By: Gen. Jim
“I am surprised and astonished that you are so quickly turning renegade and deserting Him Who invited and called you by the grace (unmerited favor) of Christ (the Messiah) [and that you are transferring your allegiance] to a different [even an opposition] gospel.” (Gal. 1:6 Amplified Bible)
THE KING JAMES version calls it “another Gospel;” the Revised Standard Version calls it, “a different gospel.” The reason for Paul’s epistle to the Ekklesias at Galatia (in cpt. one) was that certain Jews were teaching things from old Judaism’s religion—that Jesus alone was not enough to make it into God’s Kingdom—one must join the Jewish nation and observe the laws/customs of Moses. In other words [according to the Judaizers], a Christian must have Moses and Christ, faith and circumcision, grace and law. But Paul, in [Gal.] 5:2-6, lets them know that it must be EITHER MOSES OR CHRIST!
It was because of Paul’s “Jesus only” / “faith only” doctrine that the Judaizers ATTACKED his credentials. They accused him of abandoning the law of Moses to please men. But THESE “JEWS” WERE INFILTRATORS who wanted to debase faith and turn Christian liberty into license, making Christ the abettor of sin (see 2:17).
This same “spirit” works in and among today’s Churches BIG TIME! Today’s Church’s (with some exceptions) believism is void of repentance; to be baptized is merely getting wet, for the baptized merely go on sinning, deluding themselves to believe that the Christian sacraments will save them.
In today’s context, “Christian Zionists,” such as the Rev. John Hagee type, teach that Jews don’t need Jesus because of their race—they await their messiah to come; therefore, Jews are not included in their evangelistic efforts. Of course the Jews LOVE this—so much so that Hagee has been granted several awards from Jewish organizations for his support for Israel and Jewish rights.
Hagee’s books are best-sellers because of his Jew/Israel (false) teachings. You can see the delusion/brain-washings concerning the End Time Jew thing are wide spread. His books/teachings are sensationalistic predictions about the Israeli state and the nearness of Christ’s return based, not on Scripture, but on conspiracy and closet date-setting, which has been proven false time and time again.
Another Party
BESIDES THE JUDAIZERS, there were others who opposed Paul’s teaching. Influenced by the pagan notion that religion transcends ethics and is separable from morality, they wanted to abandon the Old Testament and its prophetic insights. THEY OPPOSED THE IDEA OF DENYING “SELF,” a concept they called “slavery.” Oh how today’s modern Churchites HATE this (2:19, 20; 5:14, 22-24) standard as well–they mock the concept of “dying daily” and “denying self,” calling it LEGALISM! So, Paul got a double-barreled BLAST from the Judaizers, and the anti-legalism folks.
Conservatives/Liberals
THE CONSERVATIVES were watching for moral lapse to prove that Paul had perverted the Gospel, and the liberals (radicals) blamed him for slowing the progress of Christianity by refusing to cut it loose from Judaism and its nationalistic religious imperialism.
With all this infighting, Paul basically called it being “bewitched” (3:1). Unless checked, this defection/infection can and does spread like yeast in dough (5:9).
Paul’s Confession
PAUL TELLS those Galatians of his “earlier career and former manner of life in the Jewish religion (i.e., Judaism), how I persecuted and abused the Church of God furiously and extensively, and (with fanatical zeal did my best) to make havoc of it and destroy it” (1:13, Amp.). That spirit of hatred is still very active my friends, subtly, but nonetheless real!
Paul continues: “And [have heard how] I outstripped many of the men of my own generation among the people of my race, in [my advancement in study and observance of the laws of] Judaism, so extremely enthusiastic and zealous I was for the traditions of my ancestors” (v. 14; see Acts 26:9, 10, 11; Phil. 3:6).
Those “traditions” (v. 14), i.e., “transmission,” came from the Talmud—the UNHOLY book of the Pharisees (some of them that is). Talmudism was a pagan (Babylonian) incursion into Judaism. It was the Pharisees who were the bearers of Babylonian corruption. We could rightly say that THE APOSTATE HEBREWS BROUGHT “SATANISM” among the Jews/Hebrews of the Diaspora. There were Talmudic seminaries in the land (Mesopotamia) that spread heathen immorality, debauchery, and superstition. Babylonian corruption infiltrated into the Mosaic sternness. Pharisees/Scribes (students of Hebrew “law” and traditions) were outwardly “righteous” (as Jews continually pointed out), while inwardly they were PAGAN! (see Matt. 23 please).
Jesus called the religious leaders devils and deceivers. He said that they were not true Jews at all. He saw them as “sons of Satan;” their father was Satan himself.
Jesus pointed out that the Jewish leaders of His day had a depraved mentality. Do you think these Jews of today are any different?
These Jews, religious or secularized, are NOT the only people of God. True among Hassidism, there may be Torah-believing Jews, descendants of Old Testament Hebrews. Maybe? According to DNA, VERY FEW have “Jew”/”Hebrew” blood. But even converts to Judaism can carry on in [forms of] righteousness; some exemplify spiritual Jewish traditions (Torah), but these are exceptions to the rule. BUT EVEN THE TORAH JEWS HATE JESUS-CHRISTIANS-CHRISTIANITY. (With Exceptions)