Blogging Through the Book of Mormon

3:11 - For the people who want to reinstitute the law of Moses, we really have to ask ourselves why that was such an important point of contention for them? I can think of a few reasons just off the top of my head. First, if they truly believed in Judaism as God’s true religion, then it would be hard to let a lifetime of worship fall to the side. And because the Jews in Judea didn’t really understand that the law of Moses was meant to prepare them to receive the Messiah, it would seem like Christianity just came in and said “the law of Moses isn’t important so we’re just going to let it go.” That would be hard to accept if you truly believed that the law of Moses was the way to God, but didn’t understand why or how. It seems like perhaps the Jewish Christian converts hadn’t reconciled the past of Judaism and the future of Jesus Christ, and I get it, it is a big transition. Second, for those who are perhaps not so committed to the cause of any religion, but were more interested in the ...

3:10 - The Galatians are being doctrinally torn apart by two groups. The first group is trying to convince them that in order to be true Christians, they must not only obey Jesus' teachings but they also must keep the law of Moses and be circumcised. The other group, which Paul is a part of, is teaching that just obeying the laws of Jesus are sufficient and that reverting to the law of Moses would not only not help them spiritually, it would set their progress back. Paul had just reminded the people of Abraham, the "father" of Israel, who had not had the law of Moses during his lifetime. There is an excellent summation of Paul's position in the article on this chapter from gospeldoctrine.com which says, "Paul's logic in support of his position is simple and direct. First, he shows that righteousness is obtainable without the Law of Moses. He uses the example of Abraham, who lived centuries before the Law was even given to Moses, yet who, even without the La...

3:1-3 - All this explanation of works vs. grace and the dispute that Paul had with Peter, begs the question, why would Paul tell the Galatians this? I believe that the congregations throughout the Galatian area were mostly gentile converts and they had these Jewish Christians coming over and telling them to obey the law of Moses in addition to their new found Christianity. Paul is telling them to follow the gospel teachings that come from Jesus, and maybe as an emphasis of “I know what I’m talking about to the point that even Peter eventually agreed with me.” Paul is just so hard to understand that I again am going to the NIV for help. Paul asks the Galatians to think back and tell him, “did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?” I understand this to mean, “did your testimony come because you kept the commandments or because the Spirit testified of what was being taught?” Clearly, the answer is that the Spirit testifies of the truthfulness of t...

2:14- - Peter is in a no-win situation when the Jewish Christians show up to Antioch from Jerusalem. They are not pleased that Peter has been associating with the Gentile Christians, so he stops while they’re there to appease them. Now Paul is not pleased with Peter’s actions because it offends the Gentile Christians whom Paul loves and serves. The article on this chapter from gospeldoctrine.com quotes Bruce R. McConkie as making a very interesting point about this situation that Peter and Paul were facing, saying, “Peter was the President of the Church; Paul, an apostle was Peter’s junior in the church hierarchy, was subject to the direction of the chief apostle. But Paul was right and Peter was wrong… The issue was not whether the Gentiles should receive the gospel. Peter himself had received the revelation that God was no respecter or persons, and that those of all lineages were now to be heirs of salvation along with the Jews.” This situation magnifies the purpose of having a quo...

2:1-2 - Maybe it’s because I’ve been out of Acts for so long now that I don’t remember everything that happened there, but now as Paul continues telling the Galatians about his conference in Jerusalem with the other apostles, I’m realizing just how much I have forgotten or just never really understood in the first place. So Paul met with Peter and James, Jesus’ brother, in Jerusalem 3 years after he was first “called” to the work, meaning when the Savior appeared to him. After that initial meeting, Paul went back out teaching the gospel for “fourteen years,” before he made another trip back to Jerusalem. That’s a really long time, especially because there was such limited communication between people back then. The article on this chapter from gospeldoctrine.com says, “Paul had been preaching the gospel for fourteen years without meeting with any other apostles. For fourteen years, there were no general conferences, no telephone calls, and no e-mail messages. The only communication m...

1:11-12 - One thought I had earlier today was that because Paul was a Jewish convert to Christianity, I wonder if the gentile converts gave greater heed to the usurpers because they too were Jewish-Christian converts. Maybe that’s why Paul tells them his conversion story. I’m sure that he had told this story before, but it would be a nice refresher for those who had heard it and be important to hear for those who hadn’t. Previously, Paul had said that the saints could determine whether or not a preacher was teaching truth or not, and that was who they sought to please. Paul asked them if they thought that he served God or man? He answers his question by saying, basically, “because I’ll tell you right now that the gospel I teach is not from man. No man taught me this gospel, but I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.” This is just my own summation of what Paul says. Interestingly, the article on this chapter from gospeldoctrine.com quotes Bruce R. McConkie as teaching, “that, o...

As we start in the book of Galatians, I was relived to see that there are only 6 chapters in this book, because Romans and both Corinthians were so lengthy. Paul wrote this letter to the Galatians because, even though they were some of the first gentile converts to Christianity, they were quickly being led astray by Jewish-Christians who were usurping Paul's authority among the people. These Jewish-Christians had joined the church and accepted the gospel, but for whatever reason, were now exalting their positions above that which was authorized to them. They were mostly teaching these new Christians who came from a gentile background, that they were supposed to be keeping the law of Moses in addition to their newly accepted gospel principles. This included circumcision. I swear, I don't know what it is about men and circumcision but they seem so dead set on making sure that everyone else has it done too, it is just bizarre. Now, I can understand where the people are coming fr...