Philippians
Paul's friends in Philippi? They're another story. These Christians are doing awesome. They're super faithful and humble and all-around amazing. Paul really wishes he could visit, too, but he's in prison right now. No worries, though. He's more than happy to rough it if it means he's suffering for Jesus. Paul ends his letter by reminding them to keep the faith and also thanking them for the gift they sent him.
Philemon
Finally, Paul sits down to write to his old friend Philemon. He's back in prison again , and he's just met this runaway slave named Onesimus who is super anxious to start following Jesus. Unfortunately, Onesimus is Philemon's runaway slave. Paul sends Onesimus back to Philemon while also very strongly suggesting that he not be mad at him. In fact, if Philemon could find it in his heart to release Onesimus from slavery all together, that would be great. No pressure though. It's just what Jesus would do.
Here is Pauls letter to the Galatians:
Greetings from Paul! He's an apostle sent by God. This time he's writing to the churches in Galatia, but he's not too thrilled with what's been going on there. Well, it seems some of the Galatians have been turning their backs on God and putting their faith in a twisted version of the gospel. Let Paul be clear: there's only one gospel. It's the one Paul told them about. Just because someone comes along and starts spouting off all kinds of random ideas about Jesus, that doesn't make them true. Even an angel (bad one ) from Heaven who teaches them the wrong things about Jesus is gonna get trouble from God. This goes double for any humans trying to pervert God's message about Jesus. Seriously, naysayers, God is not amused. Paul's not trying to win any popularity contests here. He's just doing what God told him. After all, Paul didn't get his info from just anywhere—he got it from Jesus Christ himself.
Paul is pretty sure the Galatians know about his past. But he's gonna tell them again. Just once more for good measure. Back in the day, Paul was a super devout Jew who persecuted Christians on the side. He's was very devoted and totally loved Jewish law—even more than most other Jews—but when God sent him a vision of Jesus, everything changed. He changed, like we are suppose to change. He started preaching the good news about Jesus right away. He didn't high tail it to Jerusalem to meet with Jesus's disciples there. He went out on his own and spread the good word. Three years after his conversion, he did take a quick trip to Jerusalem, but he only met with Cephas (a.k.a. Simon Peter, Jesus's right-hand man from all the gospels) and James (Jesus's brother). But that was it. No one else in Jerusalem saw him. Plus, he only stayed there for fifteen days. So really, the trip was no big deal. If the Christians in Jerusalem had to pick him out of a lineup, they wouldn't have been able to do it. All they knew about Paul was that he used to spend his free time watching Christians get executed and now he's out praising Jesus. Paul keeps going with the back story stuff. Fourteen years after he first visited the church in Jerusalem, God tells him to head back there again. This time he takes his pals, Barnabas and Titus, with him. In Jerusalem, he meets with the guys who have been declared the leaders of the church. Paul doesn't personally care who they are (neither does God), but obviously, they're well-respected folks in Jerusalem, so Paul's willing to humor them. Basically, Paul is coming to get their support for his mission to the Gentiles. He's been all around the eastern half of the Roman Empire telling everyone that Gentile converts don't need to follow every single Jewish law. Maybe one or two or ten, but not all 613 for sure. Yup that is right..there is actually 613 commandments in the bible.. It's important to note that Paul doesn't want their approval. He already knows his message is a-okay by God. He just needs to know they won't interfere with the work he's trying to do. That’s it.. that is all he wants. The leaders in Jerusalem are pretty much on board. No one says anything about Titus—who's Greek and not circumcised—so things are going pretty smoothly. So as long as Titus conceals this, things are gonna be fine. That is, until some naysayers sneak into the mix. These are Jewish Christians who believe that all Christians should also be following Jewish law. Paul stays strong and eventually the leaders of the church—including James, Peter, and John—side with him. They recognize all the grace that God has given him as the apostle to the Gentiles and send Paul on his way. Now he and Barnabas are in charge of spreading God's word to the Gentiles. The people in Jerusalem will work on getting the Jews on board.
Later, when Peter visits Paul in Antioch, these two apostles get into a disagreement. As Paul tells it, Peter made a habit while he was in Antioch of eating with both Jewish and Gentile-Christians and not worrying his head about making sure everything at the table was kosher. However, when some friends of James come to town, Peter backs off the whole eating-bacon-with-Gentiles thing. So Paul gets all up in Peters' face in front of everyone. He's like, you are such a hypocrite. Look, Paul might be a Jew by birth, but he knows that simply obeying Jewish law can never make a person right with God. Only having faith in Jesus can do that. If a Christian is faithful, but he still has foreskin and enjoys a ham sandwich every once in a while, well, God still thinks he's aces. After all, God sent Jesus to earth to die. If the law alone could make us good with God, then what the heck did Jesus go through that whole crucifixion thing for?
Paul is getting madder by the minute. He calls the Galatians "foolish" and starts in on a rhetorical tantrum. Haven't these guys seen that Jesus has been crucified ("seen" in the form of Paul's preaching, that is)? How do they think they got the Holy Spirit? Did they painstakingly read and follow the Torah or did they accept the truth of the gospel that Paul told them about? The Galatians started out as people in the Spirit, but now they're worried about their physical bodies. Mainly their penises. This makes no sense. Why would God pour his Spirit on them in the first place just to have them go back and start following the law? Look, way back in Genesis, Abraham simply put his faith in God. God was cool with that and promised that everyone who believed in him would be blessed. This was way before the law, so obviously this proves that people don't need the law to get on God's good side. Basically, Paul is saying that the law is like a curse hanging over our heads. When Jesus died, he took that curse away. Now, we can just live for God and not worry about what we eat or if we're sacrificing a lamb the right way. It's kind of like when someone finalizes their will. That means it's set in stone and can't be changed. Same thing goes for God. God promised that Abraham's offspring would be good with him if they had faith. The law came way after this: 430 years later to be exact. And the law can't change God's initial promise.
Okay, so then what is the point of the law? The Torah is the first five books of the bible that I taught you about in my first letters.. that is what the Jewish people follow.. even to this day.. What Moses taught.. (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). So anyways.. Was God just wasting our time with all those laws about sacrificing goats and stuff? Here's Paul's answer. No, the law was kind of a placeholder until Jesus could come. And now he's here! The law isn't in conflict with God's promises either. It was basically just a way of keeping us in check until Jesus could come. You know how crazy we humans like to get sometimes. Before Jesus, the law was like a police officer, monitoring our bad behavior and punishing us for it. Except the jail cells looked a lot more like angry mobs holding stones. But now, Jesus is here and everyone who has faith has him in his or her heart. So what use is the law if God is part of every single believer? In Jesus, there are no more labels and categories. No Jews and Gentiles, no slaves or free people, no men or women—just believers. And all believers are one through the power of Jesus. And anyone who believes gets a share of that promise God made to Abraham. No obeying the law required. It's as simple as that.
See, Paul's point (and he totally has one) is that we're all kind of like kids who are about to inherit a fortune. Hear him out. Basically, Daddy Warbucks has left us a pile of money and a slew of European hotels, but until we turn 18, we can't get our hands on any of it. Same thing with God. He promised that we'd be redeemed if we believed in him, but we couldn't actually do it until Jesus came to Earth. Now we can claim our birthright as children of God. Now that the Galatians know God so intimately and have been adopted as his special children, why would they want to go back to those dark days being forced to obey the law? Paul is worried that the Galatians just aren't getting it. They're spending a lot of time fussing over which Jewish holidays to celebrate instead of just living for Jesus like they're supposed to. Look, Paul knows that the Galatians have good hearts. When he first came to see them, he was very sick. But they didn't hate on him because of it. They welcomed him and accepted what he had to say. So what happened to those good times, Galatians? Paul remembers when these guys would have given him the shirts off their backs or the eyes out of their eye sockets. Now they think he's just a big liar? The Galatians are like Paul's kids. In fact, right now he's like a mom going through labor pains with them. And you know birthing a whole community of Christians is no picnic.
If the Galatians love the Torah so much, maybe they'd like to hear a story from the Torah. Yeah, Paul thought they would. Remember Abraham and his two sons, Ishmael and Isaac? Hagar was the mother of Isaac. She was a slave woman whose son came into the world in the usual way (i.e., sex). But Sarah, the mother of Isaac, was infertile, and God himself allowed her to conceive a child. Isaac, therefore, came into the world through God's promise. Paul thinks that the two women represent two different paths. Hagar was a slave and bore children who would become slaves (to the law). But Sarah was free and she gave birth because of God's goodness and love. In case you didn't realize it, Sarah is the lady Christians should be aiming to emulate. Paul also drops a hint of what should happen to these naysayers in Galatia who keep pushing the law. The community should follow the example of Abraham and throw Hagar and her law-loving children out into the desert.
What's the gist of all this? Don't be slaves to the law. You've been given your freedom, so take it and run with it, Galatians! Paul tells them if they go ahead and get circumcised, things are not gonna work out well. Besides the fact that it's gonna hurt a ton, if they get snipped, they'll be forced to obey all the other 612 Jewish laws on the books. Good luck with that, guys. Also, they'll be cutting themselves off from God's grace since they'll be trying to find a relationship with God through the law. That path is a dead end. Literally. But if they want to follow Christ, they should just do that. No law-abiding required. The only thing that matters is having faith. Come on, Galatians! You guys were doing good until someone pushed you off the straight and narrow. Hey, it only takes one troublemaker to cause a problem. But whoever it is that's spreading lies there in Galatia, they're gonna pay.
Paul hopes that the Galatians will stay on the path to freedom, but this doesn't mean they can do anything they want. In fact, true freedom comes in following God's will. If they truly love God, they'll devote their lives to loving each other. Paul reminds them to keep their focus on spiritual things instead of material things. In other words, no fancy stuff. This also means no "fornication, impurity, idolatry, sorcery, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these." On the other hand, a person who lives in the Spirit will be loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, generous, faithful, gentle, and in control of themselves. If a person truly lives in Christ, they'll follow the Spirit's lead and do all these good things.
Paul has some parting words for the Galatians. Hey, if there's one thing Paul loves, it's giving advice. If a fellow Christian sins, then everyone else should help him or her to get back on the straight and narrow. Remember, says Paul, we're all imperfect, so cut those sinners some slack. But also keep in mind that you're doing the right stuff personally. Don't be arrogant and do your fair share in the community. If you're taught something good, then pass it on. Paul also reminds them that they "reap whatever [they] sow." This sounds familiar. Basically, he just means that if you plant seeds of goodness and love in your life, that's what will grow. But if you toss some bad seeds on the ground, your harvest will not be pretty at all.
Paul closes by telling them to keep the faith and not listen to his opponents around Galatia. He suspects that these naysayers just want Gentiles to get circumcised so they can brag about how awesome and convincing they are all over town. They don't really even care about the law that much because they don't actually follow it themselves. Paul, on the other hand, doesn't roll like that. The only thing he ever brags about is Jesus's crucifixion. He ends the letter by reminding them that it doesn't matter whether you're circumcised or not. All that matters is that you've been born anew in Christ. The only physical marks that matter to Paul are the ones he got in the service of Jesus. Paul had a knack for getting almost stoned to death quite a bit. And, with that, Paul is over and out…for now.
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