Down an Unfamiliar Road

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER ONE (Lesson XLV)

Some early twentieth century English translations express the Greek verb didōmi as the “splendor of His grace,”¹ “the manifest splendor of that grace,”² the “generosity of His grace,”³ “His gracious gift of grace,”⁴ to “enhance that glorious manifestation of His loving-kindness” (grace),⁵ being “enriched by His grace,”⁶ “taken us into His favor,”⁷ “made us welcome in the everlasting love He has for His beloved Son,”⁸ and “gave us in The Beloved.”⁹ No wonder this Greek verb is only used two times in the Final Covenant.¹⁰

Even though these translations were not available to Bunyan, he gives his own list and says that the word “grace” signifies all these things,¹¹ in order to make it clear each of these is free to us as an act of God’s own will. That’s why we attribute Grace to our heavenly Father.¹² But it is also attributed to Jesus the Anointed One His Son.¹³ Also to the Holy Spirit.¹⁴ Bunyan feels that he can safely say that the grace of God is extended only on those who will go to heaven. Also, that this assurance of Grace is based on the fact that God ordained His Son to secure our redemption. This Grace is so secure that it gave the Anointed One the power to bring us into a right standing with God the Father.

What is more, due to God’s Grace, the kingdom of heaven was placed in His Son’s hands who was then to share it with whosoever He chooses and makes them co-heirs with Him. Not only that, but all the riches needed to supply our needs are also in the Anointed One’s control.¹⁵ But for Bunyan, one of the most important is that because of God’s Grace we have fellowship with the Anointed One because it was His choice, not ours. It is a gift! No wonder Paul exclaimed here in verse fifteen that he was clueless about being already chosen by the Grace and mercy of God for the ministry given to him before his conversion! ¹⁶

Biblical expositor William Burkitt (1650-1703) feels that here in verse fifteen we are given more evidence to prove that Paul is an Apostle extraordinaire, called by God Himself into the ministry for His special service; and that the doctrine he delivered was not immediately from the mouths of the Apostles, but from the mouth of Yeshua the Anointed One. Based on this, says Burkitt, we can draw a couple of conclusions on the qualifications and person needs to have in order to be accepted as a personal spokesperson for the Divine Godhead.

First, the qualification necessary in a minister in order to reveal Jesus the Anointed One to people is, namely, that the Anointed One must be revealed to them and in them. They must learn about the Anointed One themselves before they attempt to preach Him to others. After it pleased God to reveal His Son to Paul, he felt emboldened to preach Him among the Gentile Heathens. As there is no knowledge like the knowledge of experience; so there is no preaching like experimental preaching. Happy are those who can say, not only that which they heard and read, but have also tasted, and felt, and experienced from the Holy Spirit’s operation in and upon their hearts they then declare to others.

Secondly, how quickly the Apostle Paul is willing to obey the call and command of God after he received it. Immediately, he did not confer with other Apostles or ministers, nor did he consult with his own feelings and logic. Furthermore, he did not raise any questions about his own safety nor other interests but instantly did exactly what he was commanded to do. Once the mind of God is revealed, and a person’s conscience is thoroughly satisfied, they cannot be too quick nor too prompt in the execution of divine commands. Their response, especially ministers, missionaries, and mentors should say as Isaiah said, “Here I am, LORD, send me!” What better way to answer and obey God’s call, and implement God’s will and do what pleases Him, not ourselves. As the young Psalmist said to his LORD, “I will hurry, without delay, to obey Your commands.”¹⁷ When doing God’s work we are not expected to do it quickly, but we are quick to do what God gives us to do.¹⁸

Charles Simeon (1759-1836) compares Paul’s conversion to our own. It is evident that Paul was not chosen because of his self-righteous, but that he was chosen to know the Anointed One for himself and to preach about Him to others. Up to the moment of his conversion, he was a blasphemer, injurious villain, and vicious persecutor. His election can be traced to nothing but the sovereign will of God. And to this must our conversion also be traced if we are truly converted at all. We did not choose the Anointed One, but the Anointed One chose us. In fact, we were chosen of God to be part of the Anointed One before the foundation of the world, and “predestined to be adopted as His children” into His family.

In this very epistle St. Paul makes a great point of this. He speaks of the Galatians as having known God, but fearing that was not enough, they were persuaded to begin the work of salvation on their own even after Paul said “you knew God,” or rather “God knew you.”¹⁹ Let us keep in mind, says Simeon, that if we are converted, it is “not because we loved God, but because He loved us.”²⁰ In fact, “He loved us with an everlasting love; therefore, with loving-kindness, He has drawn us.”²¹

James Haldane (1768-1851) offers some thoughts on the reason for Paul’s calling as the emissary to the Gentiles instead of one of the Apostles in Jerusalem. While the Apostles in Jerusalem no doubt would have rejoiced if Saul of Tarsus met a tragic end in order to stop his persecution of the assemblies of believers. But had that occurred, there is no doubt it would have been a repeat of what happened at the Antioch Church when Peter decided to eat with the Jewish converts instead of the Gentiles. What better candidate was there then to arrest the blood-thirsty persecutor of the Church, one born outside of Israel, and send him to both the Jews and Gentiles? Haldane says that to think otherwise would be poor judgment of God’s decision-making process.²²

In Johann Lange’s (1802-1884) commentary we find an interesting point on Paul’s calling that states: “The moving cause of the call was the Divine pleasure; the mediating cause, the boundless grace of God; the instrument, the heaven-sent voice.”²³ In other words. God’s unending grace is what brought Him great pleasure in calling out to Paul on the road to Damascus. It involved nothing about what Paul did or was going to do, it was all about God’s plan for his life from the beginning.

Daniel D. Whedon (1808-1885), professor of Ancient Languages in Wesleyan University, studied law and spent some years pastoring. He was the editor of the Methodist Quarterly Review for more than twenty years. He says that in Paul’s reasoning that God set him apart from his mother’s womb, it should not be understood as “occurring in the womb” or “before he was born,” but from the moment of his being delivered at birth.²⁴ At that very instant God knew the basic elements of his physical and mental being were such as to make him an obvious choice. In order to be an Apostle he needed to be a Jew; to be an Apostle to the Gentiles, he needed to be a Hellenized Jew.²⁵ He needed powerful vitality, a piercing intellect, and iron will. He needed to be one molded before birth for this wonderful future. Yet, says Whedon, we are not to speculate that Paul’s natural generative process or formation was supernaturally overridden by God to include a divine nature shaped in him as part of nature’s development. His selection and call were placed on him on account of the endowments and qualities that were part of him, which were already in the foreknowledge of God.²⁶

William Anderson O’Conor (1820-1887) feels that Paul’s temperament was such that it tended to make him an individual thinker. He was conscious of having lived from childhood in a self-imposed spiritual cocoon, brooding over his own thoughts and uninfluenced by the outer world. Judaism, which to other men was a great congregational system, binding the masses together by a conventional worship and a superficial sympathy, was to him a depository of divine truth, which he nourished early in life by the warmth of his personal zeal. He who owed nothing to his fellow-men or to any human method for the vitality of his Jewish vows was still above all others and best fitted to be the recipient of a living Christianity.

O’Conor goes on to make note that there was harmony between Paul’s soul and his understanding of the Anointed One and the plan of salvation, and to that portion of mankind to whom he was appointed as an Apostle. The Gospel was to be given without any legal mixture to those who were not under the law. He was to be an Apostle with a special temperament and training, who was so absorbed in the spirit of the law that he was able to leave each letter of the law behind like corn husk. That’s why he was the one chosen to be their teacher. It must be remembered, that the law was a temporary solution for an ongoing problem, and was only a temporary part of God’s divine plan. It was not given to the patriarchs: it was part of Israel’s desperate descent into Egypt, and the demoralized discipline of the Israelites when departing from that country. Moreover, the fact that Paul did not think for a moment of consulting any human being, was not merely from lack of opportunity. He was determined to keep the Gospel given to him pure from legal impurities: it resulted from his long-held attitude and thought process.²⁷

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER ONE (Lesson XLIV)

Then Theodoret of Cyrus (393-466 AD), writing to John the finance officer for the diocese of Cyrus,¹ notifies him that he received information that fresh attacks are being made against the Faith of the Gospels, and, therefore, concluded that there may be more danger by not saying anything against such opposition. He heard that worshipers attending services saw that after certain church elders offered prayer, and concluded it in the customary manner, there were some who then continued the prayer with the benediction of, “For to You belongs glory and to Your Anointed One and to the Holy Spirit, Amen.” At the same time, some others said: “By the grace and lovingkindness of Your Anointed One, with whom belongs glory to You and to the Holy Spirit, Amen.”

But then, an archdeacon in the assembly prohibited the use of the expression, “Anointed One” and stated that only the term “Only Begotten Son” is the one that should be used. Theodoret says, that if this is indeed true, it would be impossible not to speak out against such lack of reverence for the Anointed One. It seems that this archdeacon was either dividing the One Lord Jesus the Anointed One into two Sons and regards the “only begotten Son” as lawful and natural in referring to Jesus, but “Anointed One” was a title that was adopted and is, therefore, illegitimate and should not be used in any benediction.

Theodoret then gets to the main point for breaking his silence. Let no one then foolishly suppose that the Anointed One is any other than the only begotten Son. Let no one imagine themselves wiser than the gift of the Spirit. The wise Apostle Paul fixed no other foundation for his faith other than our Lord Jesus the Anointed One. How then can they think of any other foundation when the great Apostle stated clearly, “I am crucified with the Anointed One, nevertheless I live.”² So why fix another foundation on which to stand than that which is already laid? And again “For me to live is the Anointed One and to die is gain,”³ and again “For I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus the Anointed One and Him crucified.”⁴ And a little before that, he says, “But we preach the Anointed One crucified to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks, the Anointed One the power of God and the wisdom of God.”⁵

Then Theodoret points to what Paul says here in verse fifteen. It was not the twelve apostles, nor Ananias, nor even Paul himself who predetermined that he would end up being the Apostle to the Gentiles, it was Jesus the Anointed One Himself who placed His mark on him before he was even born. And when writing to the Corinthians, Paul did not say, “We preach the Only Begotten Son crucified,” but, “We preach the Anointed One crucified.” This was not meant to show any disrespect to his commission as an Apostle, but that the Anointed One is the only begotten Son of God and the embodiment of God the Word.⁶ It’s amazing how such doctrinal errors found their way into the assembly of believers so early. So we can understand that what is happening in Galatia is already signs of Satan fighting back because he lost the battle on Calvary.

Another early church scholar Haimo of Auxerre (820-865 AD), points out that Peter and the other Apostles, after having been called by the Lord, were not prepared to preach right away. Furthermore, they did not do so right after His resurrection but were told to wait to receive the Holy Spirit. Paul, on the other hand, immediately after he was baptized, entered the synagogue of the Jews and began preaching publicly without any delay. It is true that one can connect the “immediately” to what follows, but it is better to link it to his remark that “God revealed the Son in me:” that is, through me. It is true that Paul began immediately to preach in Damascus. But after a short pause, Paul was led by the Holy Spirit out into the Arabian wilderness for three years to learn more about the Anointed One, just as the disciples follow Jesus for three years before they began their full-time ministries.

To put it another way, the living Word of the Father, namely, the Son, together with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, contains heaven and earth and fills all things. There is no place that the Son does not fill up through the fullness of His power. Because the Son is everywhere through the power of His divinity and fills all places, so He was also in Paul even though he did not realize it. Therefore, when God the Father gave the faith of His Son to Paul, it was at that time that He disclosed His Son to him. The Son Himself was already present there, however, when the Father made this revelation. Just as, for example, the Son was already present in the womb of the Virgin Mary, where He assumed flesh.⁷

This same thought is repeated by Thomas Aquinas 200 years later, but with this explanation of, “from my mother’s womb.” The Jewish synagogue, says Aquinas, was the womb of the synagogue – the college of Pharisees, who trained Paul in Judaism. Did not our Savior say of the Pharisees, “You’ll sail over high seas and journey overland just to make one proselyte.”⁸ Therefore, the synagogue was his womb. Aquinas could almost hear the words of Solomon in Paul’s thinking, “The sons of my mother have fought against me.”⁹ The womb here is the Pharisees. And from this womb, he was separated by the Holy Spirit into faith in the Gospel – “Separated to the Gospel of God.¹⁰”¹¹

In another of his writings, Aquinas was dealing with the question of whether it was proper for any person to ask for the outcome if they didn’t what the story is? Nature does not supply us with two means of coming to a conclusion, says Aquinas, when only one of which will work. The question must come first before an answer can be found. If humanity tries to examine the effects without a cause, how much less does God do so? Just like a farmer firsts sows the seed in the ground before he looks for a harvest, so God sowed the seeds of virtue and ethics in our souls. Therefore, it is unfitting for Him to implant virtues simply by means of infusion.¹² In other words, He plants the seeds of virtue and then watches them grow. That’s why Paul said, that first God separated him from his mother’s womb, then called him by His grace to reveal His Son to him that he might preach Him among the Gentiles, That’s why he didn’t go to anyone to get their approval.¹³ How foolish it would have been for Paul to go out to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles without first being called by God to do so.

Reformer Martin Luther has a similar story about his transition from the old way of looking at his faith by works and to the new way of experiencing and living it through faith by grace. Here’s what he said:

“We also have come to the knowledge of the truth by the same kindness of God. I crucified the Anointed One daily in my cloistered life and blasphemed God by my wrong faith. Outwardly I kept myself chaste, poor, and obedient. I was much given to fasting, watching, praying, saying of masses, and the like. Yet under the cloak of my outward respectability. I continually mistrusted, doubted, feared, hated, and blasphemed God. My righteousness was a filthy puddle. Satan loves such saints. They are his darlings, for they quickly destroy their body and soul by depriving them of the blessings of God’s generous gifts. I tell you I stood in awe of the pope’s authority. To dissent from him, I considered a crime worthy of eternal death. I thought of John Huss as a cursed heretic. I counted it a sin even to think of him. I would gladly have furnished the wood to burn him. I would have felt I did God a real service . . . Did God call me on account of my holy life? Or on account of my Pharisaical religion? Or on account of my prayers, fastings, and works? Never. Well, then, it is certain God did not call me on account of my blasphemies, persecutions, oppression. What prompted Him to call me? His grace alone.”14

John Calvin offers some advice on how to interpret Paul’s words here. The evidence Paul offers for his Apostleship does not appear strong on the surface. Although, when he was converted to Christianity so quickly, without consulting the Apostles he began preaching the Gospel without one of the Apostles as a mentor. So it might be concluded that he assumed that he was appointed to that office by the revelation of the Anointed One. But while the arguments he employs are various, when they are all collected, will be found sufficiently strong to establish his conclusion. He argues, first, that he was called by the grace of God; next, that his Apostleship was acknowledged as valid by the other Apostles; and the other arguments follow. Let the reader, therefore, remember to read the whole narrative together, and to draw the inference, not from single parts, but from the whole.¹⁵ This is good advice for any preacher or teacher. Always check the context before you try to interpret the text.

John Bunyan (1628-1688) was writing on the topic of being saved by grace, and begins by asking what does it mean to be saved? This involves a person being saved for the purpose for which God created them as part of His eternal plan. This leads Bunyan to ask quizzically, does that mean a person can be saved before they were converted? No! To serve that purpose one must be converted. Therefore, it requires that they be brought to the Anointed One first because no one is able to save but the Anointed One.¹⁶ But more than that, to be saved requires that the individual be willing to persevere until the end.¹⁷ Furthermore, only by persevering to the end would they be eligible for the resurrection and safe transfer to their new bodies and soul to heaven for eternity.¹⁸

Bunyan then focuses in on what does it mean to be “saved by grace?” Of all the meanings that Bunyan could find he chose, “God’s unmerited goodwill and favor.” This definition of grace seems best expressed by Paul when he chose an unusual Greek verb didōmi in speaking of God’s glorious grace having been “bestowed”¹⁹ or “freely given”²⁰ to us.²¹ As far as Bunyan is concerned, the Galatians were trying to earn what was freely given to them so that they could claim that it was by their works they are save.

PSI¹ Seminars is the oldest continuously operating personal and professional training company in the U.S., with over 500,000 graduates of the Basic Seminar. Based in Clearlake Oaks, California, it was founded in 1973 by Thomas and Jane Willhite. Thomas once said: If you are looking for yourself, believe me, you will never find “you” because you are what you believe you can become. You and you alone CREATE your own identity.

This certainly sounds similar to what King Solomon said: “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”² It is interesting that the Complete Jewish Bible renders this phrase: “For he is like someone who keeps accounts.” In other words, thinking about where you want to be financially in a year, ten years, or at retirement, you must keep an account of your monetary income and outgo.

So when it comes to what you want to be in the future, writer and development educator, Ruben Chavez, says you need to start acting like the person you want to become. Whatever you do, don’t fake it thinking you’ll make it. Never try to fake your financial status, your so-called accomplishments, or your ego. But even worse, don’t waste your valuable time trying to fake consistency, work ethic, or action. It’s only when a person really knows that they match up with what they claim to be that they are real. But when they know they don’t match up to what they claim, then they are a fake.

The Apostle Paul said that we should not pretend to be what we are not. In order to be what we feel God wants us to be, we must undergo a complete change of mind. If we say we love something or someone, make sure your love is real. ³ Furthermore, the Apostle also said that we should agree with each other when we know it’s the right thing to do, and show our love for each other by being united in our goals and in the way we think. In whatever we do, don’t let selfishness or pride be our guide. Be humble, and honor others more than ourselves. Don’t be interested only in your own life, but care about the lives of others too.⁴

So the bottom line is if you want to become a dependable, loyal, trustworthy, honest, authentic, conscientious, decent spouse, neighbor, friend, co-worker, and most of all, a reliable Christian, don’t wait to become a millionaire, start being what you can be now. You’ll quickly find out your weak areas and be able to strengthen them for the future. It isn’t unreasonable to ask doctors, lawyers, police officers, firefighters, military personnel, etc., to train in order to get better, so why not ask the same of yourself? – Dr. Robert R Seyda

FATHER KNOWS BEST

When I was in grade school we had no TV at home, so I would often spend my time reading, especially if it was raining or cold outside. My favorite books had to do with the settling of America that included pioneer and American Indian stories. One of my favorite authors was Zane Grey. So when I read this story, it brought back childhood memories. I hope the lesson it teaches will resonate with you as well.

It’s the legend of how young Cherokee Indian boys go through the rite of passage to become a man? For any Cherokee lad, his father would take him into the forest, blindfold him and leave him sitting alone on a tree stump the whole night. He was not to remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He could not cry out for help to anyone. If he survives the night, he became a MAN.

But he was forbidden to tell the other boys of his experience because each lad must come into manhood on his own. As the boy sat there in the dark cold night, he was naturally terrified. He could hear all kinds of noises echoing through the forest. Surely, he thought, wild animals must surely be all around watching him. Maybe even some human might find him and do him harm.

As the wind blew swaying the trees, he could feel objects blow across his feet as he sat like a statue on the tree stump. But he did not let it frighten him, he never removed the blindfold. He had to grit his teeth and hold out because it was the only way he could become a man!

Finally, after a horrific night, the sun rays came shining through the tree branches. He knew then it was alright to remove his blindfold. When he did, he discovered his father sitting on the stump right next to him. He had been there watching him the entire night, protecting his son from any harm.

What an appropriate illustration of how all of us grow up from being children of God into men and women of God. This is like a Christian’s rite of passage for all of us. Although at times, we feel like that boy, all alone in the dark without no one around to help us. But in fact, we are never alone. Even when we don’t know it, God is watching over us, sitting right beside us. When trouble comes and we grow frightened, that’s when He reaches out to us to let us know He’s right there. Just because you can’t see God, doesn’t mean He is not there. That’s why the Apostle Paul said that we walk by faith, not by sight.¹ – Dr. Robert R Seyda

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER ONE (Lesson XLIII)

Richard Longenecker believes that the reason it was important in Paul’s day for any Pharisee to see that the Law of Moses was obeyed to the fullest degree, was because it was a vitally important prerequisite for the coming of the Anointed One.¹ This may have been Paul’s Pharisaic attitude when it came to his actions against Christians who, in his eyes, were teaching something totally contrary to his perception of the coming of the Anointed One, by proclaiming this itinerant prophet from Galilee as the Messiah. After all, isn’t this what Moses did when he ordered the immoral Israelites slain at Baal-Peor?² And what about Phinehas ordering the Israelite man and Midianite woman be put to death on the plains of Moab?³ And then there was the actions of Mattathias and the Hasidim in stamping out apostasy from among God’s people.⁴ Or, says Longenecker, it might have been the commendation given to Phinehas for his actions that rang in Paul’s ears as he marched toward Damascus: “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the religious leader, has turned My anger away from the people of Israel. He was jealous with My jealousy among them, so I did not destroy the people of Israel in My jealousy.⁵”⁶

This certainly conforms to what the Essenes taught in their Dead Sea Scrolls.⁷ For instance, in Psalm (Hymn) 4, we find the following words: “The closer I approach [You], the more I am filled with zeal against all workers of iniquity the men of deceit. For none of those who [can] approach You rebel against Your command, nor do any of those who know You alter Your words; for You are righteous, and all Your elect [chosen] are truth [real]. You wilt blot out all injustice and wickedness forever, and Your righteousness will [finally] be revealed before the eyes of all Your creatures.”⁸ These words were written around the time of Jesus’ appearance, so it is not impossible that the Apostle Paul was familiar with them. It certainly would give him more reason to persecute the assembly of believers who worshiped this false Anointed One, Yeshua of Nazareth.

Ronald Fung sees parallelism in what Paul said about why he persecuted the assembly of believers so severely and his total commitment to the ideals of the Pharisees. It was his zeal for this ancestral law as an intense personal concern for its fulfillment, which provided both the inspiration and the vehicle of expression for Paul’s progress in the Jewish religion, and it would seem that his “advance” amounted to, primarily and especially, with “the achievement of righteousness according to the standards and ideals of Pharisaism.” It was the same zeal, moreover, which led to his relentless hostility towards Christianity and intense persecution of the assemblies of believers. Paul claimed there were two forces driving him, which we can see by comparing verse 13b with 14b in the chart below:⁹

13b	beyond measure	I persecuted	the assembly of believers
14b	extremely	zealous for	the traditions of my fathers

Paul was insistent that the Galatians and the Judaizers know what drove him forward and propelled him from being the worst enemy of God and the assembly of believers into being the best friend of God and of these “called-out ones.” He felt that his first motivation (13b) came from him, the second motivation (14b) came from God. That’s why they needed to understand that Paul did not forsake all to follow Jesus the Anointed One by any personally induced karma or vow. It was all God’s doing.

Don Garlington gives a very descriptive review of what the term “zeal” meant to a Jew before and in Paul’s day. Some commentators wish to restrict zeal to “ardent observation of the Torah,” in conformity to what was expected of a first-century Jew. It certainly meant such. But the very mention of zeal calls to mind the war for independence against the Syrians some two hundred years before Paul wrote Galatians. The war was spearheaded by an aged priest named Mattathias who issued the summons: “Let everyone who is zealous for the law and supports the covenant come out with me!”¹⁰ Mattathias himself was a mirror copy of Phinehas,¹¹ whose own zeal for Yahweh set the pattern for all subsequent defenders of covenant purity. Garlington tells us that Pentecostal scholar N. T. Wright notes zeal for a first-century Jew was something he did with a knife. Remember Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane? From that point onward, “zeal for the law” became a battle cry for all loyalist Jews.¹²

Thomas Lancaster highlights Paul’s argument on why he could not have received any education or mentoring from the Apostles that resulted in his understanding of the Gospel and initiated his being called as an Apostle to the Jews. Up until Paul became a disciple of Yeshua of Nazareth, he hated all the disciples of Yeshua. He persecuted them and actually hunted them down to have them incarcerated and even martyred. As such, he displayed a mean streak that drove him to become the most zealous persecutor of Christian believers during his time. After he observed Stephen’s stoning, Paul broke his allegiance with his teacher Gamaliel, defying his ruling regarding the believers .¹³ He went over to the Sadducees, to Caiaphas the high priest, for legal permission to hunt them down, drag them out of synagogues and publicly punish them with severe flogging. It would be three years before he ever met the Apostolic Council in Jerusalem.¹⁴

1:15 But little did I know that by the mercy of God I was chosen for this ministry before I was separated from my mother’s womb.

Being chosen was something that Paul was taught from his youth up. Moses told the children, “The Lord did not give you His love and choose you because you were more people than any of the nations. For the number of your people was less than all nations.”¹⁵ This was something Samuel needed to remind them of when they became worried because they thought to ask for a king somehow hastened his death.¹⁶

Then when King David neared the end of his life and was turning everything over to his son Solomon, he gave the people assurance that all of this was part of God’s plan. He told them, “The Lord, the God of Israel, chose me from all the house of my father to be the king of Israel forever. For He has chosen Judah to be a leader. And in the house of Judah, my father’s house, and among my father’s sons, He was pleased to make me king of all Israel. The Lord has given me many sons. And of all my sons, He has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the nation of the Lord over Israel. He said to me, ‘Your son Solomon is the one who will build My house and My open spaces. For I have chosen him to be My son, and I will be his father.”¹⁷

This was not the first time Paul mentioned being chosen. He wrote the Corinthians, “I have been chosen by God to be a missionary of Jesus the Anointed One.”¹⁸ And all of this fit into God’s plan. As he told the Ephesians, “God already planned to have us as His own children. This was done by Jesus the Anointed One. In His plan God wanted this done… He planned long ago to send the Anointed One into the world. The plan was for the Anointed One to gather us all together at the right time.”¹⁹ So if all this was already part of God’s plan for this world and His assembly of believers back then, can we not then believe that the same is the case today? Take heart, none of what you see or hear is by accident. It is all part of God’s great plan.

Paul’s mention that, in his case, he was unknowingly called to this ministry even before he was born. This certainly was something that Paul knew about by studying the prophet Isaiah.²⁰ And the prophet Jeremiah was also given the same assurance by the Lord, “Before I started to put you together in your mother, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart as holy. I chose you to speak to the nations for Me.”²¹ How could all of this be possible? As we have learned before, God’s mystery plan of salvation was already conceived and planned in eternity past. It is only now being revealed and coming true.

For me, we can see this illustrated in Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. This involves the speed of light through space. We know that it takes approximately 8 minutes and 20 seconds for light to travel from the sun to earth. So when you look up at the sun, what you see was in existence for 8 minutes and 20 seconds before you felt it. By the same principle the light from earth’s nearest star, Alpha Centauri, reaches us after traveling through space for 4 years at 186,000 miles per second. That means when you look at this star, what you see already existed 4 years ago before you saw it. So what can we say to galaxies and planets that are hundreds and thousands of light years away? The same as Paul said about the mystery of God’s plan to save not only the Jews but the Gentiles. When it started to happen through Paul’s ministry, this plan was already in effect before such a thing as time and years and centuries were every thought of.

You might take heart in believing that your call by grace out of sin into a personal relationship with God through His Son, was not a last minute decision. It was planned all along before you were born. But there are some, who when they felt the heat of the Holy Spirit’s presence bringing the light of truth of their sinfulness and God’s offer to redeem them through the work of His Son on the cross on your behalf, they run for cover; they put up the umbrella of resistance. Thank God every day that you finally saw the light, felt the warmth of His love, and heard the voice of the Spirit calling you.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER ONE (Lesson XLII)

It was the characteristic of a Pharisee to hold these traditions as being of equal authority with the principles of the Law. Not only that but in many cases, they awarded them preference. That’s why our Lord told them, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!”¹ These are the traditions that Paul mentions and admits his zeal for observing them to the very letter. After all, in his mind, these things were absolutely necessary for salvation. That why he now tried to convince the Galatians, that his preaching of justification without works of the Law could be attributed to nothing less than the force of truth communicated to him through a revelation from God’s Son by the Holy Spirit.²

James Haldane felt that it was worth mentioning back in the late 1700s in Europe, what corrupted the Jewish religion in Paul’s day, corrupted the Christian religion in Haldane’s day. Both religions held doctrines attributed to the same Holy Scriptures. Both believed that they were given by inspiration of God through the Holy Spirit. Once the educated Rabbis began teaching their understanding of the Scriptures, the Torah was put away, and only what the Rabbis said about the Torah was taught in their synagogues. This was done as a way of preserving the true message of what Moses taught and was seen as an honor to God. In England, the church clergy was doing the same thing by putting their words above the Word of God.

But Haldane believes by doing so they took away the key of knowledge. Jews even forbid the reading of the Torah least someone misinterpreted it. When Rabbis disagreed in their interpretations, it was not on what the Torah said but on what the other Rabbi said. Unfortunately, the same thing happened to the Roman Catholic Church in the Middle Ages. Only priests were allowed to read the Scriptures, but even they never read the Gospels through to see what was said. They took the word of the Vatican teachers and most of all, the Pope. What he said became “ex-cathedra.”³

Believe it or not, even in Evangelical and Pentecostal churches, the creeds and Declarations of Faith that they composed were the final interpretations of whatever Scriptures were attached to them. More people were dismissed from local church roles over violation of church rules than any offence against the Scriptures. But today, the pendulum seems to have swung the other way. While church rules have been softened and not enforced to the letter, the Bible still seems to be a sealed book to many ministers and believers. It is a sad thing that so many Christians are ignorant of even the fundamentals of God’s Holy Word.⁴

Johann Lange believes that Paul is talking here about more than just what he was taught as a Pharisee. His education included the whole Jewish religion. Lange notes that J. B. Lightfoot’s paraphrase of verse thirteen: “My early education is proof that I did not receive the Gospel from man. I was brought up in a rigid school of ritualism, directly opposed to the liberty of the Gospel,”⁵ is proof enough that Paul’s training in Judaism left no room for the Gospel, which came later. Being subject to the constant repetition in memorizing the principles of his Jewish faith is what led him to become a relentless persecutor of the Christian faith. So his conversion to Christianity did not come from some splinter group within Judaism, which was more tolerant of opposing views.⁶ He became a member of the “called out ones” who followed Yeshua of Nazareth because He was the true Messiah.

Alfred E. Bouter (born 1943) sees a comparison between Paul’s fanatic commitment to the principles of Jewish Pharisaism and the Law, and his ultimate commitment to the Gospel of Yeshua the Anointed One and the Cross. Bouter offers a paraphrase of verses thirteen and fourteen to make his point. “For you have heard what was my conversation formerly in Judaism, that I excessively persecuted the assemblies of believers, and ravaged them and advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my nation, being exceedingly zealous of the doctrines of my fathers.”

So when the Lord came to earth, His problem was not with the Law itself that God authorized for Moses to mediate with the children of Israel. Yeshua proved to be a perfect Jew. He lived His life according to the Law God gave through Moses. He Himself said, “Don’t misunderstand why I came. I did not come to abolish the Law of Moses or the Writings of the prophets. No, I came to fulfill them all perfectly.”⁷ He was a law-abiding Jew, the only One who ever kept the Law to perfection. Even a zealot like Paul could not compare to Him. His conflict was not with the Law but with the Jews’ interpretations of the Law and their man-made traditions (later recorded in the Mishnah, the Talmud), and in other rabbinical writings.

The conflict the Lord encountered with rabbinic Judaism, was not the Law of Moses, and its oral laws of the Rabbis of which He was always in disagreement. As for Paul, before his conversion he promoted rabbinic Judaism and was, therefore, by definition, in conflict with the Lord, as he was “exceedingly zealous of the doctrines of his forefathers.”⁸ It was not until Paul gave up his oral law and traditions of the Pharisees to accept the Teaching of Yeshua the Anointed One that he finally saw the light. The Messiah’s teachings agreed with the Law of Moses – which spoke of the Messiah as the successor to Moses,. Based on that Paul was able to reject his errant ways.⁹

Avi ben Mordechai (born 1960) points out that it was exactly this departure by Paul from enforcing the oral laws of the Rabbis and his return to the pure words of the Written Torah and the Prophets,¹⁰ that stirred up so many of the Jewish leaders wherever he went to become his avid enemies,¹¹ and attempt to do to him what they did to Yeshua.¹² So Paul is painting a picture of himself as one time being a great rabbinical master of Jewish oral law, who is now seen by his former friendly friends and colleagues as nothing but a traitor and needed to be silenced. Not because he was breaking the Law, but because they didn’t want to let the truth get out.¹³

As mentioned before, when Paul speaks of the traditions of his forefathers he is talking about oral Rabbinical teachings that later became part of the Mishnah and Talmud. Jewish scholar Adriaan Liebenberg (born 1970) enforces that concept by noting that Paul is revealing who he was before the Anointed One appeared to him. He tells us that he was a very learned man in the oral teachings of the Rabbis.¹⁴ Although he did study the Torah and knew it exceptionally well, many of the teachings and traditions of Judaism were based on the traditions of the elders. Many of these teachings and traditions contradicted the Written Torah. The reason why Paul persecuted the “Assembly of Elohim” is because the Pharisaical law, which was based on Oral Law, was the Law of the State of Israel. Anyone rejecting the Oral Law and following only what is written in the Hebrew Scriptures was persecuted by the Pharisaical rulers.¹⁵

Another Jewish writer, Tim Hegg, asks if Paul’s use of the word “Judaism” here to identify a split between “Judaism” and “Christianity” that already occurred in his time? No! Not in the normal understanding of the word “Christianity.” But it does indicate that the people of “The Way” already had a different view of what membership in the covenant of Abraham really meant and that this fell outside of the boundaries of the Judaism defined according to a Pharisaic view of covenant membership status. Paul uses the Greek noun loudaismos to identify what the KJV calls, “the Jews religion.” It is interesting that the Complete Jewish Bible renders it, “the traditions handed down by my forefathers,” even though the earliest Orthodox Jewish Bible used Yahadut – Judaism.

Unfortunately, during the time following the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, early church writer Ignatius already identified this word Judaism as “that which stood opposed to” Christianity. For instance, in his Letters to the Magnesians, he pits “Judaism” against “Christianity,” which he defines as those who believe in Yeshua of Nazareth as the Messiah. In the short version of this letter, Ignatius wrote: “Be not deceived with strange doctrines, nor with old fables, which are unprofitable. For if we still live according to Jewish law, we acknowledge that we have not received grace. For the divine prophets lived according to the Anointed One – Jesus.”¹⁶ So for early Jewish converts, according to Ignatius, “It is absurd to profess Jesus the Anointed One and to live under Judaism. For Christianity did not embrace Judaism, but Judaism embraced Christianity, so that tongue which believers might use be in union with God”¹⁷.¹⁸

We have a similar situation with the history of Protestantism. At first, it was not an outside organization or cult opposed to the Roman Catholic Church. Many of its early leaders, like Martin Luther, we devout Catholics. The more they read the Scriptures the more they saw that the Church needed reform. So they attempted to reform it from within. It was only when the Roman Church authorities rejected their reforms that they were excommunicated and forced to struggle to stay alive on their own. But before then they tried their best to get the Church’s leadership to see the light. But all for naught. Some of the individual state governments were allowed to choose between Luther’s point of view and that of the Vatican. But that was also denied and religious freedom died. As a result, the followers of Luther and others filed a “Protest” against the cancellation of this freedom. Hence they became known as “Protestants.” So it might be in error for any church organization to refer to themselves as “Protestants” when, in fact, they are not protesting anything the Roman Catholic Church does in the realm of ecumenism.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER ONE (Lesson XLI)

Even though Paul excelled as a Pharisee in the Jewish religion, he would later come to learn that he was like those God spoke of to Isaiah who says “they belong to me.” They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but memorized prayers and creeds.¹ Also, very much similar to what was said about them later as being uncaring and self-centered.² The sad part is that when Paul said he rose above others in the ranks it simply means there were many more just like him, of which he was the best.³ But as the prophet Jeremiah learned, being the best at doing what’s wrong does not count with God.⁴ These are the same people Jesus dealt with during His time on earth, and we must deal with today.⁵ No wonder Paul warned the Colossians to be aware of such misguided pretenders.⁶

After reading this verse, Chrysostom feels that Paul is saying: what he did against the assemblies of believers was done, not on man’s account but, through zeal for God – mistaken zeal, but zeal nonetheless – so how can he be accused of promoting the assembly of believers just to make himself look good when what he does now for the assembly of believers is done because he knows the truth?⁷ And Jerome feels that Paul is wisely adding to the discussion the fact that he did what he did out of adherence to the traditions of his forefathers, not because it was a law of God. This he no doubt based upon the fact that the Pharisees, who teach doctrines and precepts of men and reject the Law of God, do so to set up their own traditions.⁸

Theologian Robert Gundry gives us a descriptive look at the language Paul uses here to describe his advancement through the ranks of Jewish scholars. Gundry contends that the literal translation of the Greek reads, “I was beating my way forward in Judaism,” means the same as “I was advancing in Judaism.” But a literal translation come across so well with “persecuting the assemblies of believers outrageously and wreaking havoc on it” that it makes one wonder whether Paul intended to portray his advancement in Judaism being credited to him at the expense of the Christians he ravaged.⁹ To put it another way, imagine Paul saying: “I beat my way through the crowd of my fellow Jews in order to get to Christians so I could persecute them, and thereby worked my way up to the front of a zealous mob.”

Gundry then goes on to explain that the phrase: “Beyond my many contemporaries among my kinfolk” (“above many of my equals” – KJV) portrays his advancement, at least in comparative terms, and perhaps also in competitive terms. Even if only in the comparative, we detect self-righteousness in pre-Christian Paul.¹⁰ “Beyond my many contemporaries” may also mean “beyond my contemporaries, who were many,” in which case he claims to have surpassed all his contemporaries in the practice of Judaism. Then the statement: “Being an extraordinary zealot” (“being more exceedingly zealous” – KJV) is reminiscent of the extraordinary zealot Phinehas in the Sinai wilderness.¹¹ And finally: “For my ancestral traditions” (“of the traditions of my fathers” – KJV) doesn’t refer to the First Covenant as such – rather, to it as interpreted in the Pharisaic school of thought which Paul attended to become a Pharisee.¹²

As Gundry sees it: That a revelation of Jesus the Anointed One tore Paul loose from those traditions despite his extraordinary zeal for them should draw the Galatians away from the non-gospel of the Judaizers and back to the Gospel he proclaimed to them. In other words, Paul, at one time, was in deeper and more committed to the old way of the Law than any of these Jewish believers or converted non-Jews in Galatia would ever be. So if the Anointed One could rescue him and set him on the right path, then certainly they should see that the liberation they received through the Gospel Paul preached to them should do the same.¹³

Messianic writer Daniel Thomas Lancaster gives us his view of what Paul is saying here. Says Lancaster, that when Paul said he was advancing in Judaism zealously according to the old traditions, he was not saying “I used to be a legalistic, law-abiding, orthodox Jew, but after finding Jesus I dumped all that.” The Greek verb prokoptō translated as, “going forward, advancing,” is a term which originally meant “ships making headway against the wind and waves at sea.” But Jewish historian Josephus and other contemporary literature of that time used it to mean “making great progress in education.” Paul was really saying: I was an important disciple of an important teacher (Rabban Gamaliel the Elder), and I was zealous to learn the Oral Law, namely, the traditions, and I was advancing very fast to the top of the class. I was headed for a big seat on the Sanhedrin; I was going to be one of the top scholars because I was a prodigy of Gamaliel.¹⁴

By listing the religious pedigree he once cherished but now counts as insignificant, Paul gives us a chance to look at the history of Judaism and the Law. The Jewish faith, based on what God revealed to Moses and passed on through the Prophets, increased by an incredibly large volume of traditions and customs as added by Israel’s religious hierarchy. In his case, Paul was very familiar with the additional teachings that the Scribes and Rabbis added to God’s Law. As such, it became a form of psychological and religious reinforcement from a select group who focused on what the flesh could do to please God and not on what faith could do. Therefore, the Galatians needed to be aware that Paul was not some obscure religious hermit, but that he attained a higher level of respect among his peers than any of them would ever reach.

But now he sees the same thing happening to the Gospel given to believers by the Anointed One Himself. These Judaizers wanted to add some of these same old traditions and customs to improve the teachings of Jesus. This upset Paul because he believed that the Anointed One’s sacrifice, as well as his own personal sufferings, should have given the Galatians a new perspective on the spiritual reinforcement of Love. Here the focus was on others and being significant in their lives. Paul is basically saying: If by following what the Anointed One said is not good enough to get us into heaven, then we might as well throw the whole thing away and start all over.

As a preacher of the Gospel, I cherish the Cross of the Anointed One as much as anyone, and I made it one of the central points of my preaching. But I wonder sometimes if we haven’t taken away it’s real appeal by dressing it up with silver, gold, and precious stones to make it look like an artifact or souvenir, rather than the gross object of torture it really was. Wearing the cross attached to one’s lapel or draped around one’s neck for all to see is not as significant as wearing it attached to the heart and draped in front of the mind for all to experience.

Ambrosiaster sums up what he finds significant here in Paul’s writings. He concludes that if Paul, who was an Israelite and held the rank of rabbi among the Jews, having studied with Gamaliel, a brilliant teacher, and stood head and shoulders above his peers and contemporaries, abandoned the Law for Yeshua, how much less should those outside the Law subject themselves to it! And if this man rejoiced at having gotten out from under the heavy yoke of slavery to the Law, why should the Galatians now lose their freedom to be chained to the Law?¹⁵

Martin Luther continues to compare his personal experience to that of Paul’s. Even as the Apostle was enlightened by the Gospel, so Luther was unfamiliar with their message. And just as Paul was zealous for Judaism’s laws, rites, rituals, regulations, and ceremonies, the same was true of Luther’s zeal for those same things in the Roman Catholic Church. In Luther’s own words he said, “I tried hard to live up to every law as best I could. I punished myself with fasting, meditating, praying, and other exercises more than all those who today hate and persecute me. I was so much in earnest that I imposed upon my body more than it could stand. I honored the pope as a matter of conscience. Whatever I did, I did with a single heart to the glory of God.”¹⁶ Luther is certainly to be applauded for his dedication, but once he found out it was driving him further and further away from God and the Gospel, the more he understood when doing something in error, no matter how zealous you are, it still does not make it right. If there’s anything that keeps you from going directly to God through His Son, it’s best to be free of it before it destroys your freedom to choose.

The Syriac Version translates verse fourteen this way: “I went much farther in Judaism than many of my contemporaries who were of my nation, and was peculiarly zealous for the doctrine of my fathers.”¹⁷ In other words, Paul knew more about the oral teachings started by the scribe Ezra in 450 BC, that would eventually wind up in the Mishnah and Talmud, than his fellow students, but only because he spent more time studying at the feet of Gamaliel than they did. His own personal dedication and persistence are what paid off by expanding his knowledge of what previous Jewish Rabbis said. It wasn’t some inherent superior brainpower that made this possible, but it was his actions in pursuing the truth of his religion. No wonder he was so opposed to any other interpretations of what these Jewish teachers said. And since they did not accept any other Anointed One than the one they envisioned, since Yeshua the Nazarene did not fit their description, he was vehemently opposed to those who heralded Him as the Anointed One. That’s was, until he met Jesus, then everything changed dramatically.

Joseph Benson finds it interesting that Paul mentioned the fact that he started his studies with many boys of the same age. When they arrived in Jerusalem to study for their bar mitzvah, they were all at the same level of education. But then Saul began to pull ahead because of his enthusiasm and zeal to learn the writings of the Rabbis. Over and over he studied their comments on the Law until it was burned into his mind. These are what the Gospel writers and our Lord called the traditions of men began to separate them from what was written by Moses and the Prophets. And then becoming a Pharisee was the crown jewel of Jewish accomplishment. So Paul was not someone down at the bottom looking up at these Judaizers, but someone at the top looking down on them.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER ONE (Lesson XL)

But let me illustrate, says Bunyan, one reason why the Anointed One, Jesus, shows mercy to sinners is so that they will love Him more. That way, they will start loving Him instead of the things of this world. Now, if He loves to be loved a little, certainly He loves to be loved a lot. Yet, there are few capable of loving Him that much except those that were forgiven much.¹ But the Apostle Paul confessed, that of all the sinners the Anointed One came into the world to save, he was the worst..² That’s why he labored more for the Anointed One than many others because he sinned against God more than others..³ But Paul let people know that wasn’t because of anything that he did that caused him to love the Anointed One, it was because of the grace of God shown to him. That’s why Paul here in verse fifteen reminded the Galatians that they heard all about his former life as a persecutor of Jesus and His followers, but now they’re hearing of him as a preacher for Jesus the Anointed One.

Bunyan could almost hear Paul saying to the Galatians: You talk about grace! You don’t know how much grace it took to save me! It required the marvelous grace of God to look down from heaven on me and rescue me from the terrible end I was headed for. To say that I am now captivated with the sense of the riches of His grace would be an understatement. That’s why I work so hard for Him; for how could I do otherwise since God not only separated me from my sins and from sinners but sanctified all the talents and abilities I have for His royal service? Oh! I’ll never forget His love, nor the circumstances under which I came into contact with that love. When His love took hold of me. I was on my way to Damascus with letters from the high-priest to wreak havoc on God’s people there. That was until that wonderful man of God named Ananias made intercession for me to the Lord that He would have mercy on me. That’s when I became a monument of grace. It made a saint out of me because I was fully persuaded that my transgressions were forgiven and that I now knew I was right with God.⁴

John Edmunds (1801-1874) gives us some insight into why, after Paul’s conversion and the laying on of hands by Ananias in Damascus, he headed for the Arabian Desert instead of for Jerusalem to receive his ordination from the Apostles. The only prior communication between Paul and them was when he helped to hold the cloaks of those who stoned Stephen to death. From there on out he was infamous as the raging persecutor of Christians, causing many of them, men and women, to be dragged off to prison.⁵ It would be like inviting the fox back to apologize to the farmer for killing so many of his chickens. There were plenty of reasons for the Apostles back in Jerusalem to doubt his story and suspect him of being a wolf wearing a sheepskin costume. In fact, after things quieted down, he still would not have gone to the holy city were it not for Barnabas taking him there and vouching for him as being a genuine dedicated believer in Jesus.⁶

Benjamin Jowett (1817-1893), a theology professor at the University of Oxford, gives a similar paraphrase of Paul’s words by having the Apostle say: All of you who know about my former life will totally agree that it was nothing short of a miracle, that I was converted. After I tell you the whole story you will also see how impossible it was that I received the Gospel message I preach, from anyone other than Jesus the Anointed One.⁷ What Jowett is trying to communicate, I believe, is that because of Paul’s stringent persecution of the assembly of believers, he was considered so dangerous that none of the Apostles in Jerusalem would even venture to invite him there, nor come to Damascus to train him. In fact, if it had not been for Barnabas’ intervention, he may have never met Peter, James, and John..⁸

Looking at Paul’s conversion from a Jewish perspective, one Jewish writer notes that it is critical that we recognize the sentence structure of the Greek sentence in this verse to gain a proper understanding of Paul’s confession. His rendition of verse thirteen reads: “For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I violently persecuted the assembly of believers and tried to destroy it.” The word order shows that the Greek particle pote – “former,” (“in time past” – KJV; “my previous way” – NIV), modifies the Greek noun Ioudaïsmos – “life in Judaism.” (“the Jews religion” – KJV). This careful observation is made to show a shift within the makeup of Judaism and not outside of it. Paul did not leave Judaism for a new religion called Christianity. What he did do was switch party lines, from an unbelieving Jewish Pharisee to a believing Yeshua Pharisee, all within the confines of 1st-century Judaism.⁹

Jewish writer Avi ben Mordechai reminds us of how significant Paul’s background was in understanding why he was so persecuted by the Jews no matter which Synagogue he went into during his missionary journeys. After all, he studied under Gamaliel,¹⁰ one of the most highly respected members of the Sanhedrin of that era. But there were other things that made this significant. Gamaliel and those who served before him worked with the chief priests who were aligned with Rome and the Sadducees. Together, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes enforced Rome’s political policies and Judaism’s rabbinical oral laws above the Law of Moses. This is what Paul bought into when he was a Pharisee and a fanatical persecutor of this new group of dissenters who followed the Nazarene called Yeshua, and referred to their teachings as “The Way.”¹¹ And why not, Yeshua said He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life.¹² So Paul was not some ragtag individual who wanted to get attention by persecuting these followers of Yeshua. He was part of the establishment and given their backing in his endeavors to jail and even kill them.¹³ Paul shares how he felt about this in the next verse.

Tim Hegg, another Jewish writer, echoes the same thing. He suggests that we should note that the word “former,” which, when functioning as a particle means “once upon a time,” in modifying the word “manner of life” or “lifestyle.”¹⁴ It does not imply that Paul formerly lived within Judaism but at the time he wrote the Galatians, he was no longer living within Judaism. What he is contrasting is his personal adherence to Jewish Law before and after his faith in Yeshua as the Anointed One, not his former life in Judaism as opposed to his present life apart from Judaism. We might compare his words to what Paul told the Ephesians, “So far as your former way of life is concerned, you must strip off your old nature because your old nature is thoroughly rotted by its deceptive desires.¹⁵”¹⁶

In Andrew Roth’s translation of the Aramaic text of verse thirteen, it gives us the same impression. It reads: “You have heard then, regarding my previous conduct in Judaism, especially about how I followed (pursued) the congregation of Elohim and greatly devastated it.” Ronald Fung also sees Paul’s purpose here is to offer evidence of the divine origin of his Gospel and thereby also for his claim to be an apostle by direct revelation. That’s because “Gospel” and “Apostleship” are for him “quite inseparable: they form the two sides of the one coin bearing the impress of the authority of God’s divine will. So Paul appeals first to his non-Christian past, representing it as something that the Galatians already heard of.¹⁷

Grant Osborne does not believe that Paul stopped being Jewish and became a Gentile. In fact, in Acts of the Apostles, it shows that he continued to observe many aspects of the sacrificial system and never repudiated his Jewish background.¹⁸ Rather, he was a Jewish Christian. He stopped being a slave to the Law under the First Covenant and became part of free-will service in the Final Covenant. When he performed a sacrifice or followed a purity law, he did so from the perspective of one who followed the Anointed One. In fact, Paul found no issues that bothered him over certain Jewish holidays, feasts, and certain rituals as long as they were never counted as merit toward justification and salvation.¹⁹

1:14 I went far beyond anything those of my age in studying the ancient traditions of the Jewish religion. I was totally committed to following these teachings with all my heart and soul.

Paul is not finished letting the Galatians know where he came from on his path to believing in the Anointed One and His Gospel. The same thing emerges almost as clear in one of his other epistles where he argues that he has greater reason for confidence in the flesh than others do. After mentioning his circumcision on the eighth day, he itemizes significant bragging points which are his by virtue of birth, namely, “being of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews.” Then he lists three reasons for confidence in the flesh which are his own achievements: “as to the Law a Pharisee” – a member of a prestigious group of Jews; “as to zeal a persecutor of the assembly of believers,” that is, he was so ardent that he actively persecuted those he opposed; and “as to following religious laws, he was blameless,” that is, a perfect follower of Jewish religious rituals and regulations.

But Paul had a complete turnaround. All these things that were important to me, but because of the Anointed One, I decided that they are worth nothing. Not only these things but now I think that all things are worth nothing compared with the greatness of knowing the Anointed One Jesus my Lord. Because of the Anointed One, I threw away all these things, now that I know that they are all worthless trash. All I want now is the Anointed One. I want to belong to him. In the Anointed One, I am right with God, but my being right does not come from following the Law.²⁰

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER ONE (Lesson XXXIX)

Venerated Medieval Catholic theologian, Robert of Melun, makes a comparison between Paul and the Catholic Church in his day. He starts by pointing out that some Catholics were asking whether the Apostle Paul sinned by persecuting the assembly of believers? They wanted to know since he showed such zeal for the Law and believed he must do this for God’s sake. Many Catholics still hold this position, says Robert. For when conscience dictates that people must do something for God’s sake, they would sin if they did not do it since they would then be acting against their own conscience. Yet if they were to do it, they would offend God. Moreover, “everything that is not of faith is a sin.”¹

Consequently, notes Robert, for such people, Paul believed that he must persecute these assemblies of believers in the Name of God. If he refused to do so, he would be showing contempt for God and would thereby be sinning. Then again, to persecute the assembly of believers is in itself a sin. So, it would seem that he sins if he does this, and yet sins in his conscience if he does not. Either way, then, he would end up sinning. Some people concede, therefore, that the Apostle would have sinned no matter what he did. This was the thinking of some during the Middle Ages.

Others, however, say that his desire was good because he wished to demonstrate his obedience to God, obedience that he exhibited by destroying what he thought was contempt for God by these Christians. Yet the deed itself was still evil and wrong because he carried it out based upon an incorrect understanding. Nevertheless, the zeal and fervor of love that was in the Apostle’s heart were good, and it is on that basis that the erroneous deed is excused.² Sometimes misplaced zeal and enthusiasm can do more harm than good.

Not only were Medieval Catholics judged by such criteria, but Protestants and Pentecostals followed suit. In many cases, Catholics were not only censured by what they did in contradiction to Roman Catholic teachings, but they were also criticized for what they did not do as taught and outlined by Catholic doctrine. For instance, if they did not pray to the saints each day for a certain length of time; pray the Rosary or go to the confession booth on a regular basis; or, in some cases, if they were not baptized in water as the Church specified it should be done, they were looked down on as being insincere. However, those who followed such dictates with holistic fervor were seen as the holiest in their dedication to God and Catholicism. My, what a heavy burden to carry!

Those who’ve studied the Greek writings available in Paul’s day have noted that the way most men dealt with traditional teachings, even teachings of their own country, was to receive them all exactly as they were delivered, without applying any critical test of authenticity whatsoever.³ Jewish scholars, like Paul, did the same thing. We can even say, that in some fundamental Protestant and Pentecostal denominations many ministers followed the same pattern of preaching what they heard from the previous generation without finding out, through research and study, if what they were preaching was Biblically correct.

Martin Luther gives a personal testimony about his conversion. He came to the knowledge of the truth by the same kindness of God. From his own lips, Luther confessed that he crucified the Anointed One daily in cloistered life as a monk, and blasphemed God by practicing his wrong faith. Outwardly he kept himself celibate, poor, and obedient. He was constantly fasting, tarrying, praying, saying the masses, and the like. Yet under the cloak of his outward respectability, he continually mistrusted, doubted, feared, hated, and blasphemed God. His self-righteousness was like a muddy puddle of water. But now, he realizes that Satan loves such saints. They are his darlings, for they quickly destroy their body and soul by depriving themselves of the blessings of God’s generous gifts. He also stood in awe of the pope’s authority. To dissent from him, he considered a crime worthy of eternal death.

Luther heard about Bohemian Reformer John Huss (1369-1415),⁴ and considered him as nothing but a cursed heretic. He counted it a sin even to even think about him. He would have gladly gathered the wood to burn him. And, he would feel that he was doing God a real service.⁵ Then one day, Luther was rummaging through the shelves of a library and happened upon a volume of sermons by Huss. “I was overwhelmed with astonishment,” Luther later wrote. “I could not understand for what cause they burned such great a man at the stake, a man who explained the Scriptures with so much gravity and skill.” Everyone’s testimony is different, but the principle is the same. Doing what you think was right without knowing how wrong it is. Like a rancher’s son who was taught from his youth up that red meat was the most beneficial for protein and muscle build, only to find out later how much it contributed to cholesterol and blocked arteries.

Reformer John Calvin also noticed how strongly Paul was attached to the old customs and how he strove to get ahead of his peers in compliance. Calvin points out that those Paul called his equals were those of his own age; for a comparison with older persons would have been unsuitable. When he speaks of the traditions of the fathers, he means, not those oral traditions by which the Law of God was corrupted, but the Law of God itself. This was the kind of education Paul received from his childhood, which was supplied through the hands of his ancestors and parents. Having been strongly attached to the customs of his forefathers, it would have been no easy matter to tear himself from them, were it not for the fact that the Lord drew him away by a miracle.⁶

Puritan theologian William Perkins (1558-1602) tells a personal story to go along with what Paul is telling the Galatians about his conversion. Perkins recalled, that a minister was invited to speak to a Protestant congregation in western England. There was much persecution then against the Puritans, this is why they fled to America. Three young men entered the church with the intention of interrupting the minister and even brought stones in their pockets for that purpose. Not too long after the minister began, one of the youths cursed and whispered, “Let’s have a go (attack) at him now.” But one of the others cautioned that they should wait a little longer just in case he said something that they could really harass him for. After a short time, another boy in the group said, “We’ve heard enough, let’s throw some stones now.” But again, the older boy stopped him. “He’s not as bad as I expected. Let’s hear a little more.” In Perkins’ own words he says: “The preacher concluded without having been interrupted.” Now mark my words, one of these three young men was later executed for forgery; the second sits under a death sentence for murder; the third, through the infinite mercy of God, is the one speaking to you now.⁷ No doubt Paul felt the same way.

Jakob Arminius (1560-1609) shares what he thinks about those who must learn by overcoming some weakness or obstruction put in their path out of ignorance. It’s like taking away a stony heart and having a soft heart put in its place.⁸ This is accomplished by the Holy Spirit by exciting in the hearts of believers sacred respect and reverence for God.⁹ From what these Scriptures say, those acts will easily be made manifest if all ideas are suspended that might allow sins of every kind.

Think about this: God permitted Saul, whom “in His anger, He gave to the Israelites as their king,”¹⁰ even though God knew Saul would through hatred persecute David, even though he knew David’s integrity was faithful and true.¹¹ Nevertheless, David enjoyed the friendship and fellowship of Saul’s son Jonathan who resisted his father’s attempts against David. And God even permitted David, after having enjoyed many victories and having already been crowned King of Judah and Israel, to remain as king despite his adulterous affair with Bathsheba. Even though David went back on his commitment to God, God did not go back on His commitment to Judah and Israel.

By the same token, God permitted Peter, who loved Jesus the Anointed One, although he was somewhat boastful, to be endued with Power from on High even after he denied Him in a moment of doubt and fear. As a result, Peter was able to declare his allegiance to the Anointed One with even greater energy through the Holy Spirit. In fact, he confessed the Anointed One courageously even to his moment of death.¹² In the same manner, God permitted Saul of Tarsus, a fanatic zealot for the Law to persecute the Anointed One through ignorance, until “He revealed His Son in him,” by which a persecutor was transformed into a preacher.¹³

John Bunyan (1628-1688) also touches on the fact that by saving Paul, God was showing mercy to a great and unworthy sinner. The news that Paul converted would have been good news for the vilest of sinners. It would have come as welcomed good news for those with despairing souls. For Bunyan, this is the Doctrine that Jesus came to have mercy and save sinners no matter how unworthy they might be to receive grace. One reason for this is because the biggest sinners need to be saved the most. And when any of them receive the Anointed One’s offer of mercy and forgiveness, that lifts up His name even higher. Not only that, but once the word spreads, others will be even more encouraged to come to Him for salvation.

Also in Bunyan’s thinking, this display of love and mercy to sinners will weaken the kingdom of Satan and cause it to lose favor in the world. And once these delivered sinners become part of the Body of the Anointed One, their testimony will help struggling believers to fight any temptation to return to the bondage of sin. That’s because the vilest of sinners becoming one of God’s chosen saints will love Him even more than maybe someone who was found with little to forgive.

Pablo Picasso famous Spanish painter, sculptor, and ceramicist is regarded as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. We should take what this great artist has to say because the latest sale of one of his paintings went for $106.5 million dollars. On one occasion Pablo said, “I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.”

For most people today, the exact opposite is true. They don’t want to try doing something they cannot do because it’s a waste of time. Psychologist Heidi Halvorson offers several things a person should do when they just don’t want to do it. We all know those things we keep wanting to do but there’s so much else we need to do first. It’s the worst kind of procrastination. We keep moving things in the way so we can push it off for another day or week.

But can you imagine how much less guilt, stress, and frustration you would feel if you could somehow just make yourself do the things you don’t want to do when you are actually supposed to do them? Not to mention how much happier and more effective you would be? The good news (and it’s very good news) is that you can get better about not putting things off if you use the right strategy. Figuring out which strategy to use depends on why you are procrastinating in the first place, says Dr. Halvorson.

One of the reasons you keep putting something off is because you’re afraid you’ll fail or mess things up. But instead of thinking negative, think positive. Start promoting the idea that you’ll end up so much better off if you do it than you will be trying to avoid it. Such motivation will push you forward while being anxious and doubtful will cause you to take no action at all.

Another reason why we often postpone doing something we know ought to be done is because we keep telling ourselves it will work itself out. Sorry, but the theory of evolution doesn’t work in these cases. Instead of concentrating on promotion, you are obsessed with prevention. Why not leave things the way they are instead of taking a chance and ruining things.

Another reason you keep putting something off is that you just don’t feel like doing it. It’s hard to ignore your feelings. How many times have you used the excuse of “I can’t get out of bed that early to exercise,” or, “I just can’t get up the energy to exercise with so much on my mind?” The truth is, your excusing yourself just because you don’t “feel” like it. There’s no one tying you to your bed in the morning, there are no imitating people preventing you from exercising. If you wait until you “feel” like doing something, nothing will ever get done. The truth is, you don’t have to feel like it to do it. The only thing stopping you is yourself.

One more reason you may be putting something off that needs to be done is because you’re not excited about doing it. So the excuse you use is that tomorrow you’ll start, or the next time you have the opportunity you’ll get started. Remember, “self-control” is not only a method used to keep from doing something, but it can also be used to start doing something. You must do yourself a favor and stop leaning on willpower and switch to mindpower. Make up your mind to do it whether you feel like it or not.

With our just having celebrated the heroes of D-Day at Normandy, do you think those soldiers, sailors, airmen, paratroopers, and marines were excited about running full speed into the hail of bullets, shells, mortars, and grenades knowing they may not live more than five to ten minutes? No! They did it because they knew they “had” to do it in order to save Europe, and eventually the USA, from the terrors of Nazism. They weren’t thinking about failure, they were concentrating on victory. That’s why Europe is free today.

The Apostle Paul put it very succinctly, everyone is in the race, but the only ones who receive a prize are the ones who exercise self-control and keeps going.¹ He no doubt said that because as a young Jewish lad he was told what wise King Solomon once said about a lazy person who wants something without trying to get it, while the persevering person will have their desires fulfilled.² And in the Book of Ecclesiastes we read that every time we have work that needs to be done, we should do the best we can. If we don’t it will never get done once we are in the grave. There are no ideas, no planning, and no visions for success there. It’s the place where everything we needed to do dies with us.³

There are few joys and elation that a person can experience any better than when you know you’ve pushed yourself beyond your doubt, fears, anxieties, and unwillingness to try something because you don’t want to be a failure at it and are able to look at you effort and handiwork and be proud of yourself. This not only applies to this world and everyday life, but also to our spiritual world and our place in the life to come. So don’t think about it, just do it! – Dr. Robert R Seyda