Biblical Literacy Podcast

The Apostle Paul, who wrote many of the books in the New Testament as letters, wrote the Book of Galatians as a letter to the Church of Galatia. In this lesson, Mark emphasizes three points about “freedom” from Paul’s letter. The first point, ‘The Seduction of self-justification’ (Galatians 5:7 – 5:12), Paul notes that the Galatians were running well, but also noticed they have been “hindered from...

Mark continues the series Galatians: A Letter of Grace with Chapter 13, “Can one fall from Grace?”. In today’s lesson Mark looks at the practical side of Paul’s letter, covering Galatians 5:2-6. The Apostle Paul, who wrote many of the books in the New Testament as letters, wrote the Book of Galatians as a letter to the Church of Galatia. In this passage, Paul reminds the Galatians to “pay attentio...

Mark continues the series Galatians: A Letter of Grace with Chapter 12, “Finishing Theology”, which covers Galatians 4:12-22 -5:1. The Apostle Paul wrote many of the books in the New Testament as letters. The Book of Galatians is one such letter written to the Church of Galatia. Paul typically divides his letters into two parts: the first part - theology, and the second part - practical. Mark’s le...

Mark continues the series Galatians: A Letter of Grace, with Chapter 11, “Mr. Analogy” aka Paul. The Apostle Paul, who wrote the Book of Galatians to the Church of Galatia, was a master at using metaphors and analogies in his writing. Galatians is built around the question, “how are we ‘okay’ with God?”. Mark takes us through Galatians 4: 1-11 and shows us some of Paul’s analogies to help answer t...

Mark continues the series Galatians: A Letter of Grace with Chapter 10, Review. Up to this point, Mark has looked at Galatians, Chapter 1-3, by examining the nuances of the language and Greek translation used in the chapter. Paul wrote to the Church of Galatia with a strong reminder of the Gospel message. Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was resurrected - this overwrites the law. In...

Mark continues the series Galatians: A Letter of Grace with Chapter 9, Three Pictures of the Law, Galatians 3:21–29. Mark provides a brief review because in Galatians, Paul is writing to the Church of Galatia. He reminds the Galatians of the Gospel meaning; Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was resurrected. The context for this lesson is to understand that all the laws and rules we f...

Mark continues the series Galatians: A Letter of Grace with Chapter 8, The Just Gospel, Galatians 3: 10-20. Mark provides a brief contextual review because Paul is writing to the Church of Galatia to remind the Galatians of what the Gospel is; Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was resurrected. Paul states (Gal 3:10) everyone who exists out of works of the law from the Old Testament,...

Dr. David Fleming, Director of the Lanier Foundation, continues Mark’s series Galatians: A Letter of Grace, with Chapter 7, The Gospel or Foolishness, Galatians 3:1-9. David provides a short contextual review as Paul is writing to the Church of Galatia to remind them of what the Gospel is; Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was resurrected. In this series we have talked about the powe...

Mark continues the series Galatians: A Letter of Grace, with Chapter 6, A Personal Gospel. First, Mark reviews the opening of Galatians, Chapter 2 for context to remind us of the Gospel Paul was entrusted with - Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was resurrected; this is the same yesterday, today and forever. Since this lesson is a personal Gospel, Mark also invites us to think of the...

Today’s lesson is presented by guest instructor, Pastor Jarrett Stephens, Lead Pastor of Champion Forest Baptist Church. It is a continuation of the Galatians series: A Letter of Grace, with Chapter 5, Focused Living. Pastor Stephens continues Mark’s lesson from last week in Galatians 2:2-14, where Paul defends himself and the Gospel because false teachers were creeping into the church, attempting...

Mark continues the series Galatians: A Letter of Grace, with Chapter 4, the Centric Gospel (1:1-2:2). In this lecture, Mark varies the direction of the lesson after receiving an email from a class member who raised questions about some of the material Mark is teaching in this series. Mark reworked the lesson to be a Q & A session and address the questions he received. Paul’s Gospel writings are si...

Mark continues the series Galatians: A Letter of Grace, with Chapter 3, the Authentic Gospel, Galatians 1:11-24. We know the first four books of the New Testament are the Gospels, but Paul wrote his letters before the Gospel books were written. This passage in Galatians is Paul’s autobiography, where Paul shares his history as a scholar and a persecutor of the early Christians. It was during this...

Mark continues the series Galatians: A Letter of Grace with Chapter 2, The Power and the Sanctity of the Gospel. In this lesson Mark focuses on Galatians 1:1-11. Beginning with Galatians 1:1-5, the opening of the letter is written to the Church of Galatia and is meant to establish Paul as an apostle, who has the authority to deliver a message of grace and peace. He is granted authority from God ou...

Mark begins a new series Galatians: A Letter of Grace, with Chapter 1, an Introduction. In this series Mark takes us through a deep dive study into the Book of Galatians. The Book of Galatians is one of the many letters Paul wrote in the New Testament, this one to the churches of Galatia. The Book of Galatians is considered an epistle, which is a type of letter. Mark explains how we study an epist...

Mark continues with A Trial Lawyer's Brief on Biblical Law: A Reflection of God’s Character with Chapter 7, Old Testament Laws That Speak To Us Today. In this lesson Mark discusses some of the known Laws people ask about in daily life, i.e., foods that should not be eaten, wearing clothing with mixed fibers. These Laws were written particularly for Israel because God made Israel distinct from othe...

Mark continues with A Trial Lawyer's Brief on Biblical Law: A Reflection of God’s Character with Chapter 6, The Atonement and the Meaning of Christmas. As Mark has been teaching about the Law, in this lesson he discusses "Atonement", an especially important word when we look at the Laws of Israel. Only Israel's Laws had Atonement because Atonement is about getting back in a right relationship with...

Mark continues with A Trial Lawyer's Brief on Biblical Law: A Reflection of God’s Character with the seventh commandment: You shall not steal (Exodus 20:15). The word steal in Hebrew is "ganav", which means to steal or take by stealth, wrongfully or in trickery. Mark looks at this commandment from three perspectives; 1) face value, 2) how it is a reflection of God, the law giver, 3) how does it ap...

Mark continues with A Trial Lawyer's Brief on Biblical Law: A Reflection of God’s Character with a focus on the fifth and sixth of the Ten Commandments. Mark dives deep into the fifth Commandment: Honor your Father and your Mother (Ex. 20:12), and the sixth Commandment: You shall not murder (Ex. 20:13). Mark looks at the kaved, or weightiness, of the commandments as a direct reflection of the Law...

Mark continues with A Trial Lawyer's Brief on Biblical Law: A Reflection of God’s Character with a focus on the fifth and sixth of the Ten Commandments. Mark dives deep into the fifth Commandment: Honor your Father and your Mother (Ex. 20:12), and the sixth Commandment: You shall not murder (Ex. 20:13). Mark looks at the kaved, or weightiness, of the commandments as a direct reflection of the Law...

Mark continues with A Trial Lawyer's Brief on Biblical Law: A Reflection of God’s Character with a focus on the third of the Ten Commandments. Mark looks in depth at the third commandment "Thou shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain", and the question, "what's in a name?". Mark shows throughout scripture how the word...

Mark continued with Lesson 5 in A Trial Lawyer's Brief on Biblical Law: AReflection of God’s Character with a focus on the first 2 of the Ten Commandments. Mark explained in referencing documented laws from the ages how law has always been a reflection of its author(s), and the Ten Commandments area reflection of God’s character. Commandment 1-I am the LORDyour God...You shall have no other gods b...

Mark continued with Lesson 4, How Does the Law of God Reflect God’s Character, in the Series: A Trial Lawyer's Brief on Biblical Law: A Reflection of God’s Character. Law is a system of principles which are ordained or established rules of conduct as regulating the actions of its member and enforced by penalties. God gave the biblical law to the Israelites. God was Israel’s king. God gave the peop...

Mark continued with Lesson 3, How Does the Law of God Reflect God’s Character, in the Series: A Trial Lawyer's Brief on Biblical Law: A Reflection of God’s Character. God gave Israel signs to show they were separate from the nations. This showed the national identity of Gods people. Common questions arise: 1) Is the Old Testament Law applicable to Christians today? 2) What parts of the Old Testame...

Mark taught week two in the new series, "A Trial Lawyer's Brief on Biblical Law: A Reflection of God’s Character,” focused on Biblical Law in Cultural Context. Was anything unique about Biblical Law? Mark used the following process to compare and contrast legal codes from that era and area: Define the approach: How the question will be answered. — Time and location to other legal codes before and...

Mark introduced a new series that focuses on the law as found in the Torah. After giving an overview of different types of law, Mark explained that Biblical law is more than a rule of conduct or action prescribed by a controlling authority; God reveals Himself through the law. By the time of Jesus, the law held a central place in Jewish life. Biblical law can tell us what to do, but it doesn’t giv...