.

Peter’s first sermon proves it all. He called people to repent and be baptized and believe in Jesus all as prerequisites to receive the Holy Spirit. He was preaching to Jews who had come from all over the world to celebrate Pentecost a Jewish Feast.

So the Jewish believers grew under the stewardship of the Apostles .However they had conflicts amongst the Diaspora Jews and the Home Bound Jews where widows of one group were being neglected .The Apostles in God’s wisdom chose administrators to deal with the house keeping issues as they remain focused on the word and prayer.

Now according to church historians the church was largely Jewish for 9 years until God visited Gentile believers at the house of Cornelius .

For this Dynamic change to happen God had to minster to Peter in a vision telling Peter to eat unclean animals .Peter, being a Jew ,knew that it was sin to eat unclean animals. Yet the issue was not to encourage him to eat the unclean animals but a parable of joining the Gentiles who will also believe in Jesus, the other sheep who were not of the fold.

So Peter did the daring and preached in the house of Gentile Cornelius and the Holy spirit fell on the Gentiles as the day of Pentecost. Those who accompanied Peter, Jews, were amazed that at what could have been to them de ja vu .

Peter ordered for their baptism and reported the matter to the church in Jerusalem.

THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE GENTILE BELIEVERS

This was a very significant event happening in the eyes of the leaders of the church .How could they handle it ?

Gentiles were ANTI-LAW . They did not circumcise, they ate anything , had no rules about sexual relations as such .They were “living life “..liberal.

Jews whether believer or non-believer were Conservative since they had the Torah that governed all aspects of Life. Of course they never followed it to the letter but they would fall back to it in case of a dispute.

So God raised up another Jew this time a hardliner and loyalist to the Law . Paul .

Paul ‘s ministry is so revolutionary because one cannot think that a strict conservative would drop his interpretation of faith .

Yet Paul was endowed by God with grace to explain to the church the reason why Gentile believers and Jewish believers are ONE.

After his conversion he preached in Gentile lands but did not go to Jerusalem where the Church leadership was based until the first general meeting.

THE ACTS 15 MEETING.—- THE GENTILE QUESTION

To dissect this chapter well let us determine;

WHAT WAS THE DISPUTE :

1.Whether Circumcision is necessary for Salvation
2.Whether Believers should keep the Law for Salvation

Acts 15:  1 And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.

WHAT WAS THE EVIDENCE FOR CIRCUMCISION FOR SALVATION
1.The Law of Moses, The Law of God..it is clearly written in the Torah(the first five books of Moses) that the uncircumcised should be cut off and have no part in the covenant of Abraham.

WHAT WAS THE EVIDENCE AGAINST CIRCUMCISION FOR SALVATION

1.Witness no1 , Peter—- Testified that Gentiles received the Holy Ghost, the seal of salvation without Circumcision..if circumcision was the key to salvation, then the Gentiles should not have received the Holy Spirit.

2.That calling the Gentiles to be circumcised was putting a heavy yoke on them
3.That the act of Gentiles receiving the Holy Spirit clearly showed that God had put no difference amongst them, Jews and Gentile believers. Gentile believers, uncircumcised, became Legitimate children of Abraham.

4.That we shall be saved through the grace of God Jews and Gentiles .The Jews did not receive the Holy Spirit because they were circumcised , they received the Holy Spirit because of the grace of God which comes from faith in Jesus Christ .

Peter’s testimony silenced the church and gave room for Paul and Barnabas to give evidence of Gentile conversion.

James who happened to be like the judge of the whole dispute validated Peter’s testimony with the scriptures , the wrings of the prophets.
This means he accepted the fact that Gentiles , uncircumcised ,shall be saved because the holy prophets of old prophesied about it.

JAMES JUDGMENT/SENTENCE

1.Do not trouble the Gentiles that have turned to God.

2.but that they the apostles and elders write unto them that they abstain that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood

REASONING OF THE JUDGMENT

The orders made to the Gentiles arose from the Law of Moses .This is because Moses was still the scriptures believers were reading (and should still be read today ).

Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:
 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day. Acts 15:19-21

Moreover Believers still heard Moses on Sabbath day NOT SUNDAY. (Let us smash that false history that the church made a New sabbath called Sunday because Jesus rose on that day.)

It is through the reading of the Torah the nations knew who Jews were as the laws define the people and so do customs.

This is why Israel is the nation of God because they were given God’s law. The physical temple is a replica of the heavenly temple.

However there are no writings of circumcision in heaven or different foods because heaven has EVERYTHING HOLY with the angels and the saints who are one in God but on earth ,we have diverse nations hence diverse gods and sin has corrupted the world that was once good.

That is why the Law came after sin. Sin caused all man to be separated from God and so God had to separate for himself a people and he did it by giving the laws which explained what God hates and loves and how men should live with one another.

ENFORCING THE JUDGMENT

The letters were written t the Gentile believers whose headquarter was Antioch; and not Rome as some false church historians want people to believe. Also to Christians in Syria and Cilicia where Paul had preached but the Circumcision Salvation preachers also preached and brought confusion in the church.

Acts 15:24-29

Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:
It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth.
For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;
That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

So the issue was settled but this marked a great division in the church until today.

One of the reasons why the settlement still did not heal the rift in the church was because some believers were jealous of Paul . “Paul had just been a persecutor of the church and now he is coming to lecture the church ?”-they thought to themselves.

Thus Paul’s name was maligned and Paul’s epistles all deal with this issue of Circumcision and clearly disproving those who supported Circumcision for Salvation .

The end result of the meeting was that Paul was called the Apostle to the Gentiles(Uncircumcision) while Peter and James Apostles to the Jews (Circumcision).

Not that Paul had not tried to evangelize to his brothers. He did .With tears. He faced stiff opposition even though they respected his scholarship in Jewish Law.

DID THEY CREATE TWO LAWS FOR THE CHURCHES? JERUSALEM OR ANTIOCH

1.No. They actually told Gentiles not circumcise but keep the orders they had given them.
2.Those same orders already applied to Jewish believers as Moses was always read every sabbath to them
3.Salvation is by GRACE… NOT BY LAW…this was the most important statement that came from James and Peter considered the pillars of the Jewish church in Jerusalem.

CONCLUSION
1.The Apostles did not destroy the Law since they read from it every sabbath
2.The Apostles declared that Salvation is THROUGH GRACE
3.The Apostles declared that through the Holy Spirit,there is no difference between Jews and Gentile believers.

Next time we will see how the Law issue arose when Paul was called by the Apostles to keep a certain custom in the Law , yet we know that they were saved by grace.

Arthur Owiti

PAUL OR JAMES –FAITH WITHOUT WORKS OR FAITH WITH WORKS

I have been dragged into a debate that has divided the church for ages. Since the introduction of Christianity.What is faith ? This question has caused splits upon splits in the church when there should be no splits .

In this series we are going to take a biblical trip through the scriptures and see what the word says.

The early church had two divisions the church of the uncircumcision and the church of the circumcision .Paul led the former and Peter the latter.

However there is confusion by many that Paul was anti-circumcision yet he was against the use of circumcision as a means of salvation.Nonetheless he did not call people to stop doing good works, yet this is what many Christians imply about the faith .

Thus today we have the so called legalists and liberalists in the church .However one must know that Obedience to God’s commandments is NOT LEGALISM.Yet many Grace Christians would say so.

This issue is far from being solved and has been and will be a thorn in the church and soon will know which said belongs to the Antichrist and which one does not.

Paul clearly said that in the last days the children of the flesh will persecute the children of the spirit.
The question is who are those children ?

These and many more questions are shall we endeavor to find some answers not all so as to build our faith in Jesus Christ.

THE QUESTIONS WE WILL TACKLE IN THE FAITH SERIES

1. What Law was Paul talking about being a curse ? The Law of man or Law of God..commandments of men or commandments of God ?

2.Was Paul anti -Law when Jesus sad that he came not to destroy the Law ?

3. Were both Paul (faith alone) and James(faith with works) reading from the same score sheet ?

4.Why is it that Christians who say they are under grace and not works, get judgmental when you do not attend their church on Sunday …or is Sunday a Grace day ?

5. Is Faith Liberty to Love or Liberty to sin ?

6.What works was Paul talking about …Circumcision or the Obligations to the Moral Law

and much more . WE pray that we divide the word of God rightly as we study on just what we are required of the Lord .

Arthur Owiti