This is the Baymau podcast with Marty Solomon. I'm his co-host Brent Billings. Today we will see how Paul's methodology changes and then draw some conclusions about what we see happening in his ministry.

Yeah, so here's what I want to do with our episode today. We're going to spend some time in the text. We're just going to bounce around for like four chapters of Acts.

Just like bounce, like reading some verses, making some observations. Then I kind of want to add some commentary to that to what I see. Actually not what I see. It's what I learned under my teacher Ray, other time in Turkey.

So I kind of want to talk about that and just close with some thoughts there. So we're going to spend a bunch of time in the text kind of right up front.

We're going to read some. We're going to talk about what I see. Read some. Talk about what I see. We'll just add some commentary as we jump through here. So what's our first passage here, Brent? Start in Acts 16.

Paul came to Derby and then to Listera, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer, but whose father was a Greek.

I mean, just interrupt you if you want one of my favorite. You know, I've mentioned this before and these are. I would not call them crowd pleasers Brent, but crowd irritators.

There are a few. There are a handful of special lessons that I reserve solely for those people that come and join me in Israel. And in this case, Turkey.

So if you want to hear one of my favorite lessons that we drive four hours out of the way for. Remember the lesson Brent? Yeah.

It's a good one. Yep. If you want to come here this lesson, you're going to have to come join me in Turkey in 2022. Put it on your calendars May 2022.

Come listen to this lesson. I just love to throw those little things out there and just irritate all our listeners. We'll be doing another podcast. I always have a few tricks up my sleeve for those.

It's a trip. Yeah, it's it is a drive and and yeah, it's an interesting site. But boy, it's good. It's good. Timothy. All right. Keep going. First two.

The believers at Listera and Iconium spoke well of him. Paul wanted to take him along on the journey. So he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area.

For they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

Okay. So timeout right there. Why is Paul circumcising Timothy? Let's get that on the table because we just got done. Paul's the guy arguing that people don't have to be circumcised.

So why in the world is he circumcising Timothy? And I've heard a ton of people say only with circumcising Timothy so that the Jews wouldn't be like distracted or he wouldn't be a distraction wherever he went.

It's the exact opposite. Timothy's mother is a Jew and his father is a Greek. The reason he's not circumcised is because Judaism will not let him be circumcised.

He's what's called a literal mumzer. We talk about mumzer with which gospel? Brent Session 3. Matthew. Matthew. And we used it in a poetic sense. The mumzer kind of as outsider. But Timothy is a literal legal mumzer or a mumzer in a lot of translations.

He is an illegitimate child born to a Greek father. He is not allowed to be circumcised. So here's Paul doing the exact opposite. Why? Because that's the message of the gospel.

Guys, I cannot say this loud enough. I'm going to start to get irritated. The message of the gospel is whoever is being pushed out is welcome in. That is the message.

So when the Gentiles are being pushed out because they're not circumcised, what does Paul argue, Brent? You don't have to be. You don't have to be. When a Jew is being pushed out and not allowed to be circumcised, what does Paul do? Circumcised.

Absolutely. The gospel says there are no outcasts. And so whatever it is, it's forcing you to be out. The gospel reverses it and says you're in.

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