We heard yesterday that around the time of Joshua's death, an angel appeared to the people of Israel and rebuked them for disobedience. In chapter 2, the writer of Judges summarized the fickleness of the people. And in chapter 3 we quickly heard about Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar— the first three judges.
https://www.bible.com/bible/116/jdg.4.nlt
In Psalm 80, Asaph pictures the Lord as a shepherd and Israel like a vine. It is no accident that both of these are also pictures of Jesus in the New Testament. This psalm is marked by the repetition of these words, “Turn us again to yourself, O God of Heaven’s Armies.”
https://www.bible.com/bible/116/psa.80
We turn to Galatians 2. Paul’s introduction in the first chapter is unique among his letters. He normally starts with praise for the congregation he is writing to. Not in this case! After he expressed his shock at the Galatian church, he went on to remind them that the Good News they had so quickly abandoned was revealed directly to him by the Lord.
Because of the New Living Translation not being as clear as I would like from verse 14 to the end of the chapter, I have chosen to read those verses in the Plain English Translation. This is a translation of our Plain Indonesian Translation into English. I have included the text below.
Translation note:
6And the leaders of the church had nothing to add to what I was preaching. (By the way, their reputation as great leaders [makes/made] no difference to me, for God has no favorites.)
Gentiles → non-Jews
faith → (fully-)believing
14 So when I saw that their attitude wasn't in agreement with the true teaching in the Good News about Christ, before them all I directly rebuked Peter, “Even though you're a Jew, just recently you behaved like a non-Jew when you still associated with them. So now it isn't at all proper for you to associate with that group who want to force non-Jews to live according to Jewish rules!”
Jews and non-Jews are saved only through fully believing in Christ
15 Ourf brothers and sisters who were born Jewish— including myself, have at times, of course, followed the tradition of the Jews by calling people who aren't Jews ‘sinners’ because they don't obey the Law. 16 But now we know that no man can be made right before God by obeying the Law. The only way to be made right before God is by believing in Christ Jesus— both for non-Jews and for Jews! Before now we who are Jews were evidently ‘sinners’ also, but now we have fully believed in Christ Jesus to be made right before God. It isn't possible to be made right in God's eyes by obeying the Law, because no one is able to obey the whole Law.
17 But there are Jews who fully believe in Christ, who still don't understand the way we're made right in God's eyes— which is only through being [joined to//one with] Christ. For them, if we no longer depend on the Law to become right before God, we've become ‘sinners’. That's definitely wrong! Becoming a follower of Christ definitely doesn't mean that we've become ‘sinners’! 18 For we in the past taught, “Let's become right in God's sight by depending on Christ.” If we now teach, “Turn away from Christ and depend on the Law again,” it's very obvious that we're ‘sinners’!f19 And this is what I've experienced: When I tried in my own strength to obey the whole Law, I finally realized that I'm not able to do it, and would die in my sin. But it was paradoxically through this very state of despair that I received Christ and the gift of God— which is eternal life. Now I consider that I've been crucified with Christ. 20 And I no longer control my life, but Christ— who lives in me, does that. I live my whole life in this worldly body only through faith in the Son of God, who loved me so much that He gave Himself to redeem me. 21 So I don't want to turn away from God's kindness which we receive because of oneness with Christ in order to return to trying to be made right before God based on the Law. For if we think that someone can be made right by obeying the Law, then it was in vain that Christ died to redeem us.
https://www.bible.com/bible/116/gal.2
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