A study of Galatians

Billygoat

Several months ago, I asked a friend of mine from church to become my "accountability partner." Basically, someone that meets with me once a week and we share what is going on in our lives. The point is to share joys, unburden griefs, pray together, pray for each other, be brutally honest with each other, study the bible together, etc. Well, Jenny excitedly agreed to do it - she had actually been wanting the same thing and was just waiting for someone to ask. So the timing was just right for both of us.

We've just recently started studying the book of Galatians. I have never read the bible through and through. I read books here and there that interest me at a certain point in my life and enjoyed it. But I had never done a study on Galatians. So we take a chapter a week, read it individually, research it on the internet and read different commentaries. Then we come together on Tuesday nights (yes, bookstudy night - LOL!) and discuss what we've learned in our personal studies. Typically, Jenny finds different commentaries than mine, so we have different perspectives to share, which is really educational. We've really had an amazing time with it!

For those of you that have not read this book through and through, I highly recommend it. Paul's letter to this group of congregations in Galatia speaks of the importance of trusting in Christ and not their own actions in following The Mosaic Law. It seems there were people coming into the congregations perversing what Paul had originally taught. They were teaching that is through faith that they have salvation, but they MUST back it up by following the letter of the Law. Specifically, in order to be a Christian, the HAD to be circumcised. But that was not true at all! That is not what Paul taught. He had taught that salvation was purely dependent on their faith in Christ.

I am reading this Bible book with my very own eyes. I am reading several versions of it: King James, New International Version, American Standard Version, and The Message, just so I can get a varied outlook on the same message. Almost 10 years ago, I became a born-again Christian during a study of Romans, which is another book that speaks of salvation through faith and not works. So the concept is not new to me. But for those of you who HAVE read this book will understand these questions I now have:

How can Jehovah's Witnesses read Galatians (and the book of Romans) and believe that you can WORK your way into salvation? How can they believe that salvation is based upon what WE do and not on FAITH? I was never really a bible scholar, even as a JW, but this really blows me away. It's right here in black and white - it's hard to read it and NOT understand. How can they so blatantly look past it?

Confounded,

Andi

Elsewhere

How can Jehovah's Witnesses read Galatians (and the book of Romans) and believe that you can WORK your way into salvation? How can they believe that salvation is based upon what WE do and not on FAITH? I was never really a bible scholar, even as a JW, but this really blows me away. It's right here in black and white - it's hard to read it and NOT understand. How can they so blatantly look past it?

Because they have the Faith / Works idea backwards.

The bible teaches that works are an emergent property of faith (one's faith compels one to volunteer at church), while JWs teach that faith is an emergent property if works (study more, go out in FS more, go to more meetings will produce more faith)

To put it simply, they believe that running the car will fill the tank with gas when the reality is that one must fill the tank with gas before one can start the car.

Billygoat

The bible teaches that works are an emergent property of faith (one's faith compels one to volunteer at church),

YES!!! Exactly!

while JWs teach that faith is an emergent property if works (study more, go out in FS more, go to more meetings will produce more faith)

Yes, but I just don't understand how they come to that belief when the bible very clearly states it differently. But then again, I just don't understand how they believe most of what they believe.

To put it simply, they believe that running the car will fill the tank with gas when the reality is that one must fill the tank with gas before one can start the car.

Awesome!

Yanno, the longer I'm away from this religion, the wackier it seems to me!

AlmostAtheist

Yes, but I just don't understand how they come to that belief when the bible very clearly states it differently.

They read "faith without works is dead" in James (I think) and nothing else.

Elsewhere

Yes, but I just don't understand how they come to that belief when the bible very clearly states it differently

It's very simple. They are a publishing company and need people to "work" for them.

Also, because they need to control their members, they need to measure their members' performance. They cannot quantify and measure "spirit" so they are left trying to measure "work". (Don't forget to turn in your time!!! )

the_classicist

How can Jehovah's Witnesses read Galatians (and the book of Romans) and believe that you can WORK your way into salvation? How can they believe that salvation is based upon what WE do and not on FAITH? I was never really a bible scholar, even as a JW, but this really blows me away. It's right here in black and white - it's hard to read it and NOT understand. How can they so blatantly look past it?

I think the main problem is that JWs don't have a clear idea of what salvation and justification is and how to obtain it. So they get all these wacky ideas.

bennyk

JW's do not come to their beliefs from a study of the BIBLE, but rather from the indoctrination force-fed to them via the "Christian publications" considered during "Christian meetings".

For fun, give some thought to Galatians 4:26,27. If you feel you can't tell who is who, look at the WT 95 01.August, p11, paragraph 8, which clearly (and correctly, I hasten to add) identify the "barren/desolate woman" and "her who has the husband". There appears to be a mathematical problem when comparing the scripture with the WTS' two-hope, two-class Christian system, in which only 144 000 could POSSIBLY have a heavenly hope. (Also look at Eph. 4:4).

mustang

"It seems there were people coming into the congregations perversing what Paul had originally taught. They were teaching that is through faith that they have salvation, but they MUST back it up by following the letter of the Law. Specifically, in order to be a Christian, the HAD to be circumcised."

BG-

This is some very interesting background for that (I will paraphrase or otherwise loosely relate what I recollect): the late Dr. Gene Scott had a number of sermons that dealt with this directly. He was expounding on Romans and dealing with Paul's writings. What he noted was that soon after his conversion and dealing with Gentiles, he had to make a trip to Jerusalem. Here he ran head on into James "the brother of Christ".

It turns out that James did not follow Jesus while he was alive, but the Resurrection "made a believer out of him". So, by presence of his personality (likely forceful), he became the head of the local church @ Jerusalem. This James was even viewed as the "1 st Bishop of Jerusalem" in later days. This is ironic, when you consider what HE REALLY THOUGHT.

What did James really think? It seems that James would have the Christians to be simply an offshoot of Judaism: they had to follow the Mosaic Law and all the rules & regs. But, unlike other Jews, they accepted Jesus as the Messiah: they had seen the Messiah come and go. I suppose they were going to wait for the return of the Messiah to liberate the nation of Israel. At any rate, they were to be a sect of the Jews.

This is basically how James ran the "church of Jerusalem".

Paul and James butted heads over this. It seemed settled that James & Peter would stay and "do the Jews" while Paul & company would go to the gentiles. James seemed puffed up over this (to me) but accepted this draw or compromise.

OK, so Paul heads out, spends a few years in Arabia, etc, etc. Later he has to address the Galatians', as the "James-ites" have traveled there and are pulling the SOS: tradition has it that the "James-ites" would follow another man into the privy to see if he was circumcised; then they would raise ##$%^%& over it if he wasn't.!!!

"But that was not true at all! That is not what Paul taught. He had taught that salvation was purely dependent on their faith in Christ."

This goes slightly further than you think: James beat mightily on WORKS. His conception of things was WORKS based. (This is where JW's get "faith w/out WORKS is dead".)

And you are right: Paul taught FAITH in contrast.

Interestingly enough, Dr. Scott's scholarly investigations (he had his AOG church become the holder of largest private collection of bible manuscripts there is!!!; he had learned in excess of 20 languages, many extinct, to further the study of these manuscripts and translations) show some doubt on the book of James. It was not around with the earliest of the other NT books. It may be that the ecumenical councils that did the canonization dragged the book of James into the canon because of it's heavy stress on works.

Works is the perfect tool to beat the flock into line, be you catholic, JW, protestant or even Jew or Muslim!!!

This background material is worth looking into!!!!

Mustang

who takes worthwhile commentary where he finds it

Joyzabel

My favorite version is the old "Living Bible". The old dark green one. It was reading Galations that the light went on and I saw the WT for what it was or should I say was NOT.

No wonder the WT picks and chooses what verses they refer to in Galations and Romans. *sheeesh* If you read those two books alone, you would see that they WT is not following Jesus's teachings but their own made up stuff. (do more, do more, beat the friends, beat the friends)

Enjoy!

DocBob

I like that old saying - "Works are the fruit, not the root, of salvation."

A study of Galatians

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