More about grace vs. law

"We were held captive under the law ... imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed ... but now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian" (Galatians 3:23-26).

Passover the Seed of Abraham

How long were the children of Israel in Egypt? Was it 430years? If so, how do we account for 430 years over only three generations? In Galatians 3, Paul employs a rabbinic tradition about the duration of Israel's sojourn in Egypt, interprets the "seed of Abraham" as a reference to Messiah, and compares the Torah to a competing inheritance document.

Faith Versus Works

Have you ever heard of faith versus works? The theological argument about whether God saves a person by grace alone or if a person's obedience and good works are a necessary part of the equation is old as the New Testament itself. This teaching offers a resolution of the classic faith-versus-works debate through exploring Paul's theology of justification for the circumcised and the uncircumcised.

Order the book, Holy Epistle to the Galatians.

Bewitched

Have you been "bewitched" by legalism, as Paul says: "O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you" (Galatians 3:1)? This teaching offers a look at how Paul seemingly contrasts the Spirit with the Torah in first verses of Galatians 3.

Through the Law I Died to the Law

Paul says, "Through the Law I Died to the Law." What is that supposed to mean? Take a look at the mystical implications of Paul's death to the law as a death to relying on Jewish identity for salvation.

Works of the Law

Evangelicals often point out that we are saved by grace, not by works, but most people do not have a clear idea of what the Bible means when speaking of the "works of the law." This teaching from Galatians offers an exploration of the terms "justification," "works of the law," and "faith in Jesus Christ" as employed in the Pauline Epistles.

The Law of Sin and Death

Why does Paul refer to the Torah as "the law of sin and death"? What does it mean to say that we have "died to the law"? This teaching tackles some of the most difficult material in the Pauline epistles to try to make sense of Paul's theology regarding the Torah.

Download the attached PDF from the original 2014 class to follow along.

Under the Law

What does it mean to be "under the law"? Conventional teaching understands Paul's use of the terminology, "under the law," to mean legalism. This teaching from Romans 6 takes a completely different perspective.

Was Paul a Traitor?

Was Paul an apostate to Judaism and a traitor to the Jewish people? Reason Sixteen in the book Twenty-Six Reasons Jews Don't Believe in Jesus states that "Paul was the Source of Christian Opposition to the Jewish Law," but the allegations against Paul go much further, accusing him of being a Gentile, of being a closet Sadduccee and of collusion with Rome. This teaching challenges the pseudo-scholarship of popular anti-Paul writers.

Better Promises

Does the New Covenant really have better promises than the old? What are the better promises? How well do you really know the new covenant?

The book of Hebrews says that the Messiah has obtained a more excellent priesthood than the Aaronic priesthood because he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises (Hebrews 8:6). This discourse takes a closer look at the better promises of the new covenant as described in the prophecies of Jeremiah.