Part 2 of 5 in series on Galatians given on May 24, 2011.

<p>Part 2 of 5 in series on Galatians given on May 24, 2011.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

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Galatians and the Gospel

Norman McNulty

Galatians 1—Another Gospel

Before we start, let's have a word of prayer.

Father in heaven, we thank you for this new week, this new morning, and I pray that you would bless us as we have our worship time and bless us as we study from This wonderful book of Galatians.

Alright, so the book of Galatians is obviously written by the Apostle Paul to the believers in Galatia.

This was a church that he had already visited, and as we will quickly see, some problems had come into this church.

Therefore he felt the need to write a letter to them, and specifically in Galatians chapter 4 verse 19 he says, My little children, of whom I travail and birth again, until Christ be formed in you." So here you see that the Apostle Paul was actually pouring out intercessory prayer on behalf of this church.

And so he's letting them know, because of some of the problems that have come into your church, I am interceding for you, I am praying for you, as if I were in labor for you, until you have the true experience of the gospel.

And so with that setting in mind, you know, this month has been an emphasis on intercessory prayer.

We see that Paul was offering intercessory prayer on behalf of this church.

And now we're going to see the action that he took in addition to just praying for this church, He also took action and wrote them a letter to spell out where exactly he saw them going off track.

So now we're going to look at this letter to the Book of Galatia.

Just to give you a big picture as we're starting off this week.

We'll have 5 5 parts And the first 4 days will do 1 chapter per day and on the last day We'll do the last 2 chapters of the book.

There's 6 chapters now When you look at the book of Galatians, next to the book of Romans, this is probably 1 of the most gospel-centered epistles in the New Testament.

And of course, the 4 gospels, you have the Gospels spelled out by Jesus, and then in the book of Romans, Paul makes a clear exposition in the book of Romans of the Gospel.

And then in the book of Galatians, he also does, but in the book of Galatians, as opposed to the book of Romans where he's just explaining the gospel.

In the book of Galatians, in addition to explaining the gospel, he is countering a false gospel, which is why he is interceding for this church.

So let's get into chapter 1 and let's see what Paul has to say to this church.

Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.

So Paul, as he addresses this church, he's saying, you know, I am apostle on the authority of Jesus Christ and God the Father.

So what I'm about to say to you is based on the authority of God.

And he says, this is not just the word of man that I'm going to share with you.

So if it was true for the church of Galatia that this was the word of God, it's also the word of God for us.

And then verse 2, and all the brethren which are with me into the churches of Galatia grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

And every time we start off an epistle we can We can so often times just read that and not think about it, but we should really thank the Lord that there is grace, force, and peace from God the Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

Always remember that when you start off a reading of scripture.

Specifically of Jesus in verse 4, who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world according to the will of God our Father, to whom be glory forever and ever.

Amen." If you've noticed what Paul has done in the first 5 verses, he's basically, in a brief nutshell, spelled out the gospel.

Jesus Christ, He gave Himself for our sins.

And if we accept that sacrifice, we will be delivered by Him from this present evil world.

He is your Savior, so you ought to listen to Him, right?

And His purpose is to deliver you from this present evil world.

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel.

So this church had been given the clear teaching of the gospel by Paul when he had visited this church, and now other teachers have come in and they're turning to a different gospel.

And Paul says, I marvel that you turn so quickly to another gospel.

And he just reminded them of the true gospel.

And then he says in verse 7, which is not another, but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

Now notice verse 80 says, but though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

Do you realize that there is a true gospel and there are false gospels?

And under the inspiration of God, Paul says If someone is teaching you a gospel that is not a true gospel, under the inspiration of God Paul says, let him be accursed.

Because you realize if you're being taught a false gospel, it could lead you to eternal death.

And so this is a life or death matter, and Paul is dealing with a life and death situation with these people.

And then continuing on, verses 9 and 10, as we said before, So say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you, then that ye have received, let him be accursed.

For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." Now notice what Paul is saying here.

When I teach the gospel, my purpose in teaching the gospel is not to please man.

The gospel is not Designed to be a people-pleasing gospel that will fit your carnal desires the purpose of the gospel is to Please God in teaching.

What is truth so that you can accept that truth and receive salvation And the problem so many times in the Christian world today, you will hear people that will come right out and say, just accept Jesus as your Savior.

Don't worry about anything else, and he will save you and your sins.

And that gospel message at the end of the day is a people-pleasing gospel, but it's not a Bible-based gospel.

Because as you're going to see as Paul develops the teaching of the gospel in the book of Galatians, Remember that famous verse, I am crucified with Christ?

There's a lot of other things that we're going to see as we develop here, but the question then is what is this other gospel that the Galatians had been deceived by?

And we will see this again as we go through.

But in chapter 5, for example, you can see some of the things that he's contending with.

Chapter 5, verse 1, he says, Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage behold I Paul say unto you that if you be circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing for I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to do the whole law." Now this is what was happening in the Church of Galatia.

Paul came in, he teaches a clear gospel, Jesus came to this world, he gave himself up so that you could receive forgiveness of sins and accept him as your savior and have power over sin and be delivered from this present evil world.

Jesus Christ has fulfilled the ceremonial law.

Then certain Jews who professed to follow Jesus came in and said, you know what?

What Paul said to you was good, but he doesn't have it all down.

What you need to do is, yes, accept Jesus as your Savior, but you also need to be circumcised to receive salvation.

And If you're circumcised, you will have salvation.

And if you study this out carefully in the Book of Romans as well, what these Jews were doing, and it applies to our time just as well as to back then, they were basically saying, all you have to do is perform an outward action, make an outward profession, and that will give you salvation.

You do this simple act of circumcision, you will have salvation.

And in modern times, people say, just accept Jesus, accept that you have this outward covering, and you have salvation.

And in both instances, the thing that is left out that is really the heart of the matter is Galatians 2 20.

Have you surrendered your life completely to Jesus?

And the gospel that Paul was teaching, the real gospel, is that the real gospel is being crucified, being fully surrendered, giving your life to Jesus 100%.

But the Judaizers who were coming into the Christian faith were saying, well, that's okay, but in reality, just do this outward act of the flesh, And that's actually salvation.

And in reality, it's so much easier to just do an outward action that gives you a profession without a heart change.

You see, today, you can do something similar.

You can make the outward act of baptism, which is a good thing to do, but have no heart change.

And the real gospel that Paul was trying to teach the church of Galatia is, if you are not crucified with Christ, you are not in a saving walk with Jesus.

And I marvel, after I explained it so clearly to you that you're turned to a gospel that will lead you away from salvation.

And so this is Paul's introductory chapter.

Now Paul then, after He says I marvel that you have turned from this gospel for example in verses 11 and 12 He says but I certify you brethren that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man For I neither received it of man neither was I taught it but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

And if you study more of Paul's epistles, you see that he did have visions, which tells us that Jesus himself explained the teaching of the gospel to Paul.

And he explained it clearly to us in the book of Romans and Galatians and some of his other epistles and we can be thankful for that.

Galatians 2—Justified and Crucified

All right, so we are in day number 2 out of 5 in our week of worship talks, and yesterday we started and we looked at Galatians chapter 1, and as we see, Paul is writing an epistle to a church that he had visited, where he had taught a clear gospel, and now another gospel, a different gospel, had come into the church.

And so, not only is he explaining what the true gospel is, he's also contending against a false gospel, which shows us that there is a time and a place to point out error, to speak out against it at the same time that we promote what truth is.

We see that he said in verses 8 and 9, especially, that if someone teaches you another gospel than what I have taught you, let him be a curse.

Because if you are taught a false gospel, it will lead you away from salvation to be lost eternally.

So, it's really not unreasonable for Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to make such a statement.

Because if you had the way of salvation, and then someone comes in and leads you away from salvation, certainly you could see why Paul would use such language.

Now, what we were seeing at the end of chapter 1, and it continues on in chapter 2, Paul is telling his personal testimony and you see he's making reference to how he had the Damascus road experience where Christ came to him personally and called him to follow him.

Now if you look at the timetable, if you recall it was shortly after the stoning of Stephen that Paul was on his way to Damascus.

We understand historically that Stephen was stoned in 34 AD.

You see that after Paul had his experience, he didn't return to Jerusalem for 3 years, and then in chapter 2, we see that it was another 14 years after that that he came to Jerusalem.

So, here we have beginning chapter 2 as we're following the story, we are now at about 51 AD.

And it just so happens that This was about the time that the Jerusalem Council took place in Acts chapter 15.

Now how many of you remember what the Jerusalem Council was about?

The Jerusalem Council Was a council called forth by the the new Christian Church.

It was about 17 years old or 20 years old after Jesus had ascended to heaven and they were dealing with the issue of the Jewish Christians who were claiming that in order to be saved you had to be circumcised.

And by this point, Paul has been out in the field preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, and you see that in verses 23 of chapter 1, they see that he who persecuted us in times past now preaches the faith which he once destroyed.

So during this whole time, Paul is out and he's now an apostle for God preaching the gospel with power to the Gentiles.

And there's a little bit of a problem for the Jewish Christians because they see that Gentiles who have never been circumcised are being filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.

And yet they're saying, well, I thought we had to be circumcised to be saved.

And how could the Gentiles be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, and they've never been circumcised?

And so Paul is telling his story here, and as you continue in chapter 2, let's just pick it up here in verse 1, he says, "...then 14 years after, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me..." and he says in verse 2, "...and I went up by revelation and communicated unto them that gospel, which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run in vain." So here he's saying, I'm out there preaching this gospel to the Gentiles.

Now notice what he says in verses 3 and 4, "...but neither Titus, who was with me being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised, and that because of false brethren, unawares, brought in who came in privately to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage." So notice this, you have Paul, Barnabas, and Titus.

He didn't feel compelled to become circumcised, because he has liberty in Christ Jesus.

But notice what Paul says of those who taught that you had to be circumcised.

He calls them false brethren, and yes, he calls them spies.

So they're coming in, and notice he says they came in unaware.

It's almost as if they snuck into the church.

They profess, yes, we are followers of Jesus.

But then they say, oh, by the way, if you're going to follow Jesus, you need to be circumcised.

And Paul is out there preaching, When Jesus died, that system was done away with, that ceremonial system.

You have liberty in Christ, yes, we still follow the moral law, but the ceremonial law is no longer binding.

But the Jews, who were used to that tradition, still wanted to hang on to that tradition as a means of salvation.

So this is what Paul is dealing with, and then notice verse 5, he says, "...to whom we gave place by subjection, know not for an hour that the truth of the gospel might continue with you." So he's saying to the Galatians, look, we didn't even listen to those false brethren who teach circumcision for an hour because we wanted the truth of the gospel to continue with you.

And yet, he's dealing with a group of believers that are now thinking, well maybe we do need to be circumcised.

He continues on for a few verses and notice starting in verse 8 he says, "...for he that wrought affectionately in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, " or in other words, Peter preached to the Jews, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles.

So just as Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit when Pentecost happened and they were preaching to the Jews, Paul had the same power preaching to the Gentiles and he wasn't preaching circumcision.

Now then, verse 9, this is a description of the Jerusalem Council.

Here we read, and when James Cephas, which is Peter, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision, only they would that we should remember the poor, the same which I also was forward to do." Now just so you know that this is speaking of the Jerusalem Council.

In Acts chapter 15, you have the Apostle James speaking to the brethren, and in verses 25 through 29, you see them addressing the brethren, and specifically in verse 25, they address Barnabas and Paul.

So here Paul says in Galatians 2, we were given the right hand of fellowship.

Acts chapter 15 the Jerusalem Council specifically addresses Barnabas and Paul And notice in verse 28 it says, 28, it says, 28.

For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these things, that ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication, for much if ye keep yourselves ye should do well.

So here you clearly see that the Christian believers under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit said, don't worry about circumcision, just don't eat meat, offer to idols, and take care of the poor and you'll be okay.

So this is what Paul is talking about, and he's saying, remember all of this?

Remember how under the Holy Spirit they said that we weren't under the bondage of circumcision?

Verse 11, But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face because he was to be blamed." Now this is interesting.

The Apostle Peter, who had been filled with the Holy Spirit, made a mistake here.

Verse 12, "...for before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles." So, Peter is like fellowshipping with the Gentiles, those who are not of the circumcision saying we are brothers in Christ.

Let's fellowship together We are all 1 in Christ Jesus And then Jews who believed in circumcision came along.

So, but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision, and the other Jews assembled likewise with him, in so much that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.

So notice, Paul and Barnabas, they're the ones ministering to the Gentiles, and even Barnabas, who is a Jew, he's like, boy, I better go along with the crowd here too.

So you notice here the power of influence.

Peter was a key apostle, but he was even afraid of the Christian Jews who said, you need to be circumcised.

And so Peter's like, well, I'm circumcised, so here, I'll hang out with you, and yeah, there's some separation here between Jews and Gentiles.

We just decided at the Jerusalem Council that we're all 1 in Christ Jesus, whether you're circumcision or not.

And so verse 14 he says, "...but when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou being a Jew livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compelst thou the Gentiles as live do the Jews?" And Paul specifically addresses this issue of circumcision in verses 2 and 3 of chapter 5.

He says, Behold, I, Paul, say unto you that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.

For I testify to every man that is circumcised that He is a debtor to do the whole law.

And then notice verse 6 of chapter 5, for in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love.

So he's saying, look, they're trying to Substitute faith which works by love with an outward act that has no effect on your heart and That's not the gospel the gospel is our hearts are circumcised so to speak And we develop faith that works through the love of Christ.

And Peter, Barnabas, and the other Jews got afraid.

They were afraid of their colleagues, and they didn't want to have some kind of an issue, and so they withdrew themselves, but in effect they were diminishing the power of the gospel, and they were creating questions in the minds of the Gentiles who had been converted who thought, well I thought salvation was through Jesus Christ, not through circumcision.

Notice now, he, in the last few verses of this chapter, and this is where we're going to finish our thought for today, Paul then gets into a very clear description of what the gospel is.

So here he says again in verse 14, why do you make the Gentiles live like the Jews?

He says, verse 15, we who are Jews by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles." But notice verse 16, he says, "...knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law." So he's like, you're not justified by the works of the law, including circumcision, but how are we justified?

He says, "...by the faith of Jesus Christ." Now this is a key point here.

This is the third angel's message in Revelation 14, where it describes a group of people who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

So we are justified by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." So it's very clear.

You are not justified by works, and that also includes circumcision.

So an outward action without a heart change has no role in salvation and even you know our good works after we've been converted don't justifies we're justified by grace through faith and specifically it's by the faith of jesus christ and paul continues this verse 17 but if while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin?

God forbid!" Now, some people would say, oh, well if I'm justified by faith, I can have faith and I can keep sinning.

And it makes you wonder if Paul is saying to those who are teaching circumcision, you know, you can be circumcised, but you'll still be sinning, but you'll have salvation.

And it's another way of saying, just accept Christ's righteousness, but you can keep sinning and you'll still be saved.

But notice verse 17 says, "...if we seek to be justified, we are found sinners.

Is therefore Christ the minister of sin?" Notice what Paul's saying is, is Christ going to say that you are justified if you are still sinning?

Christ does not minister righteousness to those who still knowingly continue to sin.

He justifies those who turn and live a new life and he explains that more clearly.

Now notice verse 18, for if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.

For I through the law am dead to the law that I might live unto Christ." And then here is the famous verse, verse 20, I am crucified with Christ.

Nevertheless I live, Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.

And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Now notice, here is how we can connect being crucified with Christ with being justified by faith.

Because Paul says, I am crucified with Christ, and that connects with Romans chapter 6 where it says that the old man is crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed.

Galatians 3—The Law in Galatians

Father in heaven, we thank you for this new day and we pray that you will be with us again as we go through a study of the book of Galatians.

Alright, so today is day 3 of our five-part series this week on the book of Galatians.

So just to review what we've seen so far, in chapter 1 Paul starts off by saying, I'm an apostle of Jesus Christ to proclaim the gospel to the world, especially to the Gentiles.

And he tells the Galatians, I marvel that you have turned from the gospel I have taught you to another gospel." And then he says, "...if anyone teaches you another gospel from what you have heard, let him be accursed." Now that may seem like strong language, but as you recall, the gospel is the message of salvation.

So if you're being taught a false gospel, that could lead you from, or will lead you from, the way of salvation to the way of eternal death.

Then Paul goes through and tells his personal testimony, because the false gospel that was coming in was being brought in by Jewish Christians who were trying to bring in Jewish tradition to the real gospel and Paul tells his testimony and says, hey if anybody knows the Jewish traditions I do.

I was the most exceedingly zealous Pharisee." And then he talks about what happened at the Jerusalem Council and how the Jerusalem Council made it clear that circumcision was not necessary.

And then after that he describes what the real gospel is, and that is that in order to have salvation we must be crucified with Christ.

So he's contrasting what the Jews are teaching, which they are saying, hey, the way of salvation is to do an outward act of the flesh, just be circumcised, and you'll have salvation.

And he says, you know, that's easy compared to the real gospel, which in reality is, you must be crucified with Christ and circumcised in the heart.

It's not like baptism or saying, yeah, I accept Jesus without any heart change.

The real gospel is to be surrendered completely to Jesus Christ.

And so after he says that, notice how chapter 3 begins.

And this is very strong language from the Apostle Paul.

O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth crucified among you?" Now there's a lot in this passage.

First of all, the Galatians are being bewitched.

They are under a satanic spell, if you will, by a false gospel.

And what Paul is saying to them is, how foolish can you be?

When I came and taught you the gospel, I set Jesus Christ before you so that you could see him on the cross as your Savior dying for your sins and you saw him crucified for you and I taught you that just as Christ was set forth crucified for you, you must be crucified with him.

How could you come under a bewitching satanic spell that takes you away from such a clear teaching?

And this reminds us that as we consider the teaching of the gospel, we have to realize that Satan knows that the true gospel brings salvation.

And just as he brought in false teachers to bring the Galatians who had received the teaching of the gospel from arguably the greatest gospel teacher after Christ in Scripture.

Of course Christ is the greatest teacher, but after Christ The apostle Paul spells out the gospel so clearly and yet people who heard the apostle Paul, they got confused by false teachers.

So if people who heard the apostle Paul could be bewitched, they had heard him, They had heard the truth and then false teachers came in.

Don't you think that we are at risk as well?

We're human beings just like the people in Galatia.

That's why under the Holy Spirit this message is included in Scripture for us.

He set Jesus Christ set forth, crucified among them, and now he goes into a more demonstrative explanation of the gospel.

And I wish we had more time to spend on chapter 3.

Starting in verse 2, he said, "'This only would I learn of you.

"'Received you the spirit by the works of the law "'or by the hearing of faith?

"'Are you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit?

So in other words, you understood that in order to receive salvation, you must be empowered by the Holy Spirit to surrender your life completely to Jesus Christ, to live a Spirit-filled life.

And now you think, after you've begun living a life filled by the Holy Spirit that you can make your life more perfect by performing outward acts of the flesh apart from the Holy Spirit?

Circumcision, You think that's going to make you more full of the Holy Spirit?

Series

Galatians and the Gospel

Galatians 2—Justified and Crucified

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