The Apostasy Continues
READ Acts 20:29-31
How
do the “grievous wolves” enter among the Church?
In sheep’s clothing (see Matthew 7:15),
otherwise they would be quickly rebuffed and would not be allowed to enter the
Church and gain influence.
They appear to be “good members” – they
keep the commandments (outward) and likely become leaders in the Church due to
their talents.
How
is Paul’s prophesy about apostasy in Ephesus reflected in the recipe for
apostasy that we’ve discussed in previous posts?
Paul, a true messenger (he has stood in
the presence of God and has a message from God) is gone from them.
He is replaced by subtle purveyors of
priestcraft from within the current leadership of the Church – they act as
stewards at first (the word “steward” implies that the “true king” is not in
residence).
They reinterpret the true doctrine to
become popular with the world and with Saints that are still connected to the
world (which must have been a majority, otherwise why pander to them? Actually, one answer is that the leaders were
connected to the world and wanted to influence the Church to become more like
they were and adopt their personal beliefs).
It is an inside job and was already in
progress during Paul’s ministry – meaning the wholesale “apostasy” of the
historic Christian Church started while the real apostles were still
alive.
Background for the Letter to the
Galatians
The letter to the Galatian branches was
written sometime between 48 and 58AD – more likely after the Great Jerusalem
Council where the Judaizers doctrine of the need for Gentiles to convert to
Judaism and be circumcised first, before becoming “Christian”, was
denounced. The Galatian branches were in
modern Turkey and spanned from modern Ankara (called Ancyra anciently) in the
north to Antioch towards the south.
READ Galatians 1:6-8 and Galatians 2:3-4
and 14
What
is the nature of the apostasy that has occurred in the Turkish branches?
The Judaizers have come from Jerusalem
after Paul taught and baptized many pagans in what is now Turkey, and have
convinced them that they should be circumcised and live the Law of Moses, as a
part of the Christian religion – because the “Christian religion” is really the
Jewish religion.
How Is A Person Justified?
READ Galatians 2:16
What
does it mean to be justified?
To be declared “righteous”.
To be acquitted/declared innocent of ALL
charges (it is a “court room” term).
The justified have committed no sins; or
are looked upon as though they had never committed sin – they “never did it”
rather than “they did it and paid their debt to society”.
READ D&C 88:36-39, Romans 3:10 and
Alma 42:25
What
are the principles in play when someone is declared “just”?
There are laws given (D&C 88:36).
There are certain bounds and conditions
to all laws (D&C 88:38).
If we violate the conditions, we have
broken the law and are no longer just or justified (D&C 88:39).
Everyone breaks the law or sins (Romans
3:10).
Payment must be made for broken law (Alma
42:25); there are natural consequences to breaking laws – and there may also be
imposed penalties to enable karma to be satisfied.
If
someone pays the complete penalty for all their sins (broken laws), are they
now justified?
No, they are still guilty of breaking the
law.
But they have now paid the price for
disobedience.
They are “ex-cons” who have “served their
time” and have “not sinned recently”.
They are not “justified” or innocent of
ever having broken the law in the first place.
Who
then is justified?
Jesus Christ.
No one else is justified by the works of
the Law.
Those who, through covenant and
sacrifice, exercise faith in Jesus Christ unto salvation (see Romans 3:24 JST,
2 Nephi 9:21, Alma 42:14-15) are also justified, due to the terms of the
atoning sacrifice.
The question changes from “can I keep all
of the commandments all of the time” to “can I become one with a perfect
Savior”.
But,
interestingly, keeping all the commandments all the time or in other words
being perfect as Christ is perfect or becoming precisely as Christ is and
nothing else is absolutely required of salvation (see LoF 7:9); however, it is
not expected that we ascend to that level of perfection in this life – hence
the need to be justified; however, as God gives us no commandments we cannot
keep, we are expected to keep the commandments He has given us here and now.
What is the Relationship between the
Law and the Gospel Covenant?
READ Galatians 3:10-11 and 3
How
was the Law designed to save someone?
They had to keep all of the commandments
all of the time or they were not justified by the Law – they were cursed
because they broke the Law.
In reality, the Law was not designed to
save anyone – it was impossible for all but Christ to keep it.
READ Galatians 3:19-21 (including JST
Appendix) and 24-25
What
was the purpose of the Law?
The Law was (and continues to be…) a
“schoolmaster” to bring us to Christ.
The Law is the set of terrestrial rules
designed to bring our conduct into alignment with God’s conduct.
As we act in obedience to God’s
commandments (i.e. act as He does), we are filled with more
light/glory/intelligence/truth.
As we are filled with more light, we are
more likely to see our need for repentance/change and to desire to be righteous
“naturally” or in other words, to lay our wills/whole souls on the Lord’s altar
in sacrifice, that we might receive a mighty change of heart and be filled with
His Spirit – receiving the Baptism of Fire, desiring to do His works ourselves
– so that they are no longer imposed from outside by a set of rules, but they
have become the desires of our hearts.
And as the Aaronic Priesthood holds the
keys to the ministering of angels, who hold the required priesthood needed to
give the Gift of the Holy Ghost/Baptism of Fire, the Law could/can lead any
individual back into the presence of Christ if they follow the path taught them
by the Spirit and angelic ministers (as taught over and over in the Book of
Mormon – as they were living under the Law from 1 Nephi to 3 Nephi 11).
READ Galatians 3:17
Why
was the Law of Moses given if the Gospel Covenant had previously been given to Abraham
– and the line of Fathers from Adam to Shem before him?
Because the Children of Israel refused to
come unto Jehovah themselves but sent Moses instead (see D&C 84:19-24 and
Exodus 20:18-21).
Which caused them to lose the High
Priesthood which would have enabled each of them to come into the presence of
God (see D&C 84:25-27).
It is always up to us – how much light
and truth will we choose to accept?
It is not that God’s presence is so
terrible that it drives mortals from Him – as Moses and Joseph Smith, for
example, approached Him successfully.
However, God’s presence makes every person evaluate who and what they
are. Although we can lie to ourselves
about how good we are, when we are in His presence we can no longer deceive
ourselves – the difference between our “ragged righteousness” and His light,
glory and intelligence is too obvious.
He withdraws Himself if we are not ready – that is how His “wrath” is
manifested – because He desires to be one with us. If He withdraws Himself from you, that should
be felt keenly as an absence and rejection but it may also be a mercy, because
to be in His presence unprepared is to be racked with a consciousness of guilt
and misery (Mormon 9:3-5) and the very real possibility of incineration. To the extent man has confidence in the
presence of the Lord, it is wholly derived from Him, as He must decree us
forgiven and clean, but we must want to be with Him because we love Him and
then lay our whole souls at His feet in sacrifice.
The Law of Adoption
READ Galatians 3:29-Galatians 4:7
What
does it mean to be “Abraham’s seed”?
It means to have a part in the new and
everlasting covenant that was restored to Abraham by God after the line of
Patriarchs ended with Shem/Melchizedek’s city being translated and Abraham’s
forefathers’ apostasy.
That includes first accepting the gospel
through faith, repentance and baptism; second, receiving the baptism of
fire/birth of the spirit; third, sacrificing and being tried at all hazards
while seeking to be obedient and filled with more light/intelligence
(sanctified); then receiving calling and election, second comforter and the
eternal sealing in the Father’s heavenly temple.
Part of these latter ordinances include
being sealed to the “fathers in heaven” or “fathers in eternal glory” (see TPJS
380-383), or Abraham, and be “adopted” by him as a “seed” or legitimate descendent
– this could be by being sealed to Joseph Smith as his seed, who is then sealed
up the line.
The principle here is to create the
family or House of God, all of whom have entered the presence/rest of the Lord
in this life and have been sealed up to Eternal Life.
In this we become “sons of God”, as the
new and everlasting covenant is for that purpose – that we ultimately become
Christ’s sons and daughters, spiritually reborn, redeemed and sealed to Him.
Christian Liberty
READ Galatians 5:1, 13-14
What
is the “liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free”?
Christ gives us liberty from sin and
death.
Christ gives us the liberty to choose –
agency.
Christ gives us the liberty live by the
“Spirit” not just the “Law”.
What
is the difference between living by the Spirit vs the Law?
Living by the Spirit is harder than
living by the Law.
Harder because it requires your heart and
soul to be sacrificed while living the Law is much more about outward
performance.
Harder because it requires us to love
unconditionally, like Christ did.
Harder because it requires that we
commune with God to obtain and follow His will moment to moment (not just to
read and follow a set of rules from a book).
Harder because it requires us to use our
own judgement based on revelation that we’ve received and sanctification that
we’ve experienced to “test” us – did we learn the lessons? Have we become what is required? What lack we yet?
Harder because righteousness (following
God’s will) is much more difficult than just being virtuous (i.e. Nephi’s
killing of Laban was “righteous” but not “virtuous”) – He will customize trials
for us to refine us in a very personal and tailored “furnace of affliction”.
Fruits of the Spirit
READ Galatians 5:22-25
What
does “fruit of the Spirit” mean?
These are traits and behaviors that
“flow” from those who have connected with the Spirit and received the baptism
of fire.
They are not manufactured behaviors –
fruit come naturally from a tree, they are not produced separately in a
test-tube.
You cannot “work” on your fruits; you can
only seek after the Spirit and sacrifice what is required to receive it.
What may be confusing is that those who
are seeking after the birth of the Spirit attempt to act in line with these
behaviors; the difference is that they are “white-knuckling” it to one degree
or another; they are choosing to act that way vs. naturally being that way.
