What I am writing to you is not a lie before God.

 

What I am writing to you is not a lie before God.

 

Galatians 1:19-24 "I saw no other apostles except James, the brother of the Lord. Behold, what I am writing to you is not a lie before God. Afterward I came into Syria and Cilicia, but the churches in Judea in Christ did not recognize me by face; but when they heard that the one who persecuted us is now preaching the faith that he had formerly sought to destroy, they glorified God through me."

James refers to the James who was Jesus's blood relative (brother) during his lifetime, distinct from the two Jameses among Jesus's twelve apostles (James the Greater: son of Zebedee, James the Less: son of Alphaeus). This James, Jesus's brother, was not one of the twelve disciples, but the president of the council in Jerusalem.

However, the expression "other apostles" implies that these are people (apostles) other than Jesus' brother. These other people (apostles) were not in the Jerusalem church, and it is highly likely that they had gone out to preach. Therefore, readers of this text assume that Jesus' brother James is the apostle and are thinking of other apostles besides him.

It is shown that Paul spoke to distinguish between James, who was not one of the twelve apostles, and the apostle appointed by Jesus. Therefore, Paul called him a different apostle to distinguish him from James, the brother of Jesus. At that time, Paul was a persecutor of Christians, but although he had converted and was preaching Jesus, he was not recognized as an apostle. That is why Paul went up to Jerusalem to be recognized as an apostle.

At that time, the term "apostle" referred to the twelve apostles directly appointed by Jesus (thirteen if Paul is included), as well as others, including Barnabas, who strived to preach the Logos. In other words, "other apostles" included Jesus' twelve disciples and others who preached the Logos.

In Galatians, Paul expresses that "he himself is one of the apostles." In the Gospel of Luke, there is also the expression of the seventy apostles designated by Jesus. In other words, an apostle can be defined as one in whom the Ho Logos is present in the heart, who hears the word of the Ho Logos, and who proclaims that word. The word apostle (apostolos) means one who is sent.

Syria and Cilicia are located just above Antioch (where Paul and Barnabas ministered). These two cities were major metropolises. There were many Jewish Christians in the Diaspora. The expression "Jewish churches in Christ" refers specifically to Christians as Jews. They had heard that Paul, who had previously persecuted Christians, was now preaching Jesus. However, they had not seen Paul's face.

Ten Pistin (τὴν πίστιν) refers to that faith, not the faith that persecuted, but the faith of conversion that turned away from the faith that persecuted due to false belief.

Euangelazetai (middle voice verb) means preaching the gospel to oneself. As Paul preaches the word, he testifies about how he came to be converted. Therefore, it means having others hear that testimony. It demonstrates the basic model of preaching the gospel. It means that the person preaching the gospel should tell others in this way how they were converted and came to preach the word of the Logos.

"Glory to God through me (en emoi ἐν ἐμοὶ) (edoksazon ἐδόξαζον))." En emoi means "within me." This means that through the people listening to Paul's sermon, they gave glory to God who is within Paul's heart. This is because they discovered the living Logos within Paul's heart.

Today, believers treat anyone who preaches a message outside of what is in the Bible as a heretic. However, it is possible to preach a message that is heard directly from the Logos, even if it is not recorded in the Bible. When a message is preached through direct revelation, it would be problematic to claim it is a lie simply because there is no Bible. Even regarding Paul's words, since the New Testament did not exist at the time, people could have thought that what Paul preached was a lie based on the Old Testament.

However, even stories found in the Bible are often obscured by man-made doctrines, leading to frequent misunderstandings among believers. Therefore, even if the correct message is conveyed to the congregation, if they judge based on their doctrines, it can still be treated as heresy.

Today, the church community is completely covered in doctrine. As a result, believers are spiritually blind and believe in the truth of the Bible distorted by these doctrines.

To summarize the erroneous doctrines, they include the theory of the Trinity, God, the Kingdom of God, Jesus Christ, humanity, sin and salvation, predestination, baptism, the Eucharist, resurrection, the Second Coming and judgment of Jesus, and eschatology. These are the doctrines taught in theological seminaries today under the name of systematic theology.

In addition, there are numerous other things, such as the Christian worldview viewed from a worldly perspective (legalism, prosperity theology, and mysticism), the meaning of the law distorted by legalism, the distorted faith caused by the Apostles' Creed, the wrong interpretation of the Lord's Prayer, the cross as a symbolic expression, the church community as a temple, the form and meaning of worship as offering worship, sermons that promote oneself, tithes symbolizing the coming of Jesus, modern feasts reminiscent of various Old Testament feasts, the noun "the name of Jesus," denominations with various names and internal church organization, hierarchical structures through church positions and pastors acting like kings, and the distortion of the image of the bread and cup in the Eucharist.

The reason for this is that, based on entirely erroneous doctrines, it is degenerating "much like the difference in circumstances between the early church era and the Catholic Church, which officially recognized Christianity."

Although the Reformation was carried out in opposition to medieval Catholicism, they also distorted the Word of the Bible by asserting their doctrines. Today, doctrines such as the Westminster Catechism, the Heidelberg Catechism, and Calvin's Geneva Catechism differ slightly in content but share similar overall themes. The Bible is reinterpreted and conveyed to believers based on these doctrines learned in theological universities, and since believers accept these as the truth, even when the correct message is preached, it is treated as heresy.