13 You know that because of physical infirmity I preached the gospel to you at the first. 14 And my trial which was in my flesh you did not despise or reject, but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

In these verses we get a glimpse into Paul's labor among
the Galatians. He was suffering some bodily affliction and
physical pain when he first preached the Gospel in Galatia. It appears that he was obliged to stop in Galatia on account of physical infirmity, but instead of feeling sorry for himself and spending the time seeking his own comfort, he preached the Gospel to the people in Galatia. And his message had a powerful impact upon the Galatians.

We often think of Paul as a strong and powerful preacher. Yet we see him, weak, and suffering, without the charisma of a vibrant, energetic personality. Here we see another proof that the Gospel does not depend upon man's energy, but on God and the power of His truth.

Paul's preaching was “in demonstration of the Spirit and power”
(1 Cor. 2:2-4), because he had no power of his own.

Paul's preaching, in this condition, was not theological debate, but rather his own reaching out in faith to Christ, Christ was set before them so vividly that they could see Him crucified;. The Holy Spirit attended the work and their was genuine conversion and love for the Savior.

The two covenants have been a matter of argument and debate for centuries.

Were/are the natural Israelites saved in one way, while the Christian are saved in a different way?
Were the Israelites saved by the law, while Christians are saved by grace
Is the law of the covenant, the ten commandments, no longer binding?
We hear those things quite often.

Quote from lesson:
"The two covenants are not matters of time; instead they are reflective of human attitudes. They represent two different ways of trying to relate to God, ways that go back to Cain and Abel. The old covenant represents those who, like Cain, mistakenly rely on their own obedience as a means of pleasing God; in contrast, the new covenant represents the experience of those who, like Abel, rely wholly upon God’s grace to do all that He has promised."

Yes, they reflect different human attitudes.
However, Cain did not "rely on his own obedience"
Cain did NOT obey.
Cain decided he knew of a better way to worship God, rather than the way God asked him worship.

So in reality Cain substituted his own "good fruits" instead of obeying God.
He did NOT obey. He offered a counterfeit.
His counterfeit also showed He didn't believe he needed a substitute who would shed His blood to atone for his sin

The end time counterfeit "revival" is based on the same rationalization.
Let's bring the nation back to God by keeping the "Sabbath", but don't bother to obey God in this, offer Him a different day from the day He blessed and sanctified.


Even out there in the wilderness of Sinai we see the idea of, we will worship God, but we will do it OUR way, not God's way.

The people declared we will obey.
Then they made a golden calf.
Did you notice in scripture what Aaron said?
Ex. 32:5 And when Aaron saw it (golden calf), he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD.

Aaron was rationalizing! A feast and sacrifices in front of a golden calf was NOT the way the LORD, Jehovah, asked them to worship Him.

Could one aspect of a "wrong" covenant be simply saying
-- OK I'll obey you, Lord, but I will do it may way not your way.
Of course such a covenant would be without divine power.

Are there two ways of salvation?

No, once man fell into sin, salvation could only come by grace and never by works.

Was one covenant instituted at Sinai, and another at the cross?

While the cross brought new revelations and realities to God's covenant, the basic foundation was the same -- the everlasting covenant was laid before the creation of the earth; for Christ is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8.

Does the new covenant release us from God's commandments?
How could it?

Part of the covenant is this:
God says: ""I will be their God, and they shall be My people."

When Israel accepted David as their king, the same form of conditions stated that, David would be their king, and they would be his loyal subjects.

But now some claim a different type of covenant, one where they claim a "king" and Savior they don't have to obey, they can serve Him any way they find convenient?
But is that Biblical?

I think not.

Justification does not make void obedience to the law. Obedience has always been the requirement to be part of God's kingdom. However, being that we are sinful and cannot offer a life of perfect obedience, God promised justification, imputed as well as imparted righteousness, but this does not lessen the claims of the law. Rather, through the merits of Christ we are clothed with Christ’s righteousness and brought into a right relationship with the law.
Paul gives a clear rebuttal of the anti-law views which claim that grace gives men freedom to break the law of God.

The New covenant does not abrogate the law, the Holy Spirit writes the law on our hearts and minds, internalizing righteousness into our lives.

Much of the strange theology that God's commandments are no longer binding revolve directly with the Sabbath. Most have no problem with stressing the other nine are still binding.

The idea that we can pick whichever day we want puts us in charge rather than God, and is thus contrary to true new covenant theology.

So what is the difference --
and Galatians does stress a difference?

Is anyone saved under the old covenant? No. Why? Because the old covenant relied on the promises of the people to keep the law. And they could not. The new covenant is based on the promises of God to write the law on our inward parts and on our heart and minds. The law does not change. There is only one way to salvation.

In other words, grace will save us, but grace is only extended to those who do God's will. God wants us to obey, therefore salvation comes only through obedience. When we obey, we show our faith, without which it is impossible to either please God or be saved, for we are saved by grace through faith.



You started off well in the above, and then shifted to heresy. You have basically said that Christ's obedience substitutes for ours to fulfill "the requirement to be part of God's kingdom," in essence removing the claims of the law from us and leaving them in place only for Christ. I cannot accept such theology. You say "we are clothed with Christ's righteousness" as if His righteousness removes the requirement for us to be righteous. But is that what we are told?



And...

Old Covenant thinking is based on the our promise to obey by our own effort. Exodus 19:8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD has spoken we will do. That is death. The New Covenant is based on the promise of God to write the law on our inward parts, for Him to cause us to walk in His law. That is life. It required effort on our part, but everything we have to offer is as filthy rags.

Good points.

Why do you misrepresent what I wrote?

Where have I "removing the claims of the law for us...claiming His righteousness removes the requirement for us to be righteous "???

That is an OUTRIGHT misrepresentation!

One that you can state only if you are taking things to extremes to promote a one sided doctrine, which is not balanced with truth.

Do you think that you can stand before God in your own righteousness? That you will reach a point where all you need is "forgiveness" for long ago sins, but your own righteousness at that point will be "good enough" to present before God? That you won't need Christ's merits to stand before the judgment seat of God?

If that is what you believe you will find yourself wanting. And I say that with serious concern.

Yes -- we are to follow our Savior in obedience, rejoicing in His salvation, AND continually placing our will under His will, co-operating with Him, as we walk daily with Him depending upon His strength to live according to His will. There is nothing that I wrote that excuses our going our own way, doing our own sinful things.

But without Christ's perfect merits, all our righteousness is still FILTHY RAGS and can NEVER earn us heaven.