The Books of Galatians & Ephesians Rightly Divided

This new commentary looks at the books of Galatians and Ephesians from a dispensational perspective, highlighting the theme that in the "new dispensation of grace," both Jewish and Gentile believers are not bound by the Mosaic Law, and any attempt to enforce such on either would be a distortion of the Gospel of Grace as revealed to the Apostle Paul. It also takes a closer look at this new Body of Christ, which is made up of both Jew and Gentile, and the spiritual blessings that are laid up for them and what their walks should look like in light of these truths.

The Apostolic Timeline

The timeline never changed for the apostles. As per Daniel's prophecy and many others in the Old Testament, their expectation and hope was that Israel would eventually repent nationally, the Tribulation would begin as per the prophecies of Daniel's Seventieth Week spoken of in Daniel 9:24 and Matthew 24:15, and culminate with the Christ's Second Coming, the establishment of the kingdom, and them sitting on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel just as they were promised  in Matthew 19:28. This is reflected in all their writings without exception. This apparently remained a hope until the eventual destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and the death of John: the last apostle. One would do well to remember this when they are reading anything between Hebrews and Revelation. They were always addressing the believing Jews and preparing them for the tribulation that they fully expected to come in their lifetimes.

Spearman, H. Dwayne. The Book of Acts Rightly Divided (p. 7). Directional Bible Ministries. Kindle Edition. 

Bad Interpretation

Think about the things that are taught today regarding losing one's salvation, the need to stay faithful until the end, baptism as a requirement for salvation (baptismal regeneration), works to be saved or stay saved, the church is now Israel (replacement theology), amillennialism, and postmillennialism. Where do these teachings come from? The Gospels! Again, the Gospels were about a Jewish Messiah that came to a Jewish people to proclaim that a Jewish kingdom was at hand! See the problem?

Spearman, H. Dwayne. The Book of Acts Rightly Divided (p. 2). Directional Bible Ministries. Kindle Edition. 

Another Gospel

Galatians 1:6-7: I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 

Notice ye are so soon removed from him that called you. The question is who is the him in this verse? Some say that it is God (cf. NASB) while others say that it is Paul himself. The Greek simply says the one. The context (verse 9) seems to dictate that it is referring to a man; most likely Paul himself. If so, that would mean that he was speaking in the third person. 

There is a compare and contrast happening with the grace of Christ and another gospel. The gospel given to Paul was the grace of Christ or what he often referred to it as his gospel (cf. Romans 2:16; Romans 16:25; 1 Timothy 1:11; 2Timothy 2:8). Paul is the only one who ever claimed that the grace gospel was his. Of course, there was a reason for that.   

The other gospel was a perversion of that gospel that required works, i.e., no gospel (good news) at all. Paul also warned the Corinthians of this in 2 Corinthians 11:4 when he wrote, For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. Sadly, the other gospel could not save them. I believe that this other gospel was a mixing of the kingdom and the grace gospels that formed no gospel at all because, when mixed, they cancel one another out. One clearly teaches a salvation by works, while the other does not.

Preaching to Those Who Already Know

Sometimes it can be intimidating to preach to elders. After all, they probably already know the doctrine you studied (and possibly more). How do you preach to the more spiritually mature than you?

With this knowledge: preaching does not require you know more than someone else. Preaching requires you care about what you are saying. Anyone who knows truth and cares about it can preach. The goal of preaching is to get others to care about what they already know. This requires more care, not more knowledge. If you don’t care, then you should not be preaching to anyone. If you can’t answer the question of why it matters, then it is not important enough to preach. Not everything you know is worthy of your care.

When you grow in understanding, you should also be growing in care for what others may already know: the cross, Jesus, the Bible, grace, etc. This is exactly where we need more solid preaching. The most known things in the Bible are often the most important. What is lacking is people caring enough about them to live by them and preach it.

Don’t worry about your audience already knowing what you are saying. Say it again, and this time explain why it is important and why it matters. You’ll find yourself energizing the doctrine that is already known by others. This is called preaching.

You are caring about the wrong things if you only care about teaching people what they don’t know. Care enough to preach about what they already do.

For all the preachers,

Justin "preach it!" Johnson

Grace Ambassadors