{"id":26116,"date":"2023-05-04T22:00:39","date_gmt":"2023-05-05T05:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/galatians-1_13-24-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-04-18T12:17:55","modified_gmt":"2023-04-18T19:17:55","slug":"galatians-2_1-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/galatians-2_1-10\/","title":{"rendered":"It Helps to Get Good Advice"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"flex_column av_one_full  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-0  avia-builder-el-no-sibling  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '   itemprop=\"text\" ><p>Galatians\u00a0 2:1-10 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Galatians+2%3A1-10&amp;version=NIV\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-26120 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/23-0505.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/23-0505.jpg 600w, https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/23-0505-300x150.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>Today\u2019s passage is Galatians 2:1-10.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Galatians 2:1-2 (NIV)<\/strong><br \/>\n<sup>1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also.<br \/>\n<sup>2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain.<\/p>\n<p>On verses 1-2:\u00a0 Paul\u2019s goal is to show the Christians in Galatia that they are heading in the wrong direction by thinking that they need to be circumcised in order to be saved.\u00a0 To help them see the error of their ways, Paul uses an interesting and commendable approach: he shares a story.\u00a0 In fact, it\u2019s his own story, the story of how years before he went through a similar struggle.\u00a0 Paul shares about a time when he also wondered whether he was preaching the right thing by telling Gentile Christians that they didn\u2019t need to be circumcised in accordance with the law of Moses.\u00a0 So Paul goes to Jerusalem, along with his ministry teammates Barnabas and Titus, to ask for advice from leaders in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n<p>What can we learn from this?<\/p>\n<p><strong>1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><strong>All of us go through times of self-doubt, when we wonder if we\u2019re heading in the right direction.\u00a0 In such times, it helps to seek good advice.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><strong>When you\u2019re trying to encourage and challenge someone, it helps for you to share a story when you found yourself in a similar struggle.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Galatians 2:3-5 (NIV)<\/strong><br \/>\n<sup>3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek.<br \/>\n<sup>4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0[This matter arose] because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves.<br \/>\n<sup>5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you.<\/p>\n<p>On verses 3-5:\u00a0 One of the big themes of Paul\u2019s letter to the Galatians is that it matters who you listen to.\u00a0 Paul and his team were disturbed by some \u201cfalse brothers\u201d who tried to spread a false teaching among the Christians Paul was ministering to (v4).\u00a0 But they refused to give into them (v5), such that not even Titus, who was a Gentile teammate of Paul\u2019s, saw any need in him being circumcised.\u00a0 Likewise,\u00a0<strong>we must not give in for a moment to those whose agenda is to steer us away from the gospel of God\u2019s grace expressed through Jesus Christ<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Galatians 2:6-10 (NIV)<\/strong><br \/>\n<sup>6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0As for those who seemed to be important&#8211;whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not judge by external appearance&#8211;those men added nothing to my message.<br \/>\n<sup>7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews.<br \/>\n<sup>8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For God, who was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles.<br \/>\n<sup>9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews.<br \/>\n<sup>10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.<\/p>\n<p>On verses 6-10:\u00a0 The leaders of the church in Jerusalem, like James, Peter, and John, did a number of things for Paul when he consulted them:<br \/>\n1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They reassured Paul that what he was preaching about Gentile Christians not needing to be circumcised was correct (v6);<br \/>\n2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They reaffirmed Paul\u2019s calling to reach the Gentiles while they focused on the Jews (v9c);<br \/>\n3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They reached out their hand of friendship to Paul (v9a)<br \/>\n4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They recognized God\u2019s grace at work in Paul\u2019s life (v9b);<br \/>\n5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They reinforced Paul\u2019s passion to help the poor (v10);<\/p>\n<p>What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<strong>When you&#8217;re not sure if you&#8217;re heading in the right direction, pray and ask God, and also consult respected leaders in the field.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Are you someone who seeks expert advice?\u00a0\u00a0Or are you always trying to figure things out on your own?\u00a0 Proverbs 12:15 says, &#8220;The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>What is an area of your life where you could use some expert advice?<\/p>\n<p><em>Father, when I\u2019m really not sure, may I not try to figure things out all by myself, but may I be humble enough to take the time to ask for expert advice.\u00a0 And may I also be discerning when it comes to whom I consult.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\"><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s passage is Galatians 2:1-10.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n<p>Galatians 2:1-2 (NIV)<br \/>\n1\u00a0\u00a0Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also.<br \/>\n2\u00a0\u00a0I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain.<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>\nOn verses 1-2:\u00a0 Paul\u2019s goal is to show the Christians in Galatia that they are heading in the wrong direction by thinking that they need to be circumcised in order to be saved.\u00a0 To help them see the error of their ways, Paul uses an interesting and commendable approach: he shares a story.\u00a0 In fact, it\u2019s his own story, the story of how years before he went through a similar struggle.\u00a0 Paul shares about a time when he also wondered whether he was preaching the right thing by telling Gentile Christians that they didn\u2019t need to be circumcised in accordance with the law of Moses.\u00a0 So Paul goes to Jerusalem, along with his ministry teammates Barnabas and Titus, to ask for advice from leaders in Jerusalem.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26120,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26116"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26121,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26116\/revisions\/26121"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}