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Commentary on "Paul's Pastoral Appeal"
Day 4: Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - I Have Become as You Are
“Paul had been a proud self righteous Pharisee , trusting in his own righteousness to save him. But when he came to Christ, he abandoned all efforts to save himself, trusting wholly in God's grace. He urged the Galatians to follow his example and avoid the Legalism of the Judaizers.” John McArthur Study Bible note for Galatians 4:12.
Here we have a very interesting proposition of how what Paul meant when he said “I have become as you are” in the quarterly. That Paul had become a gentile without the Law so that he might reach the gentiles amongst them with the gospel.
While yes he did become without the Law, he was not without A Law. He had the Law of the Spirit at work in him. God gave Paul the gospel message to speak to the gentiles, but He only gave it to him after he was Born Again. Since this is the case the Jew is never NOT under a Law, so the Judaizers were trying to drag the people of the churches of Galatia under the Law, just like legalists today apply a Law to themselves that was meant only for the Jews to follow, and then try and drag people under it.
The Law was given specifically to Israel to separate them from all the other nations. For all the world though they are designed not to be kept for it is impossible for any human to keep it, but to point us to the Cross. They are a signpost pointing to our only way to salvation.
Paul himself was born under the Law, he followed the Law for multitudinous years, and yet after his conversion he was transformed, reborn Spirit, filled with the Holy Spirit, sealed by the Holy Spirit, new heart, NEW LAW written on his new heart and new mind.
So in my humble opinion Paul was always under a Law, but Christ gave him a direct revelation of how he would give the Good News to the gentiles.
Copyright 2011 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised November 19, 2011. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
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