The Revelation Given To Paul and the Leaven of the Pharisees

Posted : 21 Sep, 2012 08:25 AM

The Revelation Given To Paul and the Leaven of the Pharisees



The leaven of the Pharisees (Matthew 16: 6, 11-12, Mark 8: 15) is their doctrine which not only says that one must observe the ceremonial laws of the Torah in order to be saved (Acts 15: 1, 5), but that one must follow the interpretation of Torah given by the Pharisees, which is similar to that of Talmudic Judaism.



Luke 13: 21 tells us "It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." Leaven is anything which wars against and seeks to replace the Gospel of Christ. The "till" indicates that it takes a while for the leaven to replace the true Gospel with a false one.



In I Corinthians 5: 7 Paul tells us to "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:"



Part of the revelation given to Paul was that the doctrines of the Pharisees were destructive of the Gospel of Christ and must be purged out.



In John 8: 44 Jesus Christ said to the Pharisees "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." In Matthew 23: 13-15 Christ says "But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

14. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.

15. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves." And in Matthew 23: 27-33 he says "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous.......Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?"



But now, when we are closer to the very last days of the age, the leaven of the Pharisees has returned in the form of Christian Zionism, from John Darby, C.I. Scofield, Lewis S. Chafer and company, from Hebrew Roots, Messianic Judaism and Sacred Name Theology movements to challenge the revelations given to Paul, which is the root of the Gospel of Christ.





The revelation given to Paul was that salvation was by faith in Christ (Romans 3: 22, Galatians 2: 16, Romans 4: 3, I Corinthians 1: 21), by having a zeal and love for the truth (II Thessalonians 2: 10-12) and not being luke-warm (Revelation 3: 16), in danger of being spit out of the mouth of Christ, by having something of the mind of Christ in one (Philippians 2: 5) and that the hope of glory is Christ in us (Colossians 1: 27), and by having one's mind renewed (Romans 12: 2) and becoming a new creature (II Corinthians 5: 17, Galatians 6: 15). Salvation is having the doctrines of Christ (Luke 13: 25-27) so that he knows us as his own and having the moral law written in one's heart (Hebrews 8: 10). In that revelation from the Lord to Paul, observing the ceremonial law, which was the shadow of the substance to come, that is, Christ, was replaced by being born again in Him (John 3: 1-6).



I know that the text on being born again, and Revelation 3: 16, were written by John, who was once part of the Jerusalem Christian community, and was not then a follower of Paul, though indications are that John and Peter at some point came to accept the revelation given to Paul as truth. In his teaching that one must have a love of the truth, have the mind of Christ in him, have the moral law written in his heart, become a new creature and have one's mind renewed, Paul is talking about being born again by the Spirit. In fact we could add Romans 8: 1-7 to the list of the revelation given to Paul by the Lord. And Paul in saying we must have a love of the truth is agreeing with John in Revelation 3: 16 that Christ rejects those who are merely luke-warm.



Romans 3: 22: "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:"



Galatians 2: 16; "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."



Romans 4: 3 "For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness."



I Corinthians 1: 21 "For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe."



II Corinthins 2: 10-12 "And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

11. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

12.That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."



Revelation 3: 16 "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."



Phillipians 2: 5 "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:"



Colossians 1: 27 "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:"



Romans 12: 2 "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."



II Corinthians 5: 17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."



Galatians 6: 15 "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature."



Luke 13: 25-27 "When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity."



Hebrews 8: 10 "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:"



John 3; 1-6 "There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

2. The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

3. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

4. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

5. Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."



Romans 8: 1-7 "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

2. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

3. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

4. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

5. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

6. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

7. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."

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