parodies of the religious premises and practices of
Pharisaical Judaism. The book of Acts is an historical
narrative of nascent Christianity breaking free from the
religion of Judaism. Paul's letter to the Romans explains
that righteousness is not in religion, but only in Christ. The
letter to the Galatians explains the dichotomy of the gospel
and religion. The letter to the Hebrews explains that the
new covenant in Christ forever obsoletes and abrogates the
old covenant of Jewish religion. So it is with every other
book of the New Testament.
The grace of God operative in the Christian, the
freedom to be and do all God wants to be and do in us;
these are opposed to "law" and "works." The moralistic
regulatory function of the Law is forever dissipated,
destroyed, dispensed with, discarded, and damned!
Despite this gloriously liberating reality of the Christian
gospel, the natural, religious man does not like "grace" and
"freedom;" it takes away all his "control." So even within
the context of the first century, the reaction of the
religionists, the moralists, is recorded in the New
Testament itself. The Judaizers seemed to follow Paul
wherever he went, attempting to impose religious morality
on the new Christians, attempting to supplement the gospel
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