Featured What Did Barnabas See When He Saw the Grace of God

According to Paul in his explanation of the grace of God, it was a dispensation beginning with Cornelius and his household. This giving of the Spirit to gentiles was not only "seen" but those Jews who saw it were "amazed."

Don't you think the study of the scriptures by various religious people and groups is terribly immature at best? I noticed you approached the subject devotionally. There is a progressive revelation to the working of God for his purposes and logic and reason and faith in the words we read is called for.

 

The law of Moses is the subject of the discourse in Ga chapter 3..The point he is making is to those who have a history under the law of Moses. These people who occupies the first missionary efforts of God , the region that includes Galatia, are by and large the people who were the subject of the prophesy of Hosea, the Northern kingdom of Israel, as opposed to those who are doing the missionary work from the base which is Jerusalem in Judea where the church of Jesus Christ had it's beginning. The Judaizer were following the preachers of God with the message that certain parts of the law of Moses must be maintained in order for salvation to be accomplished. Read chapter 1 and you will see that grace and law are contrasted with anathema leveled against those who were teaching a combination of law and grace.

Jesus Christ spent a good part of his last few hours with his disciples in the eve of his crucifixion speaking of the promise of the Holy Ghost who would be coming when he had departed. He would be coming to those to whom he had been promised and that did not include any gentiles. Otherwise there is no mystery of "gentiles" inclusion later on into the Jewish spiritual promises that required a special man with a special calling to have it revealed to him from heaven.

Ac 1:4 And, being assembled together with them (the apostles and prophets), commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.

There is a sensible and a reasonable progression of the purpose of God as it relates to this age as time and circumstances unfolded. Jesus Christ said the gospel would go first to the Jews, then to Judaea, then to Samarian, and then to the world. The base of operations to the Jews, including the Samaritans, was Jerusalem. The base of operations to the world was Antioch. Peter was the main man in Jerusalem and Paul was the man from Antioch.

The Judaizers were the main enemies of the gospel and are responsible for the Hebrews to "turn back" to the weak and beggarly elements of the Law..

I am a little disappointed in your overlooking these great truths, ky.

 

I am so glad you have responded to my op. I thought maybe we would not have much participation, so thank you. I am going to respond "in general" to your remarks.

I think you have missed the point that is made in the NT scriptures. The inclusion of the gentiles into the body of Christ to be equal with the Jews and for both to form the church of Jesus Christ in this age is the mystery that must be learned by the scriptures that includes the written history of the beginning of the church and it's development, as well as the explanation of why the gentiles were included, in the epistles. The record is complete in the 40 years probationary period for the Jews post resurrection for the Jews to repent nationally and receive Jesus Christ as her Messiah. God compared this time to the earlier deliverance by Moses in Heb 3. Neither his generation or the generation of Christ would enter the rest of God, the promised land..

The fact that the extending of grace to the gentiles was only after the Jews refused as a nation to repent and receive the Lord in Acts 7 and the reaction to this was God giving their blessings to others in an attempt to provoke them to jealousy and for some to be saved.

Tyndale, here is a fact that no one can deny by studying the scriptures in Ga 3. The operative principle of God's divine dealing with Judah before Jesus Christ came was the Law of Moses. This did not mean that God had absolutely no grace in the OT. It would be silly to say that. But Law was his operative principle and if he chose to show grace to law beakers, it was his prerogative to do so. David violated two death penalty laws, one of murder and the other adultery and God graciously pardoned him from death in that case. In Leviticus Moses was told by God to stone a man to death according to his law who was gathering sticks on the sabbath day. No grace there.

But, Galatians says when faith came the Law ended. Does that mean it is okay for Jews to commit adultery and murder now? No, but it does mean law ended as the operative principle of divine dealing with Israel. The promise of the Spirit would be an inward power to enable them to keep the law and to provide forgiveness when they failed. Now, since God extended his operative principle of grace to gentiles and since Jesus Christ death on the cross was wide enough to include all men God made the gentiles partakers with the Jews of his grace. To us who had no promises that God was obliged to keep towards us he made his grace towards us a dispensation which supplied his Spirit of life as well as took away our condemnation. Since this is true God has obligated himself to receive any and all sinners who will come to him for salvation in the name of Jesus Christ. This is true of this entire age and there has not been a charge from God of anyone breaking the law of Moses since the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The world is reconciled to him through Christ and he has taken away the sin of the whole world.

Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

What do you think about that?

 

The point of this info in Galatians 3 is to show the foolish Galatians who had been persuaded by false teachers to go back under the law of Moses is that Abraham preceded the law and the promises came to and through him. The law was an "addendum" to the Abrahamic covenant 430 years afterward to teach them that they could not keep the standards of God by the power of the flesh. This school master was only to last until :faith" came. By faith is meant until the one came who was able in the flesh to keep the law on their behalf, Jesus Christ. He did keep the law and the promises come through him. We, Jews and gentiles, receive the promise of salvation and become sons of God through faith in him.

9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

Ga 3:15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.
16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after (the giving of the Abrahamic covenant that contained the promises), cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. (so the Law could not disanul the promises made in the Abrahamic covenant)
18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it (the inheritance) is no more of promise: but God gave it (the inheritance) to Abraham by promise.(if it came by law then men would earn it and God would be obligated to give it as a pay off)

19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It (the law) was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; (it was over then) and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.
21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.

This makes perfect sense to me.

 

Look at it;

2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward - (gentile-ward)
3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.
8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

Question #1
Is the dispensation of the grace of God the mystery of Christ?

Question #2
Knowing as I do that Paul was not saved until the 8th year into the history of the church and after the events of the killing of Stephen in Acts 7, of which he participated, is it reasonable to consider and to conclude that the dispensation of the grace of God , the mystery of Christ, had not been revealed until after he, Paul, was saved?

Question #3
Does verse 6 define the grace of God, it's dispensation, as being the time the gentiles were made fellowheirs, of the same body, and partakers of the promise of the gift of the Spirit of God to indwell them with the Jews who had been in the body from the very first?

Question #4
Does the preponderance of the evidence of the progression of the history in the Acts support the obvious answer of "yes" to these questions?

Do the prophetic parables of Jesus in Matthew, Mark, and Luke support the history that is recorded in the Acts and explained in the epistles of Paul?

I have asked just some of the questions the text demands you ask and answer contextually. There are more.

 

Thanks ky for your answer, misinformed as it is. You know that it was not I who brought up the word "dispensation" and you have only said how much you despise it, not informing us at all what the word means in the context of Eph 3.

You are all over the place explaining yourself and you have not even touched on the context of Ephesians. I am wanting to know about the context of Ephesians and the testimony of Paul himself and his calling concerning the mystery of Christ and this grace being given to him. Paul was not saved, as I have said, until 37/38 AD. The mystery was given to him, he said, to give to gentile-ward.

Ac 14:27 And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.

Ac 15:7 And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men [and] brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.

Ac 15:13 And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: 14 Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.

These all refer to the Cornelius event in 40 AD.

ky, why don't the Primitive Baptists allow you to believe the words written in the text? I am beginning to think you will not use logic and reason in your reading.

 

To stay on topic and in context. Barnasbas and the grace of God he saw in Acts 11 has noting to do with Adam in Genesis or the sheep in John 10. That the grace of God has it,s very own doctrinal context with a beginning and an end.

Word count: I have noticed that no minds have been changed and no edification has taken place by sound bites without context like is the practice of most here, some of whom become upset if one tries to give substance to their thoughts. I for one would be interested how some arrive at their doctrinal conclusions rather than get links to high profile teachers that have done one's thinking for them.

My motto is, "dare to be different" and believe the words.

On the subject, The grace of God is said by the scriptures to be a dispensation pertaining to a class of people. I have shown by context where I have not made that up. I could not do that in a sound bite. Now you know how I have arrived at my conclusions but I do not know how you arrived at yours. I have used logic and reason from the words of scriptures.

Don't you agree?