Hey everyone, welcome back.

This is week 39 of Creative Come Follow Me for the New Testament.

This week we're going to jump into Galatians.

We're going to do the whole thing.

So one through six.

This is Paul's attempt to...

restore what's been lost.

Do you remember when the savior was teaching towards the end of his ministry

and he warned that the apostles would teach and then there would be wolves

who would come in among the flock and try to destroy the new converts?

You know, that's basically what's happening with these Galatian saints.

They are mostly Gentiles because of the region that they're from.

So these were not people who grew up as Jews and didn't live the law of Moses.

They converted to the gospel through the efforts of people like Paul.

And now that Paul has been out to other places and not right there with them.

They're having this other influence impact them.

Basically, there are those who believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, that

Jesus Christ provided this gateway through baptism, that they need to be

Christian, but they're starting to plant seeds in these new converts hearts that

to really be successful and to actually gain salvation, you need the law of Moses.

They're, they're teaching this.

alternative Christ.

The reason I say that is because Christ fulfilled the law of Moses.

He declared it fulfilled.

So he made sure people understood that you don't need this anymore for salvation.

What you need is me.

What you need is what I offer you.

And so they're teaching this hybrid version of salvation.

And Paul's job is to Reclaim and to reignite the fires that were once there.

It's just hard, right?

It's, it's like if you built castles on the sand and you find that the tide came

in while you stepped out to get, you know, a sandwich and you come back and

you can see it pulling the sand away.

That's where Paul is.

He's just struggling to rebuild what was already there.

The visual that always helps me when it comes to this kind

of apostasy is hypothermia.

So we talked about this a little bit in the Book of Mormon, but I really

think That visual helps me understand what's happening because as they step

away from the full covenant path and this take on this hybrid approach

that these other false teachers are giving them, they're stepping away

from warmth and the further and longer they step away, the colder they get.

What's Really tricky about hypothermia is if you stay in that state long enough

you start to think you're warm You know like have you ever seen one of those

documentaries where they show people who have been suffering from hypothermia

and they've got You know blackness on their digits and their nose and like

everywhere But they start taking off clothes because they think they're warm

and that's usually what causes death I feel like that's what happens as we step

away from the covenant path it's this really subtle shift in temperature and we

Don't even really notice that we're cold.

And then by the time we get really cold, we're like, something

shifts and we think maybe we were never warm in the first place.

I don't need all these layers, you know, like there is this shift.

So Paul's job is to reignite.

That's what he wants to do.

The Spirit's already with these people.

He wants to reignite the way he encourages them is to remember

Remember your conversion story.

Remember where you came from and what you felt already Remember

the Savior and his promises.

Don't forget the warmth.

I feel like that's Paul's message He is somebody who is going to light

fires everywhere to try and reignite belief and testimony and it's powerful

I promise you're gonna love it.

His strategy is one of Inviting us to use agency to stand and grab hold of

the freedom that this covenant offers the true covenant the full covenant

that the Messiah brought with him.

This promise offers freedom and he wants them to grab it with both hands.

And I think he wants the same thing for us.

So there's plenty to study you guys.

I promise.

It's a really good week of study.

Grab your scriptures.

Grab your notes.

It's time to get started.

Paul's going to begin this epistle in a really similar place that we've seen

with the Romans and the Corinthians.

He talks immediately about his authority, that he is someone who's

been called of God to preach truth.

In this case, he even represents the apostles.

He is coming back to help these saints because the Quorum of the Twelve is

worried about them and Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are worried about them.

And then because he knows their issue is this idea of where

does salvation really come from?

And can I give myself Bonus points on that salvation track.

If I also keep the law of Moses, since he knows that's where their

head is, he starts strongly in four.

He says, who gave himself for our sins, speaking of Jesus Christ, that

he might deliver us from this present evil world according to the will

and God will of God and our Father, to whom be glory forever and ever.

Amen.

Right out of the gate, he's going to talk about Jesus Christ as a deliverer.

He is, he is their only source for salvation, for grace, and

all these other extras that they've heard about don't apply.

And that's going to be his message throughout.

Then he talks about the detractors and what it is they're saying.

I just think it's fascinating.

So if you look at 6, he says, I marvel that ye are so soon removed

from him, that called you into the grace of Christ and to another gospel.

I don't think they're far off.

where he, where they were, they're just a fraction off.

You know, they're just, they've taken one step off the covenant path and

they're starting now to go another way.

The same way, do you remember that talk from elder Uchtdorf about the planes,

that if they get just one degree off, they end up hundreds of miles off course.

That's what Paul can see.

He can see that their trajectory now is not on that straight and narrow path.

It's just a fraction off, which over the course of time will turn into much,

much farther distances where it'll be.

impossible to get back.

And he's worried for them.

So he warns how this has happened.

You look in seven, he can, you can see the cause.

Which is not another, meaning another gospel, but there be some that trouble you

and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto

you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

His warning to them is there is no deviation off this covenant path.

It's been late.

It's been.

It's been articulated by the Savior Himself, and this is the way.

There are no additions, there are no traditions that we

need to heap on top of it.

We just have this simple road home, and that's what He's

trying to warn them about.

I did really like, as I was studying the footnotes, where He says that

there are some that trouble you.

I liked this phrasing, because when you look in the footnotes, to trouble means to

agitate, to perplex, and to raise doubts.

Again, I think this is...

You know, just a subtle deviation, right?

It's, it's not, you know, it's not someone who's absolutely opposed

to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints in today's terms.

It is somebody who is presenting a hybrid version of the Church, which

I think all of us have encountered.

You know, there's people who say, I love everything about the Church except this.

Or, this one thing in Church history is so bothersome to me that I can't look at.

all of the rest of it.

Like there is, they present hybrid versions or I don't believe in prophets,

but I absolutely love Joseph Smith.

And whatever, whatever the hybrid is, that's what Paul's warning about.

He's saying that step away from the covenant path will lead you far

off course, come back to the warmth that is right here in the center.

And he warns that even if he himself preached any other

gospel, that he'll be accursed.

Like, this is not an option.

So he makes it pretty clear.

What I thought was really interesting, you guys, is I was

studying priestcraft this week.

Because there was a comment on Instagram that piqued my curiosity about that topic.

And so I went back to the Book of Mormon to study the roots of priestcraft.

And it's in 2 Nephi where they talk about setting yourself up for a

light and intending to get gain.

And I've always read those thinking that priestcraft, that get gain is...

Getting wealth, you know, like getting maybe popularity just so

that you could lead to wealth.

I just sort of always tied those two together.

But as I was reading more, and you'll see this more throughout the other chapters,

more about these false teachers and the ones who claim to be apostles or claim

to be guides for these new converts, I started to think maybe this is another

kind of priest craft because I don't think they hope to get gain meaning money.

I don't think they hope to get gain even with popularity.

I wonder sometimes if the gain they hope to get is spiritual, you know,

like if they're in that mindset of my works earn me salvation and these

600 plus commandments of the law of Moses, they earn me salvation.

Then if I can persuade someone else to also do that, then maybe that adds Even

more benefit to me, you know, like I can get gain in a spiritual heavenly

way if I persuade others I can see where that would be appealing, right?

If you're someone who has always grown up with the law of Moses and it's so

familiar to you and you're on a hard time Setting it down that if you can persuade

others to also live it and get them in that tradition Then you think you're

getting even more blessings from God that you have a better chance at salvation

because of your works And I just think it's an interesting Spin on Prescr.

You'll have to read it and tell me what you think, but so you're gonna see some

of that in the notes when you pull it up.

I do like where Paul goes next.

He essentially is going to assert his who he is and how he knows what he knows.

What I like about this is only in this account do we have like some biographical

information about Paul's story.

We've always known that he had that vision on the road to Damascus and that he was.

You know, studying to be a Pharisee under Gamaliel and all those things about Paul.

But now you get this added understanding of what happened

after that visionary experience.

That he spends three years in Arabia, that then he comes back to the Twelve

and reports to Peter and says, look, I, I've been called of God, here's, here

I am, and then goes out on a mission.

What's fascinating to me is Paul makes it clear that he only had 15 days with Peter.

He's with Peter and James for 15 days, and then he goes out and he...

teaches.

What this reminds me of is Alma.

Do you remember Alma Senior?

When he's been one of those wicked priests of Noah, he hears Abinadi

for this fraction of time, only cover this little portion of scripture.

And then somehow he's able to lead a whole new church, you know, like a

whole new congregation of saints that builds up at the waters of Mormon.

Alma's able to teach them, to baptize, to do all the things.

And I find myself asking, How did he know all that?

Like, how, how did Alma learn all those things?

How did he know that there needed to be leaders over a certain number of people?

How did, how did he know?

And I think the answer is the exact same answer you see with Paul in 11 and 12.

But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not

after man, for I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but

by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

His source is a pure one.

His source came right from the Savior, which I imagine is exactly

where Alma got his information to.

Because Abinadi was gone at that point and he felt a desire to begin,

right, to begin anew and build a congregation and to start this faith.

And the only way he would, I mean, there's no libraries he can turn to.

I don't know where he pulled this information other than from Revelation.

It's the exact same thing that Joseph Smith talks about in Joseph Smith history.

In fact, he relates himself to Paul and says, I knew it.

And I knew that God knew it.

And, and I couldn't, who am I to defy God?

You know, that that's Paul.

He's like, this is God's doctrine.

I learned it from him.

He didn't learn it by listening to a hundred conference talks and BYU

devotionals and piecing it together.

He learned it directly from Jesus Christ.

So he will not deviate, and he will not let others pull others

away from the covenant path.

I just think there's power in his message.

I love where it ends in 23.

He says, But they had heard only that he, which persecuted us in times past, now

preaches the faith that he once destroyed.

He's talking about himself.

He's saying other people heard.

They don't know me very well.

They don't know my story.

All they knew at that time is that somebody who used to be an opponent to the

church is now fully engaged and on board.

And that should be evidence to you that I am who I say I am.

I wouldn't, you know, I wouldn't live this hard life for any other reason

other than I know it, and I know that God knows it, and I will not deny it.

That's Paul's stance.

So Paul, like most of our missionaries out there, learns the gospel on his mission.

You know, I think he certainly had a beginning before he went to go preach

the gospel to the Gentiles, but just like many of our sons and daughters who go

out, I think his testimony solidifies, and he gains revelation and understanding.

in the process of teaching this gospel to others.

So after 14 years, he comes back to report at Jerusalem to let

people know how things went.

And so he's going to report back to Peter.

What's interesting about this chapter is there's a bit of a, I

don't know what you'd call it, a disagreement between Peter and Paul.

And you can easily focus in on the disagreement that

happens with Peter and Paul.

Essentially what happens is Paul comes up to Peter and says, how

dare you not eat with the Gentiles?

It seems like, and we only have Paul's side of the story here, so I'm not

exactly sure how this all shook out, but when Paul sees Peter, he, where

he used to eat with Gentiles, now has chosen, or in this particular situation,

has chosen to Pull away from eating with Gentiles so that he can eat with

those who follow the law of Moses.

Remember, eating at this time, and even still in the Middle East, like when

we went to Israel and they served us food at the restaurant, you all were

supposed to like grab food out of this giant bowl in the middle and dip it in

things and everything was saucy and you could see where if you legitimately had

concerns about Touching or being around Gentiles that sharing food with them

would be virtually impossible I just think Peter's in a delicate spot where

he's trying to build bridges, right?

He wants his job is to teach the Jews and so he wants to find ways

to build bridges and help them cross over and Paul's job is different.

In fact, that's one of the things I really liked about this chapter instead

of fixating on the disagreement they have.

I think this is a beautiful chapter on how presidencies work, how councils

work, how the quorum of the twelve works, because you see all that at play here.

When he comes, he talks about reporting, and the way he talks about Peter, I

think, tells you that he didn't come in a huff to call Peter out, right?

He came honoring Peter, because he calls him a pillar.

I just think his phrasing is cool.

So if you look in 9, for example, well, 8, he says, For he that wrought

effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was

mighty in me toward the Gentiles.

Meaning, they have a division of labor between them.

The same way the Apostles in the Quorum of the Twelve today, you know, some

are over temple and family history, some are over missionary work, some

are over priesthood and family.

They have different areas of emphasis, and then every couple years they shift around

so that they all get a chance to see all the different workings of the church.

I get the feeling that that's sort of what happened with...

Paul and Peter.

Peter's job was to teach the Jews and Paul's job was

primarily to teach the Gentiles.

Now, neither of them have these boundaries set up.

We saw that with Paul, right?

He would go to a city, he'd set up shop at the synagogue, basically,

and start with teaching the Jews.

But I think his emphasis and his focus was supposed to be on the Gentiles,

where Paul's, or Peter's emphasis was supposed to be on the Jews.

So he kind of stays in that Jerusalem area.

So that's kind of the background.

What I like is that when Paul approaches This topic, he

describes Peter as a pillar.

So in 9 he says, And when James and Cephas, or Peter and John, who seemed

to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave

to me Barnabas, the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the

heathen, and they unto the circumcision.

When they see the goodness of Paul, especially after his initial conversion,

and they see where his heart is, and how he Indeed was called of God.

They send him to preach to the Gentiles.

They stay with the Jews and say this is gonna be our area of focus.

Clearly God is calling you here.

Go.

You know, this still comes through that proper priesthood channel.

It comes from Peter to Paul to go out and preach to the Gentiles.

And then they get into this Situation where Paul is worried because Peter is

stepping away from embracing the Gentiles.

Paul's just been out telling every one of these Gentiles that you

are just as worthy as any Jew.

You don't need to live the Law of Moses.

You don't need circumcision.

You have every right to claim all those blessings if you live...

The Lord's gospel and get on this covenant path.

So for him to come back to Jerusalem and see Peter sort of

pulling away from the Gentiles, I'm sure rubs Paul the wrong way.

But I like the way they handle it.

He basically approaches Peter.

It says he does it to his face and that can sound hostile, but I just

don't feel like Paul's that way.

I don't know.

He just doesn't seem hostile to me.

Um, but he does approach Peter and they counsel.

And what Paul talks about is what he knows about God.

And this is what he says in 16.

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, meaning the law of

Moses, 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.

By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

But if while we seek to be justified by Christ, we

ourselves also are found sinners.

Is therefore Christ the minister of sin?

God forbid.

For I build again the things which for, if I build again the things which I

destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.

Paul's words to Peter are, remember our message.

Our message is, you don't need to live these laws.

You don't need this extra on top.

You simply need to believe in Jesus Christ and you need to come to him with

a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

That's his message.

And I think the way he says that when he says, if I build these things

again, which I destroyed, to Paul, that's, he's basically saying like, I

can't pick up the law of Moses again.

No one should.

Remember, Paul is training to be a Pharisee.

He knows the law of Moses.

He probably lived it with incredible exactness.

But what we learn through the Book of Mormon over and over again is, even

if you live it with perfection, which no one can, you're still a beggar.

You still are indebted to God because you, you cannot That's what

Paul's trying to remind Peter of.

I don't know that Peter needs that reminder, because again, we only

have Paul's side of the story, but I do like that they seem to come

to terms, and Paul continues to be a missionary, and continues to

be an apostle, so clearly they...

They come to terms at some point.

In 20, he says, I am crucified with Christ.

Nevertheless, I live.

Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.

And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God,

who loved me and gave himself for me.

I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness come by the

law, then Christ is dead in vain.

Paul set down that old creature, the one that Followed every rule of

the law of Moses and he, he began growth of a new creature, right?

It's, I talked to my YSAs this week about, I picture it like an acorn

that has broken out of its shell.

That's the old creature.

It's a, it was beautiful on its own, right?

But now it's broken open and it's gonna become something great and mighty.

So he's reminding Peter saying, This is what we preach, and because this is

what we preach, we can't revert back to the Law of Moses, even in these little

ways where you think you're building a bridge and you're stepping away from the

Gentiles to try and preserve relationships with the Jews, it's not worth it.

It goes counter to our doctrine.

Let's realign.

And I think I, I like to think that things come together for them.

I think they must have, because Paul continues to be an apostle,

Peter continues to be the senior apostle who guides the church,

and things go pretty well.

So I just, I feel like they must have reconciled.

In chapter three, Paul's going to offer some compelling evidence for why the

law of Moses needs to be set down.

And he does it through a few different tactics.

I really like his teaching style because he tries to come at it from

different angles and see what sticks.

I think it's the layered approach, right?

He's going to use his own life as an example.

He's going to use their life as an example.

And then he's going to go back to scripture and talk about Abraham

and use that as an example.

And all of it coalesces into this, oh yeah.

This isn't what we need.

I just think his teaching style is pretty cool.

So we look in verse one.

He, he comes out pretty strong.

He says, O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should

not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently

set forth, crucified among you.

I still think Paul's just kind of gobsmacked at the fact that they They

were so fast to set down so much good.

And so he's, he's still kind of baffled by it and he's trying

to pull, pull things back.

I really liked that phrase bewitched.

In fact, if you go in the footnotes, it takes you to the

Antichrist of the Book of Mormon.

What I thought was fascinating is just this week I finished,

um, Sherry Du's book.

It's called Prophecy Around Corners.

And she has a whole section about this idea of flattery and how flattery is such

a compelling enticement of the adversary.

And that's really what you see with all the antichrists of the Book of Mormon.

And I imagine that's what you see with these wolves that are coming in, you

know, because they are flattering them to say, you know, what really might

help or would improve your chances.

Or if you just add on the law of Moses, if you voluntarily get

circumcised, that will really show God what kind of a disciple you are.

That's a different kind of flattery.

And I feel like Paul's just trying to.

Push it all back.

So he tries to get them to remember.

That's what hit one of his first strategies.

And two, he says this only, what I learned of you received you

the spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith.

Remember, most of these people came from a Gentile background.

They didn't learn or feel something with the Holy ghost

because they performed some.

set of rules and regulations.

They felt the spirit because of faith, because of what they learned.

I feel like it's the exact same message we hear in D& C 6.

Remember when Oliver Cowdery is trying to get revelation and basically the answer

that comes to him is, cast your mind back on what I've already taught you.

I feel like that's what Paul's trying to say.

It's like, you don't need new doctrine.

You don't need flattery.

What you need is to come back home to where you were warm.

I know you're forgetting how warm you were.

Come back and let me show you.

So that's where he begins.

When you flip the page, you can see he has some warnings.

I think essentially if you look at four and five He's basically saying

like, you've already come so far.

They've already sacrificed so much just to get to this point.

He's like, don't, don't give up all the ground that you've already won.

So in four he says, have you suffered so many things in vain if it be yet in vain?

He therefore that ministereth to you the spirit and worketh miracles among

you, doeth he it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith.

And now he's going to point to himself as an example, so where

he's asked them to cast their mind back and remember where they began.

Now he's saying like, you see me, you see me accomplish miracles

and signs and wonders among you.

Am I doing it because I'm keeping the law of Moses?

He may be circumcised because he was raised a Jew, but he He isn't keeping

the law of Moses to the degree that these Judaizers are and he's saying,

look, would I be able to do this if I was of any other place than God's?

Goals, you know, this wouldn't be done.

It's the same thing I think the Savior was hoping people would see when he taught.

Remember how the Pharisees wrestled with this a little bit where they would say

he's clearly performing miracles Which means he must be connected to God, but

but he can't be you know They couldn't get their mind around it and I feel like

that's where Paul's try to jog their memory a little bit So then he's going to

use another angle and teach about Abraham.

So in six, even as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for

righteousness, know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the

same are the children of Abraham.

Okay, here's what I love about Abraham as an example.

Abraham was hundreds of years before the law of Moses even existed, right?

Because the law of Moses came when the children of Israel

were brought out of Egypt.

It was supposed to be this, you know, schoolmaster.

We're going to learn about that in a second in this chapter, but.

Abraham was well before that and Abraham.

is someone they revere, someone they would assume has access to

salvation and trust that he is everything God wanted him to be.

But he had no, he didn't follow the works.

What I think is really important though is he's not just going by faith.

I can't remember who said it.

Christofferson, I think.

There's this great talk from Chad Webb.

He's in the Seminary Institute program and he references Elder

Christofferson in this talk.

So I put both of them in the notes, but what I thought was powerful about

it is he talks about levels of faith.

And he said, there is this level of faith that's, you know, that quiet

assurance that produces good works in us.

And then there is this other level of faith that moves mountains.

That's his, his phrase.

This is Elder Webb, or Brother Webb's phrase.

He said, Often we talk about that phrase of like, moving the needle, that we need

to just, you know, do these incremental shifts to get a little bit better, but

God doesn't intend us to move the needle.

He intends us to move mountains.

And for that, we need Abraham like faith.

Abraham is not someone who just believed and had assurance.

He is someone who acted in faith and had power in that action.

You know, action without knowing exactly what the consequences would

be, or what the ramifications would be.

He and Sarah, both acted and chose to believe in covenants and promises

that they couldn't see immediately.

Like Sarah had to wait decades of her life for that covenant promise of a son

to be born and still acted in faith.

That's what I think he's trying to, Paul's trying to draw attention to.

It's not just a passive belief in something good.

It's an active belief in accessing the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ.

That's, that's what propels us to have power and strength to move mountains.

That's where he's trying to Get them to capture it.

The fullness of the law, the fullness of the covenant is something that

you have to rely on Jesus Christ for.

So I love that there was this quote in the notes.

It's from Keith McMullin.

He said this, it is founded on truth, this kind of faith.

It's founded on truth, preceded by knowledge, and perfected by works.

I just love that combination, because oftentimes when I speak of faith, I

think it's almost like this blind, like I'm just going to trust and go.

And when you think about faith being something that's founded on

truth and preceded by knowledge and perfected by works, that's where we

get that perfect understanding, right?

That this is indeed worth my time, that this is indeed a seed that

is good, as Alba would teach us.

I think the combination is powerful.

Learn truth, seek knowledge, and then go forward.

And then this level two kind of faith can come your way.

You can go in the notes and learn a lot more.

There's another talk in the notes from Elder Renlund.

And we referenced this, I think, in the Book of Mormon when we

did an object lesson about fire.

But it's, you know, Elder Renlund was talking about how you can have

this beautiful fire that's all ready.

Not like a blazing fire, but all the logs ready, the kindling ready,

everything ready for you to ignite.

And then there's this one little match to the side.

And he talks about how the atonement can be represented by that amazingly

infinite wood pile, this potential energy that's sitting there waiting for you,

but it does require you to do something.

You'll have to read the notes to get his exact quote, but I love that he

basically said, what you do, your actions are comparatively almost zero.

But they're not zero.

They are necessary, and they're not unimportant.

That ignition of you lighting the match is important to God.

And that's, that's that active faith.

And when we put that active faith toward this pile that's perfectly

given to us by the Lord of power and ignition, then you get this whoosh!

You know, that's where the power...

really starts to kick off.

That's where you see what God can do with you.

And I just, anyway, you can tell this was a part of the scriptures

that I just love this week.

So go in the notes, you can learn a lot more.

Um, his intention is to pull them back to the true covenant and he's

saying that's where this power lies.

So that's what he's going to talk about.

Remember his approach is mostly to Gentiles.

So he's trying to teach the Gentiles that as you come to Christ, as

you accept him as your savior, as you are baptized and you come into

this fold and you live his gospel.

You are heirs of Abraham.

You are sons of Abraham.

A son of Abraham is not just someone who is in that lineage.

It's someone who embraces the kind of active faith that

Abraham and Sarah demonstrate.

Powerful, active, steady faith.

That's what he's inviting them to be a part of.

So if you look in 22, he says, but the scripture has concluded all

under sin that, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might

be given to them that believe.

This is Paul's like fourth teaching tactic.

He's saying the scriptures also teach not just Abraham's story But

all throughout scripture that this is where salvation comes from.

Salvation comes from the Messiah from Jesus Christ and from

no other sources So focus in.

So then their natural question would be Well, if, if it comes

strictly from the Messiah, then why do I need the law of Moses at all?

What was it given for?

Sadly, there's some really incredible verses to answer this

question in the Book of Mormon.

Abinadi spends a lot of time on it.

Lehi talks about it.

Nephi talks about it.

Alma talks about it.

Even the Savior himself, when he comes among the Nephites, he talks about

fulfilling the law of Moses, but we just get a little portion of that.

in the New Testament.

So in 24, it says, Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ

that we might be justified by faith.

But after that faith has come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

So maybe this is from all my years, like, watching Matilda or reading

A Little Princess as a little kid.

Like, when I picture a schoolmaster, I picture, like, somebody mean.

Miss Minchin is the one that I picture in from A Little Princess.

That was one of my favorite books growing up.

And when you think of, like, any of those mean schoolteachers, like in

Matilda, I can't think of her name, but there's Miss Honey and, oh, Trunchbull.

That's her name.

When I picture schoolmaster, I picture Trunchbull.

And I think...

What helped me this time as I was studying is to read the footnotes,

because the footnotes are so much softer.

So they called this person, this schoolmaster, a teacher, essentially.

They called them a teacher, a director, a supervisor of children.

There is no inherent.

grumpiness in that title of schoolmaster.

It's just someone who assumes that the people they're caring for need help.

The Law of Moses was intended to be the Miss Honey version,

not the trunchful version.

It was supposed to lead them back to Christ.

What I like is you actually see that demonstrated in the Book of Mormon.

So if you look in places like in Alma 25, this is when They talk

about how they looked forward to Christ because of the Law of Moses.

That it actually amplified their faith in Jesus Christ because

they lived the Law of Moses.

So I think that's what it was supposed to do for the Jews.

It just, it just got derailed.

You remember that talk from Sister Browning where she talked about

this with the glasses and she said they basically lost sight of things.

They got confused.

They got disoriented.

They, they took off their prescription and they started walking on other paths.

And that's kind of what.

Paul's warning about as well.

I do like what he says in 26 for ye are all the children of God by faith

in Christ Jesus For as many of you has been baptized into Christ have

put on Christ That's his reference to those baptismal covenants to me.

That's him saying take upon you the name of Christ You remember I told

you that my old bishop gave me that awesome object lesson of putting

on a jersey Yeah, you know shields taught me this I'll never forget it.

But I love that visual of you his name is right there emblazoned across your chest.

Your name's on the back.

You are part of this critical team.

But when I step into that, when I put that jersey on and I step onto

the court, I am playing for the team.

I'm no longer just me.

I have a common goal with the other people on the court.

I'm going to understand that I have a coach who's there to guide the plays.

Like I, I come in a certain stance when I put on Christ and I take his

name upon me, it means I will represent him and I will be a player that he

has trained and has hope for it.

That's taking his name upon you.

It's putting his jersey on and saying, I'm part of this team.

The reason I really like that visual.

In this particular chapter, it's because of what you read in 28 and 29.

There is neither Jew nor Greek.

There is neither bond nor free.

There is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

And if ye be Christ's, then ye are Abraham's seed and heirs

according to the promise.

It sounds like President Nelson to me.

He said the same thing to us, that if we choose to take those covenants on us, like

if we choose to be a part of this covenant and be children of the covenant, Then

we're inheritors of all the blessings.

It doesn't matter what your bloodline is, it doesn't matter when you came to

the faith, if you choose to accept and put on that jersey, you're in the team.

And this is not a team that is divided, this is a unified team,

and it doesn't matter what you look like, or where you come from, or what

your gender is, or what your family history is, you're part of this team,

and this team will be victorious.

You get to share in that victory, that's what it means to be an heir of Christ.

I just think it's a powerful, powerful promise.

I wouldn't say I was a tomboy growing up by any stretch, but I

was never like a princess girl.

I just didn't like the princess vibe.

It wasn't my thing.

I, it wasn't until I actually studied princesses who were intended to be

Queens that I started to get into the idea of princess because there's a

big difference between somebody who's cuddled and put on a pedestal and never

has to deal with anything difficult.

and somebody who's intended to rule.

When you look at the people who are intended to rule, like a Queen

Victoria, or even a Queen Elizabeth to some degree, you see that they are

tutored, and they are carefully...

Guided because they know there's gonna be big weight on their shoulders That's

kind of what you want to get the mindset of when you go into chapter 4 because

he's going to compare them to Royal children basically, so this is what he

says He says now I say that the heir as long as he is a child differeth

nothing from a servant though He be Lord of all but is under tutors and

governors until the time appointed of his father Even so we when we are children

were in bondage under the elements of the world He's basically comparing

the law of Moses to those governors saying you're intended for greatness.

You're intended to rule.

The only way you're going to be able to accomplish that is to

accept this fuller new covenant that the Savior brought forth.

That means you have to set down that old stage.

You can't abdicate the throne.

You need to Learn what you need to from the law of Moses and then move forward.

So that's where he goes next in six he says, or in four he says, but when

the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his son made of woman made

under the law to redeem that were them that were under the law, that we

might receive the adoption of sons.

This is sounds Book of Mormon to me, because it's that message of you

are inheritors of something great.

You're intended to become like God.

You are intended to be.

He says, you have to learn what you needed to from the governor and move forward.

You have to step up to this higher place.

Six, he says, and because you're sons, God has sent forth his, the spirit of his son

into your hearts, crying, Abba, father.

Wherefore, thou art no more a servant, but a son, and if a son,

then an heir of God through Christ.

I started to search all my quad for all the different verses that

refer back to being sons of Christ or sons of God and this idea of

being inheritors of eternal glory.

And there Everywhere, you guys, they're everywhere.

I put just a few of them in the notes, but this is not something

that's new to Paul's day.

It's not new when Joseph Smith revealed it in the Doctrine and Covenants.

It's been from Adam's time.

You know, part of the thing we learn from Paul in this epistle

is that the fullness of the gospel has been taught from the beginning.

His reference is Abraham, that he had a fullness of the gospel and this, what

he's trying to push them towards, step away from the law of Moses and grab onto

the fullness like Abraham and Sarah did.

We know that Adam and Eve had that same fullness and that all the

dispensation heads had that fullness.

So he's trying to get them to realize who they are.

To me, this is exactly what we try to teach our kids in

young women's and young men's.

We're saying, like, remember who you are.

Like, you are inheritors of a glorious future.

You, you are dignified.

You are brilliant.

You are valiant.

Step, become who you were intended to become.

To me, this is a halftime pep talk that Paul Can't wait to, you

know, he's just trying to ignite the flame and I can just feel it.

In nine he says, but now after that ye have known God or rather are known

of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements where unto

you desire again to be in bondage.

It's almost like it just breaks his heart.

You're going to feel, he's just like, how, how do you come to this fullness and this

beauty and feeling the Holy Ghost and then say, actually, maybe I want to go back.

Maybe I want to go back to how things were.

What it reminds me of is.

Back in the Old Testament.

Do you remember when we were reading about Joshua and Caleb?

Guys, that was one of my favorite stories.

We did that object lesson with the marbles that you like knock and then...

The same number of marbles that come in, go out.

So here's what's cool about this.

Joshua and Caleb in the Old Testament were spies.

So once the children of Israel have wandered around in the wilderness,

they've eaten manna, they've seen the miracles of God in lots of different

ways, and now they're finally at the brink of the promised land.

And so Moses sends in spies.

He sends 12 spies into the promised land to just survey things.

Joshua and Caleb come back with this stick between their shoulders of full of fruit.

And they...

Can't wait to tell you all the great things that are there, right?

They're like, there's so much fruit.

It's the promised land It's just what we expected.

Let's go.

And the other ten spies say, oh, but there's these giants and there's

these walls and we can't possibly, you know, They are paralyzed by fear.

And Joshua and Caleb both push back and say, oh, remember who we are.

Remember whose people we are.

We've seen the Red Sea part.

We've seen water gush from a rock.

We've seen manna and quail come out of nowhere.

We are God's people.

If he says it's time, let's go.

But because the people listen to the 10 spies who are

afraid, everybody pulls back.

And I feel like that's what's happening with the Galatian saints.

Those who are the false teachers who are preaching this Law of Moses

salvation mentality are afraid.

They're afraid to step and grab hold of real salvation.

It's hard and scary and strenuous.

You know, it's a wrestle to fight for your testimony and to really have a

broken heart and a contrite spirit.

And they're afraid.

And so they're telling other people, Oh, no, no, we, we can't go there.

Let's just stay where we're comfortable.

And the Joshua and Caleb's and Paul's of the world are left saying,

You really want to go back to the.

Wilderness.

The Promised Land's right here.

Look at the grapes.

You really want to go back into the desert.

Okay.

You know, I just...

Anyway, I just think there's...

The fact that Paul stays and he continues to teach is the same thing

we saw with Joshua and Caleb, right?

They stay.

They don't go into the Promised Land without the children of Israel.

They wander with them until all of them die off.

And then Joshua and Caleb finally get to go into the Promised

Land with the next generation.

Because they were hopeful and faith filled.

They're the ones that say, like...

Lord, give me this mountain.

You know, they never lose their momentum for forward

movement, and neither does Paul.

So you look in 12, you can get a feel for that.

He says, Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am, for I am as ye are.

Ye have not injured me at all.

He's like, all your apostasy, all your falling away is not injuring my testimony.

I know who I am.

And like Nephi, I know who I'm trusted, who I've trusted.

And this is.

We're staying.

I'm staying.

And so in 13, he says you know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached

the gospel unto you at the first.

He's talking about that whatever that thorn of the flesh is.

It sure seems like there's something wrong with his vision.

At least that must be one of his thorns of the flesh because

that's what he references here.

He says in 14, and my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not,

nor rejected, but received me as an angel of God even as Christ Jesus.

Where then is the blessedness you spake of?

For I bear you record that if I had, it had been possible, you would have plucked

out your own eyes and given them to me.

Like he's saying, you accepted me when I was weak and feeble

and, you know, maybe blinded.

I told my kids, I started when I was studying these verses, I started a

picture, Paul, like if you were in the 90s and you watched Robin Hood, Prince of

Thieves, you know, Kevin Costner version, the guy, like the servant guy, that's

It's blind because they took his ass.

That's how I started to picture Paul.

I'm like, maybe he's completely incapable of seeing or writing or anything.

And he's relying on them to just trust that he is, you know, who he says he is

because he says he can write beautifully through a scribe, but he can't, he's

not impressive to look at anymore.

So I started to wonder if maybe he looks like Duncan.

I don't know.

Anyway, so you go in the verses and you can get a feel for what

that, how that impacted him.

What's powerful to me is what he says next.

He says, Am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth.

I just, where they once loved Paul and they were, their hearts were

so, it's not that their hearts I think changed dramatically, but

their hearts were so on fire with the gospel that they had charity.

They saw Paul with Christ like eyes and they loved him

and they wanted to help him.

And now because they've stepped to the cold temperatures off the covenant

path, they see him as an enemy.

You know, the same way if I come in from the cold, like if we, if I've been out

shoveling snow or plowing snow and I come into the heat and I walk right to the

fire, it burns and I actually pull back.

I don't have to touch the fire or even be close to it, but the, the dramatic

temperature shift actually hurts.

And I think that's where they are there.

They are so.

You know, pulled off that when they see a flaming testimony like

Paul's, it's too hot for them.

And they retreat and it hurts him a little bit.

He's like, I remember how you were.

How could you be here already?

And then he talks about the people who are.

Pulling them away.

So he says in 17, they zealously affect you, but not well.

Yea, they would exclude you that you might affect them.

He's basically saying like They're going to try to separate you.

Remember how we've talked over and over again How Satan's goal is not

necessarily to get us to sin, but to get us to separate from the power of

God He just wants to pull us apart.

That's what these detractors are doing as well.

They're trying to get them to separate from Zion, they want them to pull off

that jersey and come back to the bench or come back to the stands and and lose

All the progress that they've gained and so he says they're not in this for you.

They're in this for them Um, so he warns about that zealousness and compares it

to Jesus Christ where the false priests are in it for themselves In 19 you

see how Paul's in it He says my little children of whom I travail in birth

again until Christ be formed in you.

This is actually I think A little reminiscent of the Savior's

words about having us engraved on the palms of his hands.

You know, I think it's in Isaiah that you read that prophecy, but I think

that's what Paul's trying to say here.

He's, he's like, it's almost like giving birth to you again and again and again.

I'll stay with you until your testimony is so strong and solid that that you

can't, you can't fall away until you are like those people in the Book of Mormon

that have no more desire to do evil and just want to do good all the time.

That's what Paul's hoping for.

He then gives them an example from scripture.

He's again trying to compare the law of Moses to this new fuller covenant,

um, the fullness of the gospel.

That's what he's trying to help them see.

And so he uses a scriptural metaphor.

Um, it's an allegory where he takes the life of Hagar.

and he kind of applies it to the gospel.

It's sort of similar how you can take Abraham and Isaac's situation and

learn a lot using it as an allegory to understand the atonement of Jesus Christ.

When you think about them as types and shadows for Heavenly Father and the

Savior, there's a lot to learn there.

That's kind of what Paul's going to do here with the story of Sarah and Hagar.

Because Hagar was the bondwoman who was given to Abraham when the,

you know, there had been no son.

And so Sarah gives her handmaid to Abraham as wife, and they have Ishmael,

and then Later, much, much later, Sarah finally does have the covenant son by

miraculous means, and that's Isaac.

So Paul's gonna use those two as a comparison.

He's gonna compare Ishmael and Hagar and, and the, the fact that there

needed to eventually be separation, the fact that they're Needed to be a

distance because they were persecuting Sarah and Isaac to some degree and They

talked about that division that needed to happen that this needed to be set

down and separated and this needed to be embraced this miraculous covenant

Relationship needed to be embraced.

What I think is important to remember because it almost seems like he's

Picking favorites and casting one out is that the goal of the covenant is

that those who embrace the covenant Especially this Abrahamic covenant

that they will then take the gospel to all the world So the goal is to

focus in on this covenant line so that they can Take these promises, right?

They can take this priesthood that they're given and take the gospel

to all the world, including all the descendants of Abraham, even the

ones from Hagar and Ishmael's line.

The gospel is going to go to all and everybody's invited

to play on this team of God.

There's just an order to it.

Remember how we talked about an orchestra and how he He has this planned out, how

and when he's going to call different groups of musicians into this music.

And that's kind of what you see at the end of chapter four.

I feel like chapter five is basically the title of liberty in New Testament verse,

because it's the same call to action.

You know, it's like awake and arise.

It's Paul's not writing on a cloak, but he certainly is trying to call them back.

He's caught their eye now.

Hopefully they remember they're seeing themselves in the scriptures.

They're seeing themselves in.

His story, they're looking back on their own revelations and

being like, Oh yeah, I was warm.

Like they're starting to ignite.

And so this is when he calls them to action.

The reason I think They can't just ignite their testimony.

They need to show it.

They need to evidence their testimony is because that's

where the real flames kick in.

You, you can't, it's one thing just to believe and to hear good words and

have Paul's words ringing in your ears.

It's another thing entirely to prove it to yourself, to experiment on the

word and watch that tree Shoot up.

That's where Paul is.

So in one, he says, Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith

Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

He uses that term, bondage, over and over again, and it's not

just the tediousness of the Law of Moses that he's referring to.

It's the very fact that the Law of Moses cannot save.

They can go through all those motions and exhaust themselves trying to keep

everything perfectly, and even if they could keep it perfectly, which

they can't, they can't gain salvation.

That's what he's going to talk about.

So in four he says, Christ is become of no effect unto you.

Whosoever of you are justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace.

If I decide I don't need the Savior and I can take this

on my own, I fall from grace.

What I think is important to understand, and I read this in a BYU devotional

years ago from President Eyring.

He said what's tragic is some of us get this idea of I don't want to repent

of that sin or the wound is too deep or it's buried in the past and I don't

want to, I don't want to look at it.

And so we get this notion of I'll just take that one.

You know, because we know from the Doctrine and Covenants that if you

choose not to use the power of the Savior to, to get redemption for, or to

get forgiveness for your sins, you will suffer for your own mistakes, right?

There, there will be a suffering that occurs.

What President Henry said that I thought was so poignant is he said, the tragedy in

that is you don't get salvation out of it.

You will suffer and experience the pain of regret and loss and, you know, sorrow.

But at the end of all that suffering, there's no glory.

Glory only comes when we've turned to Jesus Christ as our Savior.

You cannot do this alone.

We cannot.

You know, it's just miserable behavior modification, as Elder Renlund taught us.

You cannot access salvation, no matter how perfectly you live

this life, without his help.

And that's what Paul wants them to understand.

I love 5 and 6.

In fact, I have hearts written next to them because I loved them that much.

It says, For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.

He's saying, I'm not going to exhaust myself with the law of Moses anymore.

I'm not going to scramble for proof that I am a disciple.

I'm going to hope in righteousness.

I'm going to act in faith.

And then 6, For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth

anything, nor uncircumcision by faith, which worketh by love.

That's the gospel.

That's his message.

It's all about will you come unto Christ and be perfected in him in this life?

Will you yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit?

Will you put off the natural man and become a new creature?

That's Paul's message.

And so he says the way to do that is through love.

So that's going to be the rest of his focus.

He's going to show them how to pull that off.

I love what he says in 8.

This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.

This to me is Paul saying, I know where these thoughts come from.

These thoughts of I'm not good enough.

I've made too many mistakes.

I'm too far off the path.

I know this salvation is available for other people, but certainly not for me.

Like, these thoughts are not from God.

There, you cannot fall farther than the light of Christ shines.

That's what Elder Holland taught us.

So he's saying, these thoughts come from a different source.

Listen to the true source.

Remember, he's been speaking about Revelation from the first chapter.

He's saying, come back to the warmth that is truth.

And then he talks in 10, I have confidence in you through the Lord

that ye will be none otherwise minded, but he that trouble with you shall

bear his judgment whosoever he be.

You don't have to worry about correcting the guys that are trying to pull you away.

You don't need to worry about their salvation.

Just take care of yourself for now.

Pull yourself back up and come back to Christ.

I love that his confidence in them doesn't come from his knowledge of them.

You know, I'm sure they were friends.

I'm sure he spent a lot of time among them, but his confidence

in them comes from the Lord.

That piece I love because I think it implies that all of our prophets and

apostles who speak of their hope in us and their trust that we can be the, the

things that were intended to be, you know, like the gatherers for God or the women

that he talked about, the president Nelson talks about in that epic address where

he's like, you are the women in prison.

Kimball described the reason they have that hope is from the Lord.

It comes by revelation.

So if God himself has that much confidence in us.

Then we should believe it, right?

We should trust it.

So if you look in 13, it says, For brethren, ye have

been called unto liberty.

Only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, thou shalt

love thy neighbor as thyself.

Don't you just love they seem like all these shrinking thoughts that you have

Whatever the 10 spies are that are telling you that the promised land is not what

we said it was and it's it's too Scary and the walls are too high and the giants

are too big Don't listen to any of them and focus in on my words right now I

know stand in the liberty god has given you you are not designed to be a people

who are under a You know, a steward or a governor all the time, constantly being

tutored and never being put to the test.

You're intended to reign.

Step up.

So then in 16, he says, This I say then, walk in the spirit and ye shall

not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Then he talks about how the lust of the flesh manifest themselves.

And he lists all these You know, horrific things that you can do in this lifetime.

I won't even pay attention to those verses because I love so

much what comes at the end of five.

In 22 and 23, he gives you the opposite of that, which is the fruit.

So you have the works of the flesh in those first batch of verses,

and now you have the fruit of the spirit in this second batch.

It says, But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace,

longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.

Against such there is no law.

Well, I love about this.

And if you've seen, I put a video up on YouTube, like six years ago, it

was one of the first ones that got a lot of traction online, but about my

coming to an understanding of what the spirit is and how it works for me.

And this verse was pivotal to me because there were times, like I've

told you guys lots of times where I just didn't think I felt the spirit.

I'd hear other people describe it.

I just, they'd tell me what it felt like.

And I didn't have those sensations.

And so I was pretty sure.

It was fake.

There were times where I was like, I think they're all pretending.

And then there were times where I was like, they're not pretending,

but I don't feel it, which means something's wrong with me.

God doesn't love me the way he loves them.

What's wrong with me?

And both of those things are bad.

Right?

And so this verse was Pivotal for me to understand because I realized

that fruit of the spirit means the resulting benefit of the spirit.

Now if I see fruit on a tree, it means I know some good things

have happened to that tree.

It's had sunlight, it's had nutrients in the soil, it's had water.

I can trust that those good things have happened if I see fruit on the tree.

The same thing applies for the spirit for me.

If I feel peace, if I feel a desire to be a better person, if I feel joy,

if I am long suffering, meaning like I'll, I'll stick it out longer than

my natural man would want to, if I feel meekness or temperance, I can

trust that the spirit has been here.

If I feel those fruits, then I know the Spirit's been with me, because that's

what the Spirit prompts me to do.

It prompts me to become a new creature.

That was pivotal for my testimony of Revelation.

Because now I stop worrying so much about what the Spirit feels

like in my body, and impressions, you know, and ideas I get that are

tangible, and instead I focus on...

What am I prompted to do?

If I'm prompted to do good today, if I'm prompted to be kinder to my

kids than I should have been, or they deserve, then I know the Spirit's been

with me, because I can work backwards.

And I think that's what Paul's trying to teach us here.

He's saying, if you want to be these sons of God that I've professed that you

can be, and I have hope that you can be, the way you're going to access that is

by understanding how the Spirit works.

If you understand the Spirit and see the fruits, you'll

come back to the covenant path.

You'll step away from the cold and back to the warmth, and

you'll remember who you are.

That's what Paul wants them to do.

I think it's the exact same reason we need the Spirit in abundance today.

While the, why the prophet urges us continually to increase our

ability to receive revelation.

Because that's where we will find fruit.

That's where we'll step away from the cold and back to the warmth

of the covenant where we belong.

i love how in john the savior said by the show all men know that you're my disciples

if you show love one to another that's paul's message in six it's all about if

you want to demonstrate your love which is what i think they were hoping to do

by keeping the law of moses right they were hoping to demonstrate their love and

affection for god and gratitude for god by going through all these motions and

paul's saying You don't need any of that.

In fact, what the Lord has asked us to do to evidence our love

is to take care of each other.

This is a gospel where we take care of each other.

So if you look at verse 1, it says, Brethren, if a man be overtaken in fault,

ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering

thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

I just like this verse because I think Paul is a living example of this.

Right?

He is someone who sees people off the path and he seeks to restore.

And he does it in meekness.

He does it in truth.

He doesn't mince words, but he.

He does it in kindness and meekness, and he casts his

mind back on his own situation.

Remember, he knows where he came from and how he needed the grace of God.

So when other people make mistakes, he's pretty eager to forgive and to...

Restore.

I actually just really love that word choice in this verse because

I think it means a hope, right?

If I'm, if I'm somebody who's restoring a gorgeous piece of art, it means I'm

going to be meticulous and patient.

I'm going to expect obstacles.

I'm going to expect setbacks.

I'm going to, you know, stick with the project until it's finished.

If you think about somebody like restoring the Sistine Chapel ceiling

or any of those things like they know that the result is worth the effort

and I feel like that's what Paul is.

demonstrating for us.

He's saying, all of you are worth every effort I can give.

I will stay here until your testimonies are restored.

The other reason I like that word is we live in the time

of the restoration, right?

The restoration of the gospel, the Savior's gospel has been restored

on the earth today with all the keys and all of the fullness.

But I also like thinking of this as a time of restoration, that our job.

Our work is to take the gospel to all the world and to be a light to whoever we can

and to call people to Jesus Christ and let him, let his gospel impact their life.

I think that's also a work of restoration.

It's where we assume that there is glory and goodness under

whatever shell is on the outside.

No matter how much tarnish and wear and tear and years of, you know, damage

have happened, we assume under the surface there is a masterpiece that

needs to be Brought out and we're gonna take the time and we're gonna put the

patience in and we're gonna stick it out That's what it means to be in this

in this team of the Savior where we don't just take his name upon us But we

acted you know, we act as he would act we see people as he would see he sees

everybody as A work of restoration.

So I just, I kind of love both of those angles.

I also think it's cool how in these verses he's warning them and teaching them.

So like if you flip the page, you can see that he says, be not deceived.

God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.

I think this is a Paul's way of.

Helping them hedge so they don't go too far down the faith

road and not on the works road.

You know, we know from lots of different scriptures that it is our works that

evidence our love for God, our gratitude for God, our desire to be like God.

Um, we're not earning salvation with our works.

That, that all comes through the grace of Jesus Christ.

But it does show where our hearts are and that we're here to care for

his saints and be his disciples.

So he's gonna warn.

pretty carefully about that.

And then he has this call to action in nine, and let us not be weary

in well doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.

I just think there is so much hope in this.

First, I think it's important to realize that he doesn't

encourage you just to be busier.

He says, be not weary in well doing.

It's the well part.

I think it's important.

We're supposed to use those, you know, fruits of the Spirit to help us

know where our attention should be.

What is the best of all of our options?

Where do you want me today, Lord?

What can I do today?

And then listen to the Spirit and let it guide us.

That's what I think it means to not be weary in well doing.

It's added to a little bit in the Doctrine and Covenants when he says,

Wherefore, be not weary in well doing, for ye are laying the foundation of

a great work, and out of small things proceedeth that which is great.

That's the promise.

If you just continue and you uphold this covenant and you keep bringing

people back to the warmth of the gospel and this covenant path and you endure

to the end, there is Peace at the end.

There's promise in it.

I also love what he says in 10.

As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto

them who are of the household of faith.

This is his invitation.

It's so simple.

You know, instead of worrying about all those small commandments and what you

need to wear and how you need to break your bread and how you plant your fields

and how many oxen you can strap together, set all that down and just do good.

What I like about this is it's echoed in the Book of Mormon as well.

You hear this in Moroni.

This is another one of those verses that taught me about the Spirit.

This is what it says in Moroni 7.

13.

Behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually.

Everything that inviteth and enticeth to do good, to love God

and serve him, is inspired of God.

The reason I like that when it comes to Revelation is I can trust that

anything that I feel or any desire I have to do good, I can know is of God.

When you wrestle with, was that inspiration or was

that just my own thoughts?

If it's prompting you to do good, you can trust that the source has to be God.

There are any number of good things you could do at any time.

So you can trust that there, if you're being prompted to do

good, It is coming from God.

And what I love about that is he is the high priest of good things to come.

He is someone who encourages us and guides us toward good, so that we can accomplish

great works, so that small things can turn into great things over the course of time.

I think The small thing to great thing that he's most often

speaking of is in our own selves.

As I seek to do good, you know, just to be anxiously engaged in a good cause and

just put my talents out there somewhere.

He can then make all things work together for my good.

I am the small thing that can become something great as I bring other

people in, as I use my talents and my time and my energy to.

to try, right?

To try to lift the hands that hang down.

That's, that's his invitation.

And then 15 and 17 are some of my favorites.

It's just his, his last words of guidance.

Psalm 15, For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor

uncircumcision, but a new creature.

That's Paul's message over and over again, set down all this extra baggage, all

these old trappings of the covenant that is now fulfilled, and pick up what can

change you, what will motivate you and bring you joy and peace and longsuffering

and comfort, all those gifts and fruits.

This is where you find them.

And then in 17, from henceforth let no man trouble me, for I bear in my

body the marks of the Lord Jesus.

I don't know exactly what this means, you guys, but I think the first

time I read it, I was like, Oh, his body actually probably is covered

in marks and he's been whipped.

He's been scourged.

He's been hit with stones.

He's been shipwrecked, like all the things, right?

So I'm sure his body has disfigurement.

I'm sure he's got scars on his back from all those stripes.

But sometimes I wonder if maybe that's not what Paul's referring to here.

You know, it seems weird for Paul to kind of draw attention to himself that

way or compare himself to the Savior.

In my mind, I think it's also possible that this verse

means what's marked in him.

You know, remember how Paul's the one that encouraged us to mark things

on the fleshy tables of our heart?

That's maybe what I think he's referring to here.

These marks are things that are within.

Things that cannot be removed.

Because he's a new creature now.

Remember he said that to Peter.

Like, I can't pick up what I already set down.

I can't go back to that life.

I am new now.

And I think the reason he can't change is because it's

inscribed on his heart, you guys.

And it just, that's the kind of disciple I want to be.

I want to be someone who, no matter what my body looks like, no matter

how impressive or unimpressive I am, or how many talents I have, or

how, no matter what, um, I can stand boldly and say, there are marks here.

There are marks that, that are deep within me that, that

represent my love for Jesus Christ.

They're inscribed on the fleshy tables of my heart.

And I just think that's a, You know, it's a powerful way to end an epistle

and a powerful invitation to me.

Hey guys, welcome back.

This is the creative side of week 39.

So this is where I try to take some of the principles we learn from

Paul and apply them to our everyday life in ways that are surprising.

Maybe it's the right word.

My goal is to always entice your kids to want to learn more, whether they be.

kids that you're teaching at home at various times throughout the

week or in a class or in seminary.

I don't care where you're teaching.

I hope you just put some ideas to the test.

I think it's a really fun way to tie the scriptures to their

everyday day to day lives.

And there's some really fun ways to do it.

So let me walk you through what you need.

And then for those of you who are on the full course or listening on the

private podcast, I'll take you through each one individually and then give you

access to the notes and the printable so that you can pull these off in I

think you're going to love this week.

Okay.

First off, it's the end of a quarter.

If you haven't noticed on our great big chart that we follow, we're at

the end of that third quarter, you guys, which means it's Kahoot week.

So thanks to Hannah, my daughter, we have created a Kahoot together to

challenge your quarter three skills.

So where we got all the way up through the end of the gospels with the last

quarter, now we're going to cover between like Acts chapter one and Galatians.

We're going to cover all that.

And there's 25 questions to test your know how.

You also have access to the older Kahoots from the rest of the year so

that you can keep building up to our final Kahoot that will happen right

around New Year's at the end of 2023.

So it's going to be a good one.

That's your first one.

Second one, we're going to talk about Revelation.

I really love the way Paul comes straight out of the gate and says where he

gained his understanding of the gospel.

To me, he's a lot like Alma at the Waters of Mormon.

He learns straight from the source.

He learns from Jesus Christ how this gospel is supposed to work and run.

And he evidence is it?

I think it's really valuable for us because we're heading

into conference weeks, right?

Where we get to actually hear from our prophet and listen to apostles

and understand that they get their revelation from the exact same source

that Paul did from the Savior himself.

So there's some cool ways to demonstrate this, but one of my

favorites is to do a secret ink scroll.

So I'm going to teach you a way this This scroll has some, a secret message on it.

You can't see it at all.

It just looks sort of blank down here.

But when I show you the technique you're going to use, it will be

very, very visible and it's so, your kids are going to love it.

So for this one, you don't need any special supplies other than

baking soda, water, a couple of paint brushes, and then.

Turmeric.

I guarantee you've got this hidden somewhere in your pantry and you've

probably never pulled it out before.

Now's your chance to use your ground turmeric.

If you don't have it, then you want to go grab some at Walmart.

You don't need anything fancy.

Generic will work great.

And then a little bit of hand sanitizer.

Just the gel kind seems to work the best for me.

So some hand sanitizer, some turmeric, a couple of paint brushes, and

you'll be good to go for that one.

Okay, third one.

If you haven't noticed from the insights, I'm really passionate about Galatians 5

and what it teaches us about revelation.

I love the concept of the fruit of the spirit that I can work my way backwards.

If I'm feeling joy or peace or long suffering, I can assume that

the spirit has been impacting me.

So then if I ever doubt if I feel the spirit or if it ever impacts me, I

can trust like, Oh no, there's fruit.

I can see the fruit.

Therefore, the spirit must have been here.

And for me to take time to talk to my kids about that, I wanted to create

something that takes a little bit of time.

So that's why I made for you a fruit so I know, I know this looks

ridiculous, but it's also so adorable.

You guys.

Okay.

So I made you three different little fruits.

There's an apple, a strawberry, a banana.

They have cute little stickers that reference the verses.

But my hope with this is that it'll give you a conversation starter so that you

can actually talk about the fruits of the spirit, not just the day you teach,

but maybe throughout the whole week.

I'll walk you through how that works in just a minute.

Okay.

For that one, you just need cardstock and I guess a little

bit of glue and you'll be all set.

Okay.

Once you have those supplies on hand, come on back and I'll walk

you through all the details.

That's it for week 39 you guys.

I hope you enjoyed this week.

It's not that much study This is like totally doable chapter length

and it's got a lot of beautiful verses in it So I hope you love it.

If you need some extra help with it, you're welcome to

join me on Instagram at 10 a.

m On Monday, that's Mountain Time for those of you who are watching live.

If you can't catch it live, you can always Hop on my feed anytime

that week, and it will be visible.

But for those of you who are coming live, I hope you come with questions or

with thoughts or things you want to add.

It's a great place to bounce back and forth ideas.

It's also a good place to see more detail about the object lessons.

So if you're not in the full course, and you're just curious about how to

do secret ink or how we make these cool little strawberries, the live is

a good place to ask those questions.

You can also leave questions on the YouTube videos, or

if you're in the course.

Leave them on the discussion boards and I'll get to those as quick as I can.

But I think you're really going to enjoy this week of study, you guys.

It's, it's not quite as wordy as some of the other epistles we've studied,

and a lot of the verses are familiar.

So I think it, it'll be comfortable to you.

There are so many verses that actually felt like the Book of Mormon to me that

this felt like comfortable territory.

So I think you're going to love it.

All right, you guys, that's it for week 39, and I'll see you next time in week 40.