Galatians 1:13-17
There is a contrast between Paul's previous way under Judaism and his new way of preaching the gospel: under Judaism Paul was advancing, full of zeal, it was about traditions; under the gospel it's about grace, God setting Paul apart and Paul reaching out to those outside the traditions of Judaism.
I think Paul is proving his point that he didn't receive the message that he has been spreading from any human source but that it was received from God. For some reason Paul seems desperate to show that the message he is preaching didn't come from the church in Jerusalem. Maybe because, while the gospel was always about Jesus' death and resurrection, the Jerusalem version was mixed with some elements of Judaism (which is not necessarily bad if it was an attempt to be relevant to the culture of Jerusalem) while Paul's version was about radical freedom - a Gentile didn't need to become a Jew to become a Christian.
I'm not sure what I can personally learn from this passage. What I am taking from it is that I need to make sure that the truth of the good news message of Jesus is presented in a way that is relevant and speaks clearly to the culture in which I am living. I must not get so wrapped up in old forms of sharing the good news message of Jesus that I make them a part of the message itself.
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2 comments:
I found it tough at first to get stuff out of this passage as well. I sat and meditated on it for awhile and God started to reveal personal things to me. Also relating the gospel to the culture can be difficult, it relates back to perverting the gospel, something Paul was not willing to do. I guess a big question of mine than is how to relate the gospel to today's culture in a way that is relevant to them without perverting it? It seems there can be a thin line here.
Thats a great question. I guess we need to understand the core essence of the gospel. Then we have freedom to look for ties between the culture and the good news message of Jesus. The problem is that I am not sure that a lot of "Christians" really even understand the good news message of Jesus.
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