BYM ONLINE DESK Nov 2018 Blessing English Emagazine | Page 4

bymonline.org | November 2018
Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is
nothing. Keeping God's commands is what counts” (1
Cor 7:18,19). And he was right. Believers enjoy the
freedom in Christ to decide on personal convictions as
long as they don't violate the commands of God.
But some false believers wanted to make Paul
and his team slaves to the 'Don't touch that, don't eat
that, don't go there, don't see that' religion. It is a
religion of man-made commandments with a show of
piety (Col 2:21-23). Paul withstood them because he
wanted to preserve the purity of the “truth of the
gospel” for the coming generations and not let it get
adulterated (Gal 2:5).
Paul had no qualms about certain controversial
practices. Peter wasn't clear about the “truth of the
gospel” which is justification by faith and not by works
like circumcision, i.e. we are saved by faith through
grace. He mingled with Gentiles. But when the
circumcision group came, he was afraid that they
might find fault with him and removed himself from
the Gentiles. Paul condemned this lack of
straightforwardness about the truth of the gospel with
astringency. Thus he settled the issue once and for all
that righteousness comes not by law but by grace. The
heretical teachers were trying to shut them out of the
free grace of God, but truth prevailed! Paul calls the
Galatians foolish for not obeying this truth but were
subterfuged to obey the law (Gal 3:1). They were
convinced about the truth of the gospel taught by Paul
and were running in the right track superbly, before the
circumcision advocates came and deflected them (Gal
5:7).
Stand for Truth: Writing to the Ephesians, Paul
admonishes them to stand firm, with the belt of truth
buckled around their waist (Eph 6:14). If the belt is not
buckled properly, fighting in the army is out of
question. If we are not clear about this truth of the
Gospel, we may fall victim to the devil's schemes. Paul
was very particular that every congregation should be
clear about this truth because of its vital importance
(Col 1:5).
Paul calls God's word as the “Word of truth,”
which we must learn to interpret correctly. If not we
will be put to shame (2 Tim 2:15). Unedifying godless
chatter will lead to straying from the truth.
Hymenaeus and Philetus were caught up in a yak-yak
about resurrection and ended up believing that it was
over and done with, confusing the Christians and
leading them astray from the truth (2 Tim 2:18). False
teachers come to you with an eye on your purse and go
to great lengths to please you. Their mouths must be
shut up warns Paul, because their motives are rotten.
People must be protected from them, for they reject the
truth. They talk big to show that they know God but
their actions deny Him (Titus 1:10-16) Learn to
discern the Spirit of truth from the spirit of deception
(1 Jn 4:6).
Especially in these last days we need to keep our
eyes wide open lest we fall into any of the deceptive
pits. If we love God we must show it by obeying the
truth, that is God's Word (Jn 14:15; 1Jn 5:2,3). This is
the acid test of our spirituality. Honest people sparsely
dot the world today. If we continue to wallow in our pet
sins listed in 2 Timothy, chapter 3, we will immerse
ourselves in learning but will never be able to come to
the knowledge of the truth (2 Tim 3:7). The last days
are on us. People are turning their ears away from the
truth and sound doctrine and are falling for spiritual
junk (2 Tim 4:3,4). The standard of holiness set by men
is coming down every day to the extent now that
homosexuality is not sin, abortion is legal... and what
not! But God's standard of holiness is unchanging. It is
always, “Be therefore perfect, even as your Father in
heaven is perfect”(Mat 5:48). Be alert! They tweak the
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