Modern Day Judiazers
Starting in Galatians and through the epistles, Paul fought vigorously against judiazers. Simply stated, as the freedom of living under grace ran contrary to the Jewish school of thought. This all boils down to gaining God’s favor by works instead of faith. Once again, we see two SYSTEMS contrasted. “Works versus Faith” For many this argue is mumbo jumbo as the common assumption of earth-bound humans is we get from life what we work for.
The best example is person A brings you a $1000 in $100 bills. He hands them over to you which is a pretty nice benefit.
The BIG QUESTION is why did you get the $1000. Was it your PAY for the work you did for that person, or was it a GIFT from someone who cares about you? In one view, you EARNED the $1000. That money came by the sweat of your brow, the skills you used, or the investment you made. You EARNED it and you DESERVE it. The person who brought you the $1000 simply paid you what you deserved.
But, the GIFT of $1000 could have come from a friend, a stranger, or a family member. You did not deserve the money. It wasn’t OWED to you. It may be a complete “Out of the Blue” surprise. You are both surprised and amazed at the generosity and kindness of the person making a no-obligation gift to you. The timing is also irrelevant. You may seriously need the money for an urgent need. Or you may not need the money, but it is yours to enjoy no matter how it is spent.
The clear and unmistakable message is that God truly doesn’t need us in any way, but He deeply wants us to actively share in His divine program and plans. As a father, I didn’t need my sons to help me on projects; but I knew that they needed to learn some important lessons and skills. The task and effort was on me, but I wanted them to participate and celebrate with me when the task was finished.
Paul’s primary argument was that salvation was a gift that we only need to accept and receive. We cannot earn our way into heaven. In fact, God will never owe anyone anything. This is like adding a glass of water to the ocean. The water came from the ocean at some point anyway. How foolish mortal minds can be to think that we can barter with God. However, God invites us to SHARE and PARTICIPATE in what He is doing.
God does not need human resources to advance the kingdom of God
So, Paul was very upset with some misguided religious practices like circumcision, sabbath keeping, or diet restriction that the religious types thought they could exchange for favor with God.
Isn’t this the rock that Simon the sorcerer tripped over by offering to pay Peter and John money so that he might be able to also impart the Holy Spirit on new believers? The Holy Spirit was an amazing free gift that united the non-Jewish believers to the original Jewish believers in Jerusalem.
One of the highest themes of the Bible is Grace versus Works. An almighty, infinite God is our benefactor, not our debtor. We are a debtor to the love of God, and all we do for God after accepting Jesus Christ as savior is done in thankfulness and appreciation.
