Paul’s son/slave analogy (4:1-7) does not illustrate how obedience to God is optional for Christians, as some say. Rather, it illustrates how a Jew’s relationship with the Law of Moses changes when he believes.

Prior to believing in Jesus, a Jew under the old covenant is comparable to a child of a wealthy Roman family in ancient times. He is under “guardians and managers” at first, and his life bears little difference to that of a household slave (4:2). He is, however, destined for better things as he grows older, and at the date set by his father, is adopted into his family to enjoy the full privileges of sonship. Similarly, God the Father set a time when the Jews, in slavery under the Mosaic Law, would be freed through Jesus’ sacrifice to become His full-fledged children, born of His Spirit. Clearly, Paul believed that no Jew (or Gentile) was obligated to obey the Law of Moses.

However, under the influence of the false teachers who had infiltrated the church, not only were Gentile believers being circumcised and embracing the Law of Moses, but Jewish believers were apparently reverting to their former slavery to the Law’s ritualistic aspects (4:9). Notice it was not the Galatians’ holiness or morality that caused Paul such great concern. Rather, he wrote, “You observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you…” (Gal. 4:10-11). Paul was concerned that the Galatian Christians were trying to merit salvation by means of circumcision and following ritualistic aspects of the Law of Moses.

Finding himself now in competition with the false teachers for the hearts and minds of the Galatian believers, Paul asks them to remember their special relationship with him. He reminds them that, even though he had “bodily illness” (or better translated, “bodily weakness”) that “was a trial” to them when he was with them, they did not despise him (4:13-14). Paul must have been referring to his appearance after he had been stoned and left for dead in Lystra (Acts 14:19). Imagine how he looked until his swelling subsided and his bruises slowly healed. His appearance, however, only served to endear him even more to the Galatian believers, as they knew he had suffered for their sakes.

Some commentators try to convince us that because Paul told the Galatians, “If possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me” (4:15), Paul must have had a terrible eye disease! If I say to someone, “You loved me so much you would have cut off your right hand for me,” does that prove my right hand is diseased? Hardly. We would wonder how Paul would have been able to inspire people in Galatia with faith to be healed if he himself had been suffering a terrible eye disease.

Paul’s second analogy in today’s reading, constructed using Old Testament imagery, also serves to help Jewish believers understand their new relationship with God apart from the Mosaic Law.

Abraham’s son Ishmael was born because of Abraham’s own efforts, while his son Isaac was born supernaturally because of his faith. Additionally, Ishmael’s mother was a slave, whereas Isaac’s mother was free. Clearly, Ishmael represents unbelieving Jews who are in slavery to the Mosaic Law as they attempt to obtain salvation by their own efforts, whereas Isaac represents believing Jews who are free from slavery to the Mosaic law, having received salvation through faith.

Paul draws a few additional parallels in his allegory. Hagar the slave, and the Law of Moses, correspond with “the present Jerusalem,” a city in which most of the residents in Paul’s day were still in bondage to the Law. Believers in Christ, however, look to the Jerusalem above, the New Jerusalem, as their true home or “mother.” And just as Isaac was persecuted by Ishmael, so those who are “born of the Spirit” (believing Jews) are persecuted by those who are “born of the flesh” (unbelieving Jews).

What will be the final outcome? The children of the “bondwoman” (those still in slavery under the Law of Moses) will be “cast out,” while the children of the “freewoman” will inherit salvation (see 4:30-31). Interesting shadowy parallels from the Old Testament!

The controversy Paul addressed in his letter to the Galatians was not a debate over whether or not true Christians obey God’s commandments. Rather, it was a debate over whether or not Gentiles must be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses in order to be saved. The clear answer is that they don’t, and for a number of good reasons, many of which Paul mentions in this chapter.

Keep in mind that God has given three major “sets of rules” in human history. The first is the “law of the conscience,” given to every person since Adam. That set of rules existed thousands of years before the Law of Moses, and God has always expected everyone to obey those laws, which is why He has wired every human in history with a conscience (see Rom. 2:14-16).

Second, God gave the Law of Moses to the descendants of Israel. It was given only to them, and it included many laws that, unlike the law of conscience, were not moral in nature, such as laws about feast days, a priesthood, animal sacrifices and so on. The Law of Moses was only intended to be temporary, lasting until the time of the new covenant (see Jer. 31:31-34; Heb. 7:12; 8:6-13). It included many moral laws that were also part of the “law of conscience.”

Third, God gave the Church the “law of Christ,” which includes everything Christ commanded. The law of Christ includes all the moral laws that were also part of the “law of conscience.” All Jewish and Gentile believers in Jesus are obligated to follow the law of Christ, and they do strive to follow it, by virtue of the fact that they are born again. None, including Jewish believers, are obligated to follow the Law of Moses any longer (see 1 Cor. 9:19-21). It took quite a while, however, for early Jewish Christians to accept this fact. As we’ve seen, some even thought that Gentiles should be obeying the Law of Moses.

In today’s reading, Paul succinctly lists many reasons why Gentiles don’t need to be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses to be saved. The foremost is, of course, that God forgives and regenerates them when they believe in Jesus. God gives His Spirit to those who believe, not first requiring their circumcision and Mosaic law-keeping (3:2-5).

Salvation has always been received through faith, as proven in the Old Testament (see 3:11), and by Scripture’s testimony regarding Abraham, who “believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness” (3:6). Abraham’s true descendants follow his example of faith (3:7), and they include believing Gentiles, as God had originally promised Abraham (3:8-9).

In fact, when God promised Abraham that all the nations would be blessed through his seed, that is, through Christ, it was a promise made 430 years before the Law of Moses was given. Paul argues that, even in a covenant made between men, the conditions can’t be altered after the agreement is made. Surely when God gave the Law of Moses, He wasn’t adding conditions to the covenant He made with Abraham 430 years earlier to bless Gentiles through his seed! So the Law of Moses has absolutely nothing to do with Gentiles receiving the blessing that God promised them through Jesus, Abraham’s singular seed.

Another reason salvation can’t be gained by keeping the Law of Moses is because that Law promises a curse on any who don’t keep it perfectly, something no one has ever done (with the exception of Jesus).

So what purpose did the Law of Moses ultimately serve? It helped Jews, who because of God’s great dealings with them might have been tempted to think they had salvation “in the bag,” to realize their need to be saved, and saved by some means other than the Law. So the Law became, for Jews, a tutor to lead them to Christ (3:24). Paul clearly states that believing Jews are no longer under that tutor (3:26).

So Jews and Gentiles are in the same boat. All can be saved only through faith. When they do believe, they are born again to be sons of God, “clothed in Christ” (3:27), now acting like Him!

As Paul recounts his second trip to Jerusalem, once again we see that the primary issue was that of circumcision. Paul took Titus, a Greek Gentile, with him on that second trip, and Titus remained uncircumcised, before and after (2:3). The point? It proves that back in those early days, no Christian in Jerusalem, including Peter, James and John (2:9), thought that Gentiles needed to be circumcised to be saved. Paul had, in fact, traveled to Jerusalem for the very purpose of submitting the gospel that he had been preaching to the Gentiles to the scrutiny of the highest Christian leaders there. They gave it their full endorsement. Neither Peter, James or John said to Paul, “You must tell the Gentiles that they need to be circumcised to be saved.”

At a later point in time, however, Peter succumbed to pressure from Jews who believed otherwise. Paul thus recounts the incident so his readers will know the facts, lest anyone try to dispute Paul’s gospel on the basis of Peter’s temporary fall from the truth.

Peter had traveled to the thriving Gentile church in Antioch, initially enjoying full fellowship with uncircumcised Gentile believers. He ate with them, something forbidden by Jewish tradition. But when some others, whom Paul refers to as “the party of the circumcision,” arrived from Jerusalem, Peter began to “hold himself aloof” from the Gentile believers, and his example was ultimately followed by other Jewish believers in Antioch, including even Barnabas.

Paul could not keep silent about their hypocrisy. They professed to believe that salvation was available to anyone who would believe in Jesus, circumcised or uncircumcised, yet were living in contradiction to their profession. So Paul rebuked Peter publicly, saying (and I paraphrase 2:14): “If you, as a Jew, have been eating with uncircumcised men, indicating by your example that circumcision is not necessary for acceptance by God, why are you now acting in such a way to make Gentiles think that they must be circumcised to be accepted by God?” Again, it is clear that circumcision was the primary issue.

The final six verses of today’s reading are not as clear as I wish they were. But this much is clear: the fundamental problem of salvation through circumcision is that it nullifies God’s grace and the need for Jesus’ death. No Jew has ever been saved by keeping the Law of Moses, because no Jew has yet kept the Law of Moses. Jews, although perhaps not as sinful as the average Gentile (2:15), are still sinners who need grace to be saved, and so salvation is granted to Jews who believe in Jesus. If circumcision doesn’t save Jews, why would it be required of Gentiles for salvation?

Paul’s testimony, as a Jew, was that “through the Law I died to the Law” (2:19). That is, the Law only condemned him, and so he gave up all hope of being saved by it. Losing hope in the Law, however, is what paved the way for him to ultimately “live to God,” that is, live in obedience. Now spiritually reborn, Paul’s righteousness stemmed not from his own feeble efforts, but from Christ who lived within him. Everyone who has been genuinely born again can say with Paul, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (2:20). Praise God!

So you can see that Paul’s gospel of grace was anything but a license to sin. Rather, it was a message of Christ-empowered holiness. And what an insult it is to Jesus to say to a Gentile for whom He died and within whom He now lives, “If you want to be saved, you must be circumcised and start keeping all the laws given to the Jews.” That is tantamount to saying that one is saved by being circumcised and keeping the Law of Moses, and it makes Christ’s death needless.

One final point. When Paul submitted to Peter, James and John the gospel he had been preaching to Gentiles, they had nothing to add to it (2:6). They only requested that he “remember the poor” (2:10). We can’t rightfully claim to be a “New Testament church” unless we are caring for the poor.

There is little doubt that Paul penned his letter to the Galatian churches not too long after his first missionary journey to their region (see 1:6), which we’ve been reading in the books of Acts over the past two days. So the year was around 48 A.D., 18 years from the church’s birth in Jerusalem. That means the early church did quite well for 18 years without the book of Galatians. Or it could be said this way: God did not feel that the book of Galatians was needed by the church until then.

Why the need in 48 A.D.? Simply because a unique problem had surfaced. The gospel was being distorted (1:7). Paul wrote to fix that problem. Tragically, however, some have ripped verses from this letter—a letter that was meant to correct a distorted gospel—and used those verses to distort the gospel once again. We will consider the evidence for that over the next six days.

Having already read Matthew, James, and the first 14 chapters of the book of Acts, a foundation has been laid for us concerning the gospel. We’ve read Jesus’ major teachings. We know He consistently taught that heaven is only for the holy. We’ve read James’ words that faith without works cannot save anyone. We’ve studied the sermons of the apostles during the first 18 years of the church, and heard them call their audiences to repentance. So when someone tries to tell us that Paul, in his Galatian letter, was correcting a false doctrine that was misleading people into thinking that holiness is necessary for heaven, warning lights should start flashing in our minds! In fact, if we’ve ever read the entire book of Galatians, we’re immediately going to think of passages such as Galatians 5:19-21:

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God (Gal. 5:19-21, emphasis added).

Clearly, Paul was not trying to correct the “misconception” that holiness is required for heaven!

So how had the gospel been distorted? Some Jewish believers were teaching that Gentiles could not be saved unless they were circumcised. Circumcision was clearly the main issue. This is why we find circumcision mentioned at least thirteen times in the six chapters of Galatians. It was also being taught by some that Gentiles could not be saved unless they started keeping all the Law of Moses, particularly its feast days and more ritualistic, rather than moral, aspects. Consequently, in the minds of some Galatians, salvation had become something that one earned through circumcision and keeping some rituals, not something that was purchased by Christ and granted by God’s grace to believers. It was indeed, “a different gospel” (1:6).

One of the final and concluding verses of Paul’s letter says:

For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation (Gal. 6:15).

That sentence sums up the entire letter. If we understand nothing else in Galatians, we can understand that. Clearly, Paul was declaring that circumcision has no bearing on salvation. The important thing is that one be a new creation in Christ. It was not the removal of a little piece of flesh that saves, but the removal of the old fleshly nature of sin, a circumcision of the heart (see Deut. 10:16; 30:6; Jer. 4:4). And it was all by grace through faith! But not a dead faith!

In this first chapter, Paul focuses on proving the divine origin of the gospel he preached. By recounting the story of his former life as a devoted Pharisee and persecutor of the church, his supernatural conversion, and his scant contact with the early Christian leaders in Jerusalem, Paul attempts to persuade his Galatian readers that his message of salvation by grace through faith was given to him by God, not man. This was necessary, because the false teachers no doubt had their list of Old Testament scriptures in which God commanded circumcision.

This incident of the healing of the crippled man in Lystra raises some interesting questions. According to what we read, Paul was preaching “the gospel” (14:7) in Lystra. Listening to Paul’s gospel, a man who had been lame from birth was inspired with faith that healed him completely (14:9). How is that? He must have heard something more than just a message about a God who was offering forgiveness of sins.

Perhaps he heard from Paul that Jesus never turned away anyone who came to Him requesting healing, including crippled people, and that He was alive and still doing the same miracles. Perhaps Paul quoted Isaiah’s prophecy that the Messiah would not only be “pierced through for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities,” but that He also “took our infirmities, and carried away our diseases” and that “by His scourging we are healed” (Is. 53:4-5; Matt. 8:17). Surely an evangelist whose ministry is accompanied by genuine miracles will be much more effective than one whose ministry is not. How effective would Paul have been in Iconium without healings and miracles (14:3)?

Something else worth considering about this particular story: Luke wrote that the crippled man had “faith to be made well” (14:9), even while he was still crippled. It wasn’t until Paul told him, “Stand upright on your feet,” and he obeyed Paul’s words, that he was actually healed. What an illustration of the truth that faith without works is dead. The crippled man had to act upon his faith before it was effectual, a principle the Bible teaches over and over again. If you want to walk on the water, you have to get out of the boat. Get going!

And what an illustration of the power of encouragement! Paul told the crippled man to get up, while so many preachers would have told him not even to get his hopes up! Encouragers are the mothers of miracles. I wonder where I would be today without the past encouragement of family and friends. Now is a good time to ask yourself, “Am I an encourager?”

After being stoned and left for dead, Paul was either revived or supernaturally resurrected. Then the “stonee” walked back into the city of his “stoners.” Paul was no wimp, and what God had said years earlier was becoming a reality: “He [Paul] is a chosen instrument of Mine….for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake” (Acts 9:15-16).

In the city of Derbe, Paul and Barnabas “made many disciples” (14:21). According to the Bible, a disciple is not just someone who professes to believe in Jesus, but someone who is a whole-hearted follower of Christ, one who is learning to obey all of His commandments (see John 8:31-32; Matt. 28:19-20; Luke 14:25-33). This exposes the fundamental error of much of the modern evangelical church, which proclaims a false gospel founded on a false grace that results in false converts. Today we are told that one can be a believer in Christ without being a disciple of Christ, and that one can gain heaven without holiness! This faulty doctrine is often derived, at least in part, from isolated verses extracted from Paul’s Galatian letter, which we are about to begin reading, in context, tomorrow.

Returning to the cities where they had recently preached, Paul and Barnabas appointed elders in every church (14:23). Churches need leaders, and generally speaking, with age comes wisdom, thus elders were appointed. Older Jewish converts, in particular, would have been the most qualified to serve because of their familiarity with Scripture. But none had spent any time in Bible School or seminary. In the New Testament, the words elders, pastors, overseers, and bishops all describe the same ministry. They disciple little flocks.

Keep in mind that almost everything we read yesterday, and everything we read today, occurred in the ancient region of Galatia, in modern western Turkey. In particular, take note that Paul’s primary antagonists in Galatia were unbelieving Jews (13:50; 14:2,4-5,19). Also remember that Paul was stoned and left for dead in the Galatian city of Lystra. This is all important to know as we read Galatians.

It is now around 48 A.D., 18 years from the church’s birth on Pentecost. The church in Antioch was not fragmented into scores of denominations separated by doctrine and traditions. Rather, the believers, who regularly gathered in houses in many locations, considered themselves to be members of one church. The leaders, knowing Jesus’ commandment to love one another, did just that, regularly gathering themselves. They included more than just elders/pastors/overseers (all the same New Testament ministry), but also prophets and teachers (13:1).

Those leadership gatherings apparently included times of “ministering to the Lord and fasting.” Keep in mind that one may fast by skipping just one meal. It was during one of those times that the Holy Spirit spoke, likely through prophecy: “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

First, notice that the prophetic word was not telling anyone that she would be married within two years, or that he would soon be landing a better job (as so many alleged prophecies do in some modern church circles). Rather, the prophetic word was focused on God’s plan to expand His kingdom.

Second, notice the Holy Spirit did not tell Barnabas and Saul (Paul) precisely what their “work” was. They already knew it in their hearts, where the Holy Spirit speaks to all true believers, and the prophetic word was simply a confirmation. The lesson? Don’t be led by prophecy! Follow the inward guidance of the Spirit. If you receive a prophecy that doesn’t confirm what you already know, forget it.

So Barnabas and Saul (Paul) were “sent out by the Holy Spirit” (13:4), and from then on were classified as apostles, or “sent ones” (see 14:14). God sent them first to the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea. Upon arrival, they began preaching in synagogues, hoping that the Jews and God-fearing and proselyte Gentiles would be receptive to hearing their message. Not all were, and Luke highlights one named Bar-Jesus, a Jewish false prophet and magician. Don’t you just love God’s gentle tact as He spoke to Bar-Jesus through Paul’s lips, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord?” (13:10). Bar-Jesus soon found his physical eyes as darkened as his spiritual eyes.

From Cyprus the missionaries sailed to Perga and Pisidian Antioch, in the ancient region of Galatia, on the western coast of modern Turkey. Much of Paul’s ministry would be focused on this part of the world during his missionary journeys, and he experienced great success. Today, however, among modern Turkey’s 70 million people, the majority are nominal Muslims, while Christians number only in the thousands.

Paul’s first sermon in the Jewish synagogue in Pisidian Antioch was a simple telling of the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection, how it fulfilled Old Testament prophecy, how it could benefit those who would believe, and how it spelled the doom of those who would not believe. God was offering forgiveness and freedom from sin through His Son.

Note that Paul did not give an altar call at the conclusion of his preaching or lead anyone in a “sinner’s prayer.” Those who believed were born again and naturally wanted to learn more about Jesus, so they followed Paul and Barnabas to seek more understanding. The preachers didn’t have to chase down the new “converts.” Rather, the new disciples followed the preachers. That is biblical “follow up!”

Tragically, many of the Jews in Pisidian Antioch did not believe, but the Gentiles were amazingly receptive, “rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord” (13:48).

Does the phrase “as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed” indicate that God has predestined some to be saved and others to be damned? No. The New Testament teaches that, before the foundation of the world, God chose to save all who would believe in Jesus. He foreknew who would believe and appointed them to eternal life, recording their names in His book. Peter wrote that we are “chosen according to the foreknowledge of God” (1 Pet. 1-2). If you believe, you were also “appointed to eternal life!”

I think it is important to note that James condemns, not the rich in general, but the unrighteous rich. They gained their riches by not paying laborers who mowed their fields, and they “condemned and put to death the righteous man” (5:6).

The unrighteous rich, however, are not only condemned by how they gained their wealth, but also because of what they did with the wealth they gained. One might gain his wealth without sin (like Job and Abraham of old), but if one does not steward his wealth according to the will of God, he is still in the category of the unrighteous rich. Those whom James condemned did exactly what Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount, forbade His followers to do, namely, they laid up their treasure on the earth (5:3). They “lived luxuriously on the earth and led [lives] of wanton pleasure” (5:5), typical of many modern professing Christians who ignore Jesus’ stewardship commands. If you are reading these words, there is a very good chance that you are very rich. If you make $50,000 annually, you are in the top 1% of the world’s wage earners (see www.globalrichlist.com). You should be laying up lots of treasures in heaven!

It seems likely that some of those unpaid laborers who mowed the fields of the rich were among James’ readers. They would have taken comfort in his condemnation of those who exploited them. Their circumstances were so dire that Jesus’ return was a source of great hope of deliverance (5:7-8). James wrote that the Lord’s coming “is at hand” (5:8). No one in the early church dreamed that Jesus would not return for at least 2,000 years.

Another theme from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount surfaces in today’s reading, that of the sin of swearing with an oath. Just as Jesus taught, a simple “yes” or “no” is sufficient when we give our word. There is nothing wrong with making promises. But swearing by an oath is an admission that one’s simple promise is not trustworthy.

Clearly, the early church believed that the Lord was still in the healing business. Notice that it was not the elders or their oil that effected healing, but the “prayer offered in faith” (5:14). Jesus often credited people’s faith as the reason for their healing, and nothing has changed. If we believe, however, that it may not be God’s will for us to be healed, then it is virtually impossible to pray in faith for healing.

This healing promise in James 5:14-15 ought to be enough to convince any sick believer of God’s will in the matter! The only qualifications for healing, according to James, are faith and righteousness, qualifications that can be obtained by any and all Christians. And if one is lacking in righteousness, forgiveness is available to those who repent, a forgiveness that places one in the righteous category! And don’t be among the deceived dunderheads who try to claim that they are “righteous in Christ” while living unrighteously! That kind of alleged righteousness is not an asset in getting prayers answered. John wrote, “Whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight” (1 John 3:22).

There is little doubt that Scripture teaches that sin can open the door to God’s discipline in the form of sickness (Ex. 15:26; Num. 12:1-15; Deut. 7:15; 28:22, 27-28, 35, 58-61; 1 Sam. 5:1-12; 1 Kings 8:35-39; 2 Kings 5:21-27; 2 Chron. 16:10-13; 21:12-20; 26:16-21; Ps. 38:3; 106:13-15; 107:17-18; Is. 10:15-16; Jn. 5:5-14; Acts 5:1-11; 1 Cor. 5:1-5; 11:27-34; Rev. 2:20-23). James also makes this clear, pointing out that the sick may need to confess their sins committed against other believers. If our relationships with other believers aren’t right, our relationship with God is not right, just as Jesus taught in His Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:23-24). Verse 16 does not say we ought to confess all our sins to other believers as a regular practice. It must be read in context. Don’t forget that James was writing to Christians who had been complaining against each other (see 4:11; 5:9).

An interesting point to ponder is that, at this point in church history (about 15 years after the church’s birth on the day of Pentecost), the book of James comprised the entire New Testament. The book of Galatians wouldn’t be written for at least another three years. Conservative biblical scholars estimate that the synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark and Luke—were not written for at least another 15 years! Yet the church thrived during its first 30 years. Of course, they had the apostolic oral accounts of Jesus’ life that were passed along. It makes me wonder if the modern church is not guilty of over-emphasizing the New Testament epistles at the expense of Jesus’ teaching that we now find in the four Gospels. Remember, Jesus did tell His disciples to go and make disciples, teaching them to obey all that He commanded (Matt. 28:18-20). That is the important thing!

I’m wondering if you caught the interesting phrase in 11:21: “A large number who believed turned to the Lord.” It seems to say that not all who believe necessarily turn to the Lord, that is, repent. If so, such unrepentant believers could be called “unsaved believers.”

It was in the Gentile church in Antioch where the disciples were first called Christians. It was probably unsaved Gentiles who bestowed that title upon the disciples, as they observed that their conversations and lifestyles all revolved around Christ. Thus a title that was meant to be derogatory became regarded by the early disciples as one of honor. True disciples can say with Paul, “To live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21).

I like today’s story about the prophets, one of whom was named Agabus, who came down to Antioch from Jerusalem. His prophecy was not some vague, mystical forecast that we so often hear from the many alleged prophets who roam from church to church today. I so pity the gullible people who, when they find just a few words in one of their many nebulous prophecies that seemingly come to pass, are convinced these self-proclaimed prophets are from God. Agabus spoke specifically. His word of the coming famine was his message, it was not vaguely contained within a prophecy that included scores of other vague “messages.”

I also like how the church responded to Agabus’ prophecy. They obeyed Jesus, who will one day say to everyone one of two things, either “I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat,” or “I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat” (Matt. 25:35, 42). So many modern “prophecies” cater to the selfish desires of those listening.

How could Peter sleep so soundly on the eve of his execution? Jesus had promised him years before that he wouldn’t die until he grew old (John 21:18-19), so Peter had no worries. Moreover, God obviously has a tremendous prison ministry!

Why did God deliver Peter from death but allow James to be martyred? That we don’t know. But perhaps we should ask a different question: “Why did God let James go to heaven so soon but kept Peter on this lousy earth?” Death is a great blessing to those in Christ (Phil. 1:21-23).

Take note that the prayer meeting for Peter was held in a house, as were most gatherings of the early church. There is no record in Acts of any special church buildings during the first 30 years of the church’s history. The early disciples didn’t need special buildings then to make disciples, and church buildings really aren’t needed today. In fact, church buildings often work against the making of disciples. They rob money from missionaries and the poor.

The Jewish historian, Josephus, recorded the same story about Herod Agrippa that we read today, writing that shortly after Herod gave his speech in Caesarea that won him undue praise, he was struck with a violent stomach illness. He died after five days of agony at the age of 54. Those were five days of mercy.

John Stott wrote a fitting summary of Acts 12: “The chapter opens with James dead, Peter in prison, and Herod triumphing. It closes with Herod dead, Peter free, and the word of God triumphing.” Amen.

Was James writing to heaven-bound Christians in the first half of this chapter? Keep in mind that he previously addressed some who professed to be saved, but whose faith was void of works, proving them to be unsaved (2:14-17). I tend to think that same theme has surfaced once more in 4:1-10, and James was again addressing false or backslidden believers. Notice he said that they were guilty of murder (4:2). If he meant that literally, that proves they were unsaved. The New Testament declares that no murderer possesses eternal life (1 John 3:15). Borrowing an Old Testament metaphor, James also called them “adulteresses” because their friendship with the world made them enemies of the Lord (4:4), a sobering warning to modern worldly “Christians.” It seems quite possible that at some point in the past those whom James was addressing were obedient followers, but if so, it is clear they had grossly backslidden. How can “enemies of God” be heaven-bound believers?

Obviously they can’t, which is why James called them to repentance. His words in 4:7-10 are appropriate for an evangelist calling sinners to Christ: “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”

But what about James’ words in this passage about God jealously desiring “the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us” (4:5)? This could well be a warning to those who return to loving the world—spiritual adulterers—of the possibility of losing the Spirit within them whom God “jealously desires.” Still, grace was available to those who would repent.

Beginning in 4:11, James turns his attention to the “brethren.” And he again borrows a theme found in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, that of passing judgment. Like Jesus, James was referring to the sin of speaking evil of a fellow believer, a sin that is especially grievous when it is committed by someone with a “log in his own eye.” As we learned when we studied Jesus’ words on the same subject, we are not forbidden from making moral appraisals of other people (and clearly, James was doing that very thing throughout his letter). We absolutely must appraise other people morally if we are going to obey Jesus’ commandments not to “give what is holy to dogs” and not “throw our pearls before swine” (Matt. 7:6). And we must appraise people if we are going to identify and avoid false prophets (Matt. 7:15). This passage in James must also be balanced with other scriptures such as 3 John 9-10 and Galatians 2:11-14, which teach that sometimes it is proper to expose a person’s sins publicly in order that hypocrisy might be exposed or that others might be protected.

In any case, we need to be extremely cautious that we don’t put ourselves in God’s place of Judge, speaking evil of a genuine believer. If you’ve ever been a victim of evil speaking, you know how it hurts, especially when there is more to the story than what is being told.

Is it wrong to make future plans according to James 4:13-17? No, but it is presumptuous and boastful to talk about what we are intending to do without acknowledging the Lord’s rule. We can do only what God permits, and since we are “just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away” (4:14), we may not be around tomorrow. Yesterday, more than 150,000 people died on planet Earth. How many thought they would be alive today? They would have benefitted from James’ words. How wise it is to pray like David:

Who understands the power of Thine anger, and Thy fury, according to the fear that is due Thee? Teach us to number our days, that we may present to Thee a heart of wisdom (Ps. 90:11-12).

As I read through James, I like to remind myself that it was the complete New Testament at the time it was written. There were no other New Testament books or letters then, so what we are reading was the spiritual diet of the early church when it was at least already 10 years old. Clearly, foremost in James’ mind was the necessity of holiness, and in today’s reading he elaborates on a subject introduced in chapter 1, where he wrote, “If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless” (James 1:26). This theme resurfaces often in James’ letter.

Note that, according to James, Christians possess tongues that need to be restrained. That means we will be tempted to say things that we shouldn’t. That is normal.

Second, if we don’t restrain ourselves from saying what we should not say, it is evidence that our faith is bogus. True believers restrain themselves from wrong speaking.

This is not say, however, that true Christians never speak wrongly. No, we who bless God sometimes curse men who are made in God’s image (3:9). James writes that if we don’t stumble in what we speak, we are perfect, and that “we all stumble in many ways” (3:2). That makes me feel better! Keep in mind that “stumbling” is a non-intentional thing. When one stumbles, it is not something that was premeditated or planned.

I love James’ vivid analogies. The tongue is like a wild animal that is seemingly impossible to tame. It is like a small fire that sets a forest in flames. As I look back at my life, my tongue was the source of every regrettable conflict. How I wish I had just kept my mouth shut! James also compares the tongue to a rudder, comparatively small to the ship, but able to set its course. So our tongue has set the course of our lives, an amazing claim for such a small part of our bodies! Our tongue is setting the future course of our lives. This is not because our words “activate spiritual laws” or “have creative power,” as some teach. It is because the course of our lives is determined by our relationships with others, and our relationships are by and large determined by what we say.

For all these reasons, James admonishes us earlier in his letter to be “slow to speak” (1:19). Great advice! Two verses in the book of Proverbs come to mind:

The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things (Prov. 15:28).

When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise (Prov. 10:19).

Jesus taught that “the tree is known by its fruit” and “the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart” (Matt. 12:33). Hearts full of evil can’t speak good words. Thus the first key to taming the tongue is purifying the heart. It is quite obvious from reading James’ entire letter that there were false believers in the early church—those whose “faith” had no works—whom he was trying to rescue from their self-deception. They were those who were following a wisdom that was “earthly, natural, [and] demonic,” and who had “bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in [their] hearts,” the fruit of which was “disorder and every evil thing” (3:13-14). James was not describing true believers!

In contrast, those who are following God’s wisdom demonstrate “good behavior,” “deeds of gentleness,” as well as purity, peace, reasonableness, mercy, steadfastness and sincerity (3:13, 17). They are true believers.

The final verse in today’s reading gives us some insight into Jesus’ beatitude about peacemakers. James wrote, “And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (3:18). That “seed” could be nothing other than the word of the gospel, because only that seed produces righteousness. Sharing the gospel is the ultimate peace-making act, because when it is received, the result is peace with God and others (see Rom. 5:1; Eph. 2:14). If the end result is peace, naturally it should be shared peacefully.