#115-G61 ~ Galatians 3:5
We continue with our study of this fabulous book called Galatians. As in Paul’s other letters he provides words of correction. A lot of it is to do with how they’ve been influenced by “religious” types who have led them estray from the grace truth he had given them. When I speak of these “religious” types, I’m not talking about Bible believers, but self-righteous people who have refused to accept the grace message of the apostle Paul. This kind of thinking is ongoing with many people in every generation.
There are numerous passages I reference in this study. This includes I Corinthians 3:11-15, II Timothy 3:10-12, Romans 8:18, Colossians 1:24, and Acts 4:22. All these passages deal with the opposition and the suffering we ALL have to endure because of our stand for the grace message. Paul speaks of this as the godly life in which all faithful believers suffer. But he also tells us we have a lot to look forward to enjoying in Heaven. There will be fabulous reward for our faithfulness.
Then I talk about Galatians 3:5 where Paul speaks of his ministry in reaching people utilizing the miraculous abilities God gave him to help him establish his authority and that of his message. Those special abilities, however, were only temporary. Though he had all the special spiritual gifts at the beginning of his ministry, they all eventually passed away. I Corinthians 13:10 is a key verse that tells us that. The “perfect” THING [neuter gender means this speaks of an object, not a person] that eventually ceased included these special gifts of the Spirit. I Corinthians 1:22 tells us the Jews seek after a “sign.” This is speaking of the miraculous. John 14:12 is a passage that anticipated this sort of thing in THAT time. But later we see Paul performing these things in OUR time, namely, in the time of this Dispensation of the Grace of God.
These gifts have all now passed away, but there was a time when Paul and others could do all these miraculous things. People that today claim they have these abilities are not speaking truth. It is extremely important that believers realize this. These special gifts no longer function today. II Corinthians 12:12 speaks of these sign gifts Paul (and others) had in the earlier part of his ministry. Acts 19 gives us more record of this. I Corinthians 13:10 is where I end on this in this video, showing again that these gifts, these special abilities were only TEMPORARY, being available and used in the infancy stage of our time. But, again, all this had its purpose then, but these special gifts and abilities are no longer a part of what’s going on today. In our time we only have counterfeits of them. So, beware!
Tags:
