Bible Verse of the Day Wednesday October 11th, 2023

Galatians 2:8   For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles.

All the people that Jesus chose to be His nearest followers, His apostles, were close to him from the outset of His earthly ministry until he ascended back to his Father in Heaven. They all walked with him daily, listened to His teachings, and witnessed His resurrection firsthand. One Apostle was not a part of the original twelve, the Apostle Paul. However, Paul, then Saul, did encounter the resurrected Jesus on his way to Damascus to arrest some Christians and bring them back to Jerusalem for a possible execution. Jesus gave Paul the decree to take the gospel to the world's Gentiles, with a commission from Christ Jesus to continue to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth.

Paul always considered himself the least of the apostles, most likely because he persecuted Jesus by gathering Christians to have them put to death. However, on that day on the road to Damascus during one of his deadly pursuits of Christians, God brought this self-important Pharisees to his knees when he encountered the resurrected Jesus. God commissioned Saul, now Paul, to spread the gospel to the Gentile world, to witness for Christ Jesus in front of Kings, Jews and Gentiles alike.

In this letter to the Christians at Galatia, Paul fought against the Jews, attempting to make Christianity a part or sect of Judaism. God had freed them from the constraints of the letter of the Jewish Law; however, they were trying to bring themselves and their followers back under the Law of Moses. Many in the Christian church today still attempt to combine works and grace, like God's grace is insufficient to provide the freedom that will allow us to know eternal life.

Paul's primary ministry was to Gentiles, and Peter's main mission was to the Jewish people. These features were not fixed and definite; each also ministered to the other groups. The Jewish people that Paul encountered also challenged his calling, his apostleship, and the revelations he claimed to have received from Christ Jesus because the gospel of Christ Jesus that he was preaching diverged from their biased beliefs and teachings.

In this epistle to the Galathia Christians, Paul struggled and opposed against the Jews who were determined to render Christianity as part or sect of Judaism. God had freed them from the constrictions of the letter of the Jewish Law. However, some Jews were trying to place themselves and their followers back under the letter of the Law of Moses.

All followers of Christ Jesus have the same gifts and graces, functions, and obligations. Not all vessels are sourced for the same position, and not all individual Christians are commanded to involve themselves in ministries. Our responsibility is to stay faithful to the mission God has called us to. God expects us to utilize the specific gifts He has bestowed upon us for the benefit of others and to be a witness for Him wherever we travel.