Hi Pastor John!
I had a pretty amazing experience this morning. I feel like I need to add a disclaimer to the beginning of this email stating “content may include wrong thoughts.”
I got up at 5:30 am this morning. I couldn’t sleep so I put on a Netflix show called “Full of Grace”. It is about Mary, Jesus’ mother. About halfway through the movie, there is a scene where Peter and James (some other disciples were there but not named) were discussing Saul and Barnabas teaching Gentiles that they did not have to follow the law. James was concerned that by the Gentiles not following the law, they would not walk in the spirit every day, but would fall away to false teachings and sin. James said that the Gentiles did not even know the law. I was amazed to even see this on TV. There were some good parts to the conversation.
Well I started thinking about what TV James said. I thought about what learning about the law in the Old Testament taught me. I feel like it helped have a better understanding of God’s heart. I know the spirit is all we need, for the spirit will lead us into all truth, but I am so thankful to have learned about the law. The Gentiles would have been blessed to have learned about the law from the Jews if they could only have learned it just to learn more of God.
It makes me so thankful to have the spirit and learn of the law and to understand what God used the law for. I also thought, “Well, maybe the Gentiles would have been hungry for the knowledge and would have sought every scripture or law just to know more of God.” God had me, a Gentile, read the Bible. That was one of the first things God put on my heart.
Would the Gentiles have learned any of the law? Would Jewish believers and Gentiles have spent a lot of time together or would they have been separated because of the law? Would Paul have taught them the law to show them the heavenly shadows of Christ?
These are unfinished thoughts, but I wanted to share them. I feel like there is this big obvious point that I already know but can’t put it all together.
Know what I mean?
Beth
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Hi Beth.
I love it. Please keep having those unfinished thoughts. They are beautiful, and who knows? Jesus might just answer those questions and finish your thoughts for you.
Pastor John