Galatians 1: 6, Isaiah 28: 24-26 and Galatians 4: 22-26 - 3:31 PM, 8/5/2009 |
Galatians 1: 6, Isaiah 28: 24-26 and Galatians 4; 22-26 Bernard Pyron "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:(Galatians 1: 6)." "...for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves...Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. (Isaiah 28: 15, 17)." The line and the plummet refer to Amos 7: 7-8, "Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand. 8. And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more:" The plummet or the plumb line is the device used by carpenters to determine if a wall is straight or true. A string with a metal bob that comes to a point is suspended say five inches out from the top of a wall. Then the carpenter measures how for that metal pointed bob is from the wall at the bottom. If its exactly the same at the bottom as it is at the top then the wall is true, or straight. In Amos 7 the plumb line is metaphoric for God's judgment of the righteousness of a person or of a people. If they fall on one side of the plumb line they are righteous. If they are on the wrong side they are unrighteous and subject to the judgment of God. And Paul argues in Galatians 5 that Christ has made us free of bondage to the law when we walk after the Spirit of Christ. If we do not walk aftet the Spirit but are overtaken by a fault as he says in Galatians 6: 1, the implication of Galatians 6: 1 is that such a group or person can fall back under the bondage of the law. They may not fully realize this has happened. In Galatians 6: 1 Paul says those who are spiritual can restore such as fallen one to spirituality again. The fault might be a specific sin the person continues to do even after being nudged by the Holy Spirit to stop it, or it might be belief in some false doctrine. Before the theology of dispensationalism arrived in the 19th century, and began to become popular in America in the early 20th century, a great many Christians saw "Israel" as referring either to national Israel in the Old Testament or to all of Israel, which included the Christians. Christians were, to them, Israel reborn in Christ. So when Amos says God puts a plumbline in the midst of his people Israel, and he will not pass by them any more, this is not only Old Testament Israel, but also Christian Israel Dispensationalism is the theology taught in a great many churches - a tradition of men (see Matthew 15: 6, 9) - which contradicts Scripture in several ways. Two of its most popular treachings are the pre-tribulation rapture of the Church and Jewish supremacy. Dispensationalism places a value on physical Israel, the Jews, most of whom have remained unsaved since Pentecost, and this theology detracts from an understanding of spiritual Israel, that is, Israel born again in Christ (John 3: 1-6). In John 3: 1-6 Nicodemus, who was a Jewish Pharisee, came to Christ asking questions. Jesus clearly answered this Jewish Pharisee by saying "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." The Jew, just like the Gentile, must be born again in Christ to get into the kingdom of God. Once bvorn again in Christ the Jew is no longer limited to physical Israel; he has become part of spiritual Israel. Galatians 4: 22-26 says "For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. 23. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. 24. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. 25. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 26. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all." The dispensationalists place a value, for Christians, on the physical Jew. But the physical Jew, who is not born again in Christ and not a member of spiritual Israel, belongs to the Jerusalem which is below, the Jerusalem that is in bondage to the law. Those saved by Christ's work on the cross are part of the Jerusalem which is above, is free, and is the mother of all of spiritua Israel. What heppens then when the Christian who should belong to the Jerusalem that is above, and is free from the law, in gace, when the Christian then turns to honor the Jerusalem which is in bondage and is below? Dispensationalism has helped to create the situation in he Churches in which members attend chufch every Sunday for years and years, and do not come to know he Scriptures very well. On http://the-moneychanger.com/outside/another_gospel.phtml they say "ANOTHER GOSPEL Michael Vlach recently published a report called “Crisis in America’s Churches: Bible Knowledge at All-Time Low. Polling data from researcher George Barna shows a widespread lack of biblical and theological knowledge in the US among people who claim to be Christians. So complete is that ignorance that one can justly call it widespread apostasy from Christian orthodoxy. It’s not misunderstanding, it’s heresy. I say that not merely from a narrow denominational perspective, but from the standpoint of classical Christian orthodoxy. People calling themselves “Christians” literally have no idea what that means. Instead, they follow another, invented, gospel, not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Legalism has replaced grace. |
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