“The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple.”
King James Version (KJV)
Chris's comment on 2021-02-02 20:28:02:
As with many of these epistles, the authors were wanting to impart both teaching & warning about intruders into the Church. Paul's letter to the believers in Galatia (whether to the Churches in the north or south of Galatia can't be ascertained) also came as both a warning & teaching.
The Church there had false teachers among them (1:6-9). They were teaching that Paul's teaching was false & that he wasn't a genuine apostle of Christ (Paul gave a defence of this in 1:11-24). So their teaching, as with Judaizers, brought in a merit-based salvation, i.e. that there needed to be a strict obedience to Mosaic Law as well as faith in Jesus. Paul's answer to them, as it is to us now, that salvation in Christ can only be by God's Grace through faith in Jesus' death & resurrection, chapters 3-5.
So Paul preached that we are justified only by faith in Christ plus absolutely nothing else. If anything is added to faith, then faith ceases & it becomes works (making justification by human effort or contribution or even cleaving to the old Law which failed). Paul even had to rebuke the Apostle Peter (2:11-21) who suddenly stopped eating with the 'uncircumcised Gentile believers' when pressured to do so by some Hebrew Christians. This was hypocrisy that Paul took Peter to task over as Peter & others weren't practising the Truth when they also identified with Jewish requirements.
This Book, along with Romans, gives much theological teaching on this matter of Law & Grace though Faith & they form much of what we know & teach, so that others in the Church may know how important it is to separate the two (only because of Christ's death).
Chris's comment on 2021-02-02 15:53:35:
I feel that I've misunderstood your first question, but I do recall a sickness that is associated with uncontrolled laughter. I had to look it up, & its called 'Pseudobulbar', which is a nervous disorder that brings on this effect or may even cause uncontrolled crying or anger. So medical (psychological) help is certainly required as it would be a problem to both self & others.
Both extremes of negativity & positivity demonstrate an imbalance in one's perceptions. Personally speaking & after self-examination, I am one who would be categorized as leaning towards negativity. Being introspective & testing myself under various situations that bring on this effect, I find that this arises when I have critically examined a matter & come to a conclusion that the result of it could lead to more distress or loss, rather than a positive outcome. Therefore, based on that, a decision is made. Am I always correct in my response? No. I then learn where I went wrong in my calculations & hopefully learn from them.
Then again, if someone is continually a 'negative' person, whether as part of his personality or as a result of being subjected to situations that has caused him to be so, then again, help is needed to educate & restore that person to a correct, balanced view of people & situations. However, when we see those who are overflowing with positivity and when things don't work out for them, the fall is great & sometimes devastating. In that case, the 'negative' person seems to cope much better in adverse conditions. Just my thoughts from my own experiences & observances.
Erin's comment on 2021-01-31 13:54:35:
Can you please explain Zion vs Babylon? I believe knowing the difference will be even more imperative in the coming days, if not now. Thank you