INCORRECT PARADIGMS ON GRACE: “OBEY THE TRUTH” AND “THE HEARING OF FAITH” “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” (Galatians 3:1-2). In his efforts to challenge the brethren in Galatia who had so soon turned away from the gospel to a different gospel, Paul would ask a profound question with a significant implication. He asks, “Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth… ?” Notice the words “OBEY THE TRUTH.” These words seem somewhat out of order for an epistle that, as many argue today, is supposed to encourage a reliance upon GRACE ALONE, and NOT the “works of the law” or “obedience to law” or “perfect obedience” or “perfect law keeping” or any other such thing. Is it possible that this suggested emphasis is not actually the emphasis of this epistle? Notice that Paul parallels the idea to “obey the truth” to “the hearing of faith” and contrasts the obedience he expected to see in them to “works of the law.” If the “works of the law” refers to ALL LAW, to include the law of Christ, then what “truth” is it that Paul was surprised that they were not obeying? Why was Paul concerned that someone had bewitched them if “obeying the truth” was not as significant as “the hearing of faith” (independent of works, as some claim) or the acceptance of grace by faith? Perhaps it was indeed a specific “law” (or legal system) that Paul had in mind (i.e., the Law of Moses – cf. Acts 13:39), and not ALL LAW in general? It seems that many today have a different paradigm on grace than the paradigm from which Paul operated! Paul had no qualms emphasizing the idea of obedience to truth because he knew that it was essential to salvation. To not obey the truth is to sin (cf. 1 John 3:4). Jesus expects us “to obey ALL THINGS, that [He] commanded [us] (Matt. 28:20). To marginalize obedience to some sort of second-class status is a manifestation of an incorrect paradigm on grace.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Apr 2014 22:20:25 +0000
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