The Riddleblog

Three Takeaways from the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15)

There are a number of important points made by Luke in Acts 15, but three stand out for brief mention here, especially when considered in light of Paul’s recently written Letter to The Galatians (which I take to be written in A.D. 48, a year or so before the Jerusalem Council convened). Paul, Barnabas, along the with apostles (James and Peter) and the elders of the Jerusalem church (including Judas called Barsabbas and Silas) were present to debate the matter of whether circumcision was required of Gentile converts to Christianity, if they were to be saved (Acts 15:1-2).

First, despite the ethnic and cultural differences between Jew and Gentile, both groups were equal and full members in the Israel of God which is Christ’s church (cf. Galatians 6:16). As Paul made clear in his Galatian letter, the gospel is not based upon human obedience to the Law of Moses or submission to circumcision (“works of the law”—Galatians 2:16), which supposedly made the Jew superior to Gentiles. It is clear that the gospel is the preaching of Christ crucified, through which, God in his grace, calls his elect to faith in Jesus Christ, whether they be Jew or Gentile.

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Paul's Warnings to the Galatians Still Speak to Us

From the Blessed Hope Podcast (Episode Two), Galatians 1:1-10, “Application”

Paul’s warnings to the Galatians should ring in our ears today. To his amazement, a false gospel arose in the Galatian churches almost immediately after Paul left the area and was widely accepted in same churches in which Paul and Barnabas had preached in person. Grounded in wide-spread Jewish customs and practices, the false message was so compelling that even Peter and Barnabas were taken in for a time. Just as no counterfeiter would make purple seven dollar bills with Mickey Mouse’s likeness on them, neither does a false teacher show up and announce, “Hi, everyone, I’m a false teacher.” They always have a hook. Luther understood well how such deception works

The ministers of Satan insinuate themselves into people’s minds by promising them something better. They admit that those who preached the gospel to them made a good start but say that this is not enough . . . . They confirm true doctrine but then go on to point out where it needs to be improved. This was how the false apostles gained access to the Galatians.

We should not be surprised when theologians, pastors, and elders, fall from grace and begin teaching another gospel. Sad to say, we should expect this to happen. It is not a matter of if, but when. Paul exhortation to the Galatians reminds us to always be on our guard against those who teach that the death of Jesus Christ is not sufficient in and of itself to save us from God’s wrath in the judgment yet to come. The false gospel–Christ plus something we do–makes a great deal of sense to those who think that religion in general, and Christianity in particular, is primarily about ethics (conduct), and that sound doctrine is secondary to proper behavior. This hook is often used by contemporary false teachers.

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Blessed Hope Podcast, GalatiansKim RiddlebargerMay 28, 2022Another Gospel, Galatians 1:1-10Comment

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Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerMarch 7, 2022The Blssed Hope PodcastComment

The Blessed Hope Podcast -- Postscript to Season One, The Book of Galatians

In a postscript to season one of the Blessed Hope Podcast (our series on the Book of Galatians) I address three issues.

First, what happened after Paul composed his letter to the Galatians? We turn to the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 for an answer.

Second, I tackle listener questions.

Third, I have some comments about N. T. Wright’s new commentary on Galatians.

To listen to this episode, follow the link below.

To listen to the series: The Blessed Hope Podcast

Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerFebruary 19, 2022Jerusalem Council, Acts 15 Comments

The Blessed Hope Podcast -- Episode Fourteen (Season Finale): "Boasting in the Cross of Christ" (Galatians 6:11-18)

In the first century Greco-Roman world crucifixion was something that polite and well mannered people didn’t talk about. Considered a cruel instrument of torture and shame, nevertheless, the cross is the one thing in which the Apostle Paul chooses to boast–not just any cross, but the cross of Jesus Christ, where the guilt and power of sin which enslaved us are removed and broken. And yet, because it was an instrument of shame, Paul’s opponents in Galatia (the Judaizers) refuse to preach the cross of Christ. Instead, they are the champions of human merit earned through “works of the law.” They boast about the number of coverts they have made, yet they neither obey the commandments the champion nor can they see that the crucified and risen Jesus has ushered in the New Creation and established the true Israel of God. We have come to the end of Paul’s Galatian letter–the Magna Carta of Christian liberty. When he closes out this letter, Paul points us back to the cross of Jesus Christ, a fitting way to conclude our time in this remarkable letter.

Note: We have completed the first season—our series on Galatians. Please get your questions about Galatians in for the postscript episode. Use the “contact me” tab to send them my way.

To listen to this episode, follow the link below.

To listen to the series: The Blessed Hope Podcast

The Blessed Hope Podcast -- Episode Thirteen: "Sowing and Reaping" (Galatians 6:1-10)

In the concluding chapter of Galatians (6), Paul addresses the fallout caused by the Judaizers who were spying on those Christians exercising their liberty in Christ. It should not come as a surprise that the Judaizers would find people engaging in sinful conduct, misusing their freedom, and then shame them. The Judaizers, apparently, were singling out these people as examples of why Paul’s gospel supposedly leads to license and sinful behavior. Paul instructs the leaders of the churches of Galatia to bear with those struggling with sin and work to restore them–not shame them, nor leave them to the Judaizing wolves. Paul describes the actions of the Judaizers as “sowing to the flesh” and warns them that if they they continue to sow to the flesh, well then, they will reap from the flesh, because God is not deceived. Rather, Christians are to bear one another’s burdens and do those things which benefit their neighbors, especially those in the household of faith.

To listen to this episode, follow the link below.

To listen to the series: The Blessed Hope Podcast

The Blessed Hope Podcast -- Episode Twelve: "Works of the Flesh v. Fruit of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:16-26)

In the last half of Galatians 5, Paul contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit. In comparing the two lists, its sounds very much like the Apostle is describing two warring factions, which he is–the flesh against the Spirit. The works of the flesh are the visible outcome of what it means to have a sinful nature. Because we are “flesh,” apart from God’s grace, this is what our lives will often look like–characterized by the behavior mentioned here. Yet when we are delivered from our bondage to the flesh by the death of Jesus and through the indwelling Holy Spirit, the change from living “in the flesh” to living in the Spirit manifests itself in the presence of the “Fruit of the Spirit.” If we walk in the Spirit, the Spirit will produce his fruit in us. So what are these fruit? What does it mean to walk in the Spirit? We’ll tackle these questions and a few more in this episode of the Blessed Hope.

To Listen to the Latest Episode: Episode Twelve: "The Works of the Flesh v. the Fruit of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:19-26)

To Listen to The Entire Series, The Blessed Hope Podcast

Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerDecember 11, 2021The flesh v. the Spirit, Works of the flesh, The fruit of the SpiritComment

The Blessed Hope Podcast -- Episode Eleven: "Walking in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:13-18)

In Galatians chapter 5, the Apostle Paul discusses how the Galatian Christians ought to understand their freedom in Christ–especially in the face of great pressure to return to “works of law,” as insisted upon by the Judaizers. To ensure that the Galatians stand firm against the legalistic error spreading quickly throughout the churches of the region, Paul makes appeal to the doctrine of justification by grace alone, through faith alone, on account of Christ alone, as the basis for the Christian life, which Paul describes here as “walking by the Spirit.”

Paul makes a sharp contrast between the flesh (the impulses and desires of the fallen nature) and the Spirit (who now indwells the people God securing their union with Christ). Walking by the Spirit–which is connected to the fruit of the Spirit in the balance of chapter (verses 22-24), also entails an intense struggle against the flesh (what we were before coming to faith in Jesus Christ). Now free from the condemnation of the law, the Spirit gives us the desire and ability to obey God’s commands (especially the love of neighbor). But the indwelling Spirit is opposed by the sinful habits of the flesh (which is the desire to seek self-interest), even after the flesh no longer dominates and characterizes us. In Galatians 5:13-18, Paul discusses what it means to walk by the Spirit, while at the same time we struggle against the desires of the flesh (our sinful habits).

To Listen to Episode Eleven: Episode Eleven: "Walking by the Spirit" (Galatians 5:13-18)

To Listen to The Entire Series, The Blessed Hope Podcast

Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerNovember 20, 2021Walking in the Spirit, Fulfilling the law in love, Galatians 5:13-18Comment

The Blessed Hope Podcast -- Episode Ten: "It Is for Freedom Christ Has Set Us Free" (Galatians 5:1-12)

Paul exhorts the Galatians, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” But this is an unlikely assertion for a well-known religious figure like Paul the Apostle, to make. Most people would expect Paul to shout something like, “try harder, do better, live a godly and good life. This is what God wants from you.” But people who think such things have never read Paul’s letter to the Galatians. They think the essence of religion in general and Christianity in particular is good behavior, not a gospel. But apart from our union with Christ through faith and a justifying righteousness imputed to us, works of law only condemn and make us even guiltier. This is why Paul grounds the Christian life in the freedom won for us by Jesus Christ.

To Listen to This Episode, The Book of Galatians -- Episode Ten: "It Is for Freedom Christ Has Set Us Free" (Galatians 5:1-12)

To Listen to The Entire Series, The Blessed Hope Podcast

The Blessed Hope Podcast -- Episode Nine: "Two Women, Two Mountains, Two Covenants, Two Cities" (Galatians 4:21-31)

Paul understood Israel’s history and the biblical accounts of Moses and Abraham one way before his conversion, and in an entirely different way after. Once Jesus had come, fulfilled his messianic mission, and called Paul to faith, Paul’s understanding of the Old Testament completely changed. In Ephesians 4:21-31, Paul speaks of two women (Sarah and Hagar), two mountains (Zion and Sinai), two covenants (Abraham and Moses), two cities (the Jerusalem above and the earthly city of Jerusalem). Reading the familiar story of Genesis 16 (among others) through a Christ-centered lens, Paul reinterprets the two women, mountains, covenants, and cities from the vantage point of New Testament fulfillment. In doing so, Paul teaches us how we should read and understand the Old Testament.

To listen to this episode of the Blessed Hope Podcast, follow the link below

Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerOctober 9, 2021Covenant theology, Sarah and HagarComment

The Blessed Hope Podcast -- Episode Eight: "Do You Want to Go Back to Slavery?" (Galatians 4:1-20)

Paul’s question to those listening to the agitators in Galatia is a profound but simple one. “What has happened to all of your joy?” Paul is referring to that joy they had experienced together with Paul when he first preached the gospel to them. These people were Paul’s spiritual children. He loved them, and he thought they loved him. They took him in when he had been felled by illness. There was much joy. And then the Judaizers came. Do the Galatians really want to follow them and return to slavery?

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Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerSeptember 24, 2021Legalism, The Book of Galatians, Galatians 4:1-20Comment

The Blessed Hope Podcast -- Episode Seven: "Why the Law?" (Galatians 3:19-29)

Paul has made his case that all believing Jews and Gentiles are children of Abraham through faith in Jesus Christ. Paul has also made the point that the giving of the law at Mount Sinai does not annul the prior covenant God made with Abraham.

But, at some point in this letter, Paul must address the question, “why then did God give the law?” The law, he says, was given for a particular time in redemptive history (Moses to Christ) and plays a vital role (to expose sin), which he is about to explain. The law, Paul says, functions as a guardian until Christ comes. The law exposes and incites sin. But once faith has come, God’s people are in a new era in redemptive history (of the new covenant in which the promises to Abraham have been fulfilled) and it is only after the coming of Jesus Christ, that we can see the law’s true purpose.

To listen to this episode of The Blessed Hope Podcast and check out the show notes, follow the link below

To listen to previous podcasts in this series on Galatians, go here: The Blessed Hope Podcast

The Blessed Hope Podcast -- Episode Six: "Christ Became a Curse for Us" (Galatians 3:10-18)

To correct the error of the Judaizers–which is to insist that Gentiles undergo circumcision and live as Jews—Paul makes a series of important distinctions in his letter to the Galatians. The Apostle contrasts faith and works, the spirit and the flesh, the law and the gospel. He also carefully distinguishes between the covenants God made with Abraham (in which Abraham was reckoned as righteous), and the covenant God made with Israel at Mount Sinai, (in which the law of God was given to his people).

The covenant God made with Abraham is gracious, while the covenant God made with Israel at Sinai is closely tied to the blessing/curse principle. The Judaizers conflated these two covenants, thereby mistakenly seeing the sign and seal of God’s gracious covenant with Abraham (circumcision), through the lens of the blessing/curse principle, thereby turning circumcision into a meritorious work.

To listen to this episode of The Blessed Hope Podcast and check out the show notes, follow the link below

To listen to previous podcasts in this series on Galatians, go here: The Blessed Hope Podcast

Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerAugust 25, 2021Christ's redemption, Christ became a curse

The Blessed Hope Podcast -- Episode Five: "Abraham Believed God" (Galatians 3:1-9)

Paul calls all who believe his gospel “sons of Abraham,” which includes both believing Jews and Gentiles. But Paul does not include those who seek to be right before God and the basis of works of the law, which Paul has just declared in Galatians 2:16, do not justify.

The Judaizers were spying on the Galatians’ Christian liberty. Christians in these churches do not, apparently, follow a kosher diet, they do not observe the feasts of Israel, and there is no requirement that Gentiles be circumcised in order to be justified, or declared “right with God.” Jews and Gentiles worship together, eat together, and embrace the same gospel, without, according to the Judaizers, proper observance of the law of Moses–the reason why they were so vocally challenging Paul’s authority and his gospel.

In response, Paul turns to the account of Abraham, who, in Genesis 15:6, believed God and was reckoned as “righteous.” Paul appeals to the story of Abraham to refute the Judaizing idea that those justified before God, are such, because of obedience to “works of the law.” Abraham is the” man of faith” and the spiritual father of all who believe the gospel. The same gospel, Paul says, which YHWH preached to Abraham and which was foretold through the Scriptures.

How can uncircumcised Gentiles be identified as “children of Abraham”? Paul is about to tell us.

To listen to this episode of The Blessed Hope Podcast and check out the show notes, follow the link below

To listen to previous podcasts in this series on Galatians, go here: The Blessed Hope Podcast

Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerJuly 30, 2021Justification by faith, Chirldren of AbrahamComment

The Blessed Hope Podcast -- Episode Four: "Paul Confronts Peter, Table Fellowship with Gentiles, and Paul's Doctrine of Justification" (Galatians 2:11-21)

Peter’s confrontation with Peter in Antioch was a remarkable event, not only in the Apostolic era, but one with huge ramifications down to the present day. In the fourth episode of our series on Galatians, we work our way through Galatians 2:11-21. In this episode we tackle Paul’s conflict with Peter, the issue of table fellowship with Gentiles, the New Perspective on Paul’s misreading of the dispute, before we turn to Paul’s doctrine of justification by faith and not by works (v. 16). This is a packed episode divided into two parts (about 40 minutes in).

To listen to episode four follow the link below

To see the previous episodes in this series, The Blessed Hope Podcast

The Blessed Hope Podcast -- Episode Three: "Paul's Conversion, Visit to Jerusalem, and the Gentile Mission" (Galatians 1:11-2:10)

In the third episode of our series on Galatians, we take a look at Paul’s defense of his apostolic office in the face of direct challenges to his gospel from the Judaizers in Galatia. In this section of Galatians (Galatians 1:11-2:10), Paul recounts his call and conversion, his early ministry in Damascus and Arabia, his two post-conversion trips to Jerusalem when he met with the other apostles, and his time in Syrian Antioch and Cilicia (an area which includes Paul’s hometown, Tarsus).

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