The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Galatians 2:4-5; 20-21, “But it was because of the false brethren who had

sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to

bring us into bondage. 5 But we did not yield in subjection to them for even

an hour, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you….20 “I have

been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;

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

loved me and delivered Himself up for me. 21 “I do not nullify the grace of God;

for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

Whatever you do, don’t believe everything you hear –even from preachers!

There are indeed “false brethren” proclaiming a “false gospel” for the purpose

of leading true believers away from the Gospel that brought them salvation.

Earlier in this second chapter, Paul had to correct Simon Peter. Jews did not

eat with Gentiles. That was a law by which Jews abided. But, since his

salvation, Peter ate with Gentile believers, which was correct. But when

Jews appeared, Peter withdrew from eating with Gentiles because he feared

that the Jews would see he had forsaken the law. And when other believers

saw what Peter did, they began to withdraw, too. It was then that Paul stepped

in and spoke up against Peter’s action.

We face opposition like that from so-called “Calvinists” today. The harsh

Calvinists (TULIP Calvinists) believe that God determined somewhere in

eternity past who would be saved and who would not, eliminating any repentance

and faith on man’s part altogether. Paul said (verse 21) that to do that was to

render null and void the grace of God, which lovingly offers man a way of escape.

Think about this: if God “elected” only some to be saved, logically, He “elected”

some to be lost and banished to Hell. If that were true (which it is not!), “then

Christ died needlessly.” All this is to say, LISTEN and PAY ATTENTION to SCRIPTURE

–not simply to preachers, many of whom can lead you astray.

We love and pray for you many times every single day,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”