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Today’s Reading: Galatians 2:21; 5:2,4
2:21 do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through law, Christ died for nothing.
5:2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.
5:4 you who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
There are two kinds of teaching that meaning have implication that Christ is not really important. I call those two kinds of teaching:
1. “Christ ++” teaching
2. “All Roads lead to Rome” teaching
Christ ++
Christ ++ stated that only Christ will not enough to save people. There must be other things such as legalism, philosophy, or other religious act that is not Christ. These teaching are very popular in Paul times. At that time, there are Parisians from Judea and Jerusalem who had becoming Christian were still teaching the non Christian Jews to have circumcision to get the salvation. If not they will not going to be saved (compare to Acts 15:1,5).
There are differences in comparison of today’s modern time with Paul’s time but they are the same in putting pressure inside the mind of Christian teachers.
Pay attention on Paul’s emotional explosion when he faced this kind of teaching. Here they are:
Fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you (Gal 4:11)
…, how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you. (Gal 4:20)
As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves! (Gal 5:12)
“All Roads lead to Rome” teaching
Just like in the Christ ++ teaching, Christian teachers in today’s era are facing difficult jobs in related to the teaching about All Roads lead to Rome. Because this teaching is saying that there are many roads to reach to heaven or salvation just like the expression of all roads lead to Rome.
Not long ago, through numbers of video in YouTube there is an interview of Billy Graham, very famous preacher by Robert Schuller, church leader from Crystal Cathedral. They both said that the Christians and the non Christians are the Body of Christ.(http://www.cuttingedge.org/news/n1141.cfm). All of them were called to have God’s grace which is Salvation. The similar thing was mentioned by Oprah Winfrey in her talk show with the women and mothers in USA that there are many roads to be saved, not only Jesus.
This teaching is indirectly said that Jesus is less important or not necessarily came to the world, died on the cross and raised from the death. Why? because anyway He is not the only way to go to heaven but one of the many choices or vehicle. Or extremely saying, Jesus decision to act and sacrificing is only a little bit better than a hero.
Let us study about this teaching in detail. There is one important note that showing the false of this teaching. The note is about differences of going to Rome and going to Heaven. If you want to go to Rome, yes, there are many ways to go there travel services, guides, and transportations that can take you there. But going to heaven is different thing, you don’t have many road, services, guides or people or authority that can take you to arrive there or allow you enter the heaven except Jesus. Why? because He came from there. He is the owner, who have authority and He is God (John 1:1,14 , 14:6). Only Jesus who can be trusted to take you and I to go to heaven.
Conclusion: You only need Jesus to be saved and only Jesus to get salvation. Not others.
Word of Prayer:
God, thank you for the lesson this morning Give your servant ability to keep believing in Christ as the only way to heaven. Amen.
2:21 do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through law, Christ died for nothing.
5:2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.
5:4 you who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
There are two kinds of teaching that meaning have implication that Christ is not really important. I call those two kinds of teaching:
1. “Christ ++” teaching
2. “All Roads lead to Rome” teaching
Christ ++
Christ ++ stated that only Christ will not enough to save people. There must be other things such as legalism, philosophy, or other religious act that is not Christ. These teaching are very popular in Paul times. At that time, there are Parisians from Judea and Jerusalem who had becoming Christian were still teaching the non Christian Jews to have circumcision to get the salvation. If not they will not going to be saved (compare to Acts 15:1,5).
There are differences in comparison of today’s modern time with Paul’s time but they are the same in putting pressure inside the mind of Christian teachers.
Pay attention on Paul’s emotional explosion when he faced this kind of teaching. Here they are:
Fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you (Gal 4:11)
…, how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you. (Gal 4:20)
As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves! (Gal 5:12)
“All Roads lead to Rome” teaching
Just like in the Christ ++ teaching, Christian teachers in today’s era are facing difficult jobs in related to the teaching about All Roads lead to Rome. Because this teaching is saying that there are many roads to reach to heaven or salvation just like the expression of all roads lead to Rome.
Not long ago, through numbers of video in YouTube there is an interview of Billy Graham, very famous preacher by Robert Schuller, church leader from Crystal Cathedral. They both said that the Christians and the non Christians are the Body of Christ.(http://www.cuttingedge.org/news/n1141.cfm). All of them were called to have God’s grace which is Salvation. The similar thing was mentioned by Oprah Winfrey in her talk show with the women and mothers in USA that there are many roads to be saved, not only Jesus.
This teaching is indirectly said that Jesus is less important or not necessarily came to the world, died on the cross and raised from the death. Why? because anyway He is not the only way to go to heaven but one of the many choices or vehicle. Or extremely saying, Jesus decision to act and sacrificing is only a little bit better than a hero.
Let us study about this teaching in detail. There is one important note that showing the false of this teaching. The note is about differences of going to Rome and going to Heaven. If you want to go to Rome, yes, there are many ways to go there travel services, guides, and transportations that can take you there. But going to heaven is different thing, you don’t have many road, services, guides or people or authority that can take you to arrive there or allow you enter the heaven except Jesus. Why? because He came from there. He is the owner, who have authority and He is God (John 1:1,14 , 14:6). Only Jesus who can be trusted to take you and I to go to heaven.
Conclusion: You only need Jesus to be saved and only Jesus to get salvation. Not others.
Word of Prayer:
God, thank you for the lesson this morning Give your servant ability to keep believing in Christ as the only way to heaven. Amen.
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