Galatians: the Gospel Under Attack

I've been hearing about the house of God under attack. I want to speak a word on the gospel under attack Let's turn to the book of Galatians, please chapter 1 Galatians 1 verse 1 chapter 1 verse 1 Paul an apostle not of men neither by men, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead And all the brethren which are with me on to the churches of Galatia Grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ Who gave himself? for our sins That he might deliver us from this present evil world The word is age according to the will of God and our Father To whom be glory forever and ever Amen I marvel That ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ on to another gospel a different gospel Which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel Christ Now come into chapter 2 Verse 3 but neither Titus who was with me being a Greek was compelled to be circumcised This is at Jerusalem and that because of false brethren on a words brought in who came in privately to spy out our Liberty which we have in Christ Jesus that they might bring us into bondage Now verse 11 Now This is in the location of Antioch But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face because he was to be blamed For before that certain came from James He did eat with the Gentiles But when they were come He withdrew and separated himself Fearing them which were of the circumcision and the other Jews Dissembled likewise that were dissembled means hypocrisy In so much that Barnabas also was carried away with their hypocrisy dissimulation But when I saw that they walked not abruptly according to the truth of the gospel I said unto Peter before them all if thou being a Jew live is after the manner of Gentiles and not as to the Jews Why compel us thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? We who are Jews by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles knowing That a man is not justified by the works of the law, but 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 Verse 19 for I through the law. I'm dead to the law that I might live on to God.

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 I do not frustrate the grace of God for if righteousness came by the law Then Christ is dead in vain. Oh foolish Galatians who hath bewitched you that you should not obey the truth Before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath evidently been set forth crucified among you chapter 3 verse 13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law Being made a curse for us for it is written cursed as everyone that hangeth on the tree Now chapter 4 verse 4 But when the fullness of the time was come God sent forth his son made of a woman made under the law To redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons And because ye are sons God hath sent forth his spirit of his Son into your hearts crying the father chapter 5 verse 1 Stand fast therefore in the Liberty were with Christ hath made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage verse 13 For brethren ye have been called unto Liberty Only use not Liberty for an occasion to the flesh but by love serve one another Verse 22 brings out the fruit of the Spirit is love joy. Peace long-suffering gentleness goodness faith meekness temperance against such There is no law and they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts chapter 6 Verse 14, but God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ By whom the world is crucified unto me and I on to the world the Lord will bless to us the Reading from his word the book of Galatians similar to the book of Romans in many ways But it's different in that Galatians takes up controversially What Romans takes up? systematically Like the book of Romans it was written to more than one assembly You'll notice in the opening part of the epistle.

It was to the churches of Galatia and So we would learn from that that it had a widespread Readership and it contained teaching that was applicable to all assemblies and we might say at all time when we come to the Epistle we notice that Well, we can divide it Into three the first two chapters are bringing before us the purity of the saving message Chapters three and four we could write over that the Liberty of the Sons and then in chapters five and six It's dealing with the spirituality of the Saints Again, the first two chapters is presenting to us the preacher of justification Paul and The revelations that he received Chapters three and four it's the principles of justification Justification by faith and its ramifications and Then in the last two chapters we have the privileges of justification Being realized its realization in the life of the believer So come to the first two chapters and the purity of the saving message you'll notice that Paul Immediately gets down to business as he approaches this problem of the attack that had been made on the Gospel immediately gives a summary of the pure gospel We read that from verse 3 and verse 4. He speaks of our Lord Jesus Christ Notice who gave himself for our sins That he might deliver us from this present evil world so the pure gospel presents Christ in his death as the answer to the problem of our sins There are certain parts of North America where it has been stated in the assemblies That When we preach the gospel we should minimize preaching about sin The pure gospel deals with the matter of our sins That he might deliver us from this present evil age so the effect of the gospel is to change lives and to deliver them from the the evil of the age and ultimately out of This age altogether when our Lord returns So it deals it results in a changed life in lives that are different this present evil age It's coming under the judgment of God The pure gospel will bring that out and it will lead to lies lives that are separate from the world We live in a day when people profess to be saved and they live lives that are no different from the world They can go to all the places that the world goes to and it doesn't seem to mean anything That is an attack on the gospel that affects gospel testimony and ultimately denies the purity of the gospel Chapter 1 verse 6 Paul says I marvel that you're so soon removed From the gospel to another gospel another of a different kind Which is not another of the same kind and the problem is he says some would trouble you the word trouble Brings in the idea of they would agitate they would cause commotion amongst the Saints by perverting or turning around or in effect reversing the effect of the gospel of Christ Paul doesn't mention mince his words when it comes to such an important matter. He says let such be accursed He would let God deal with them Paul goes on to show that now in dealing with his own apostleship and The gospel that he had received he was not in the business of trying to please men verse 10 His gospel was not from man. He didn't receive it from man and he wasn't out to try to please man Verse 12 neither was I taught it but by the revelation of Jesus Christ Paul was an apostle with apostolic authority and what he received He received directly from the Lord and he presented it faithfully in the gospel now there were detractors from Paul always dogging his footsteps and it seems like some of them were saying that Paul was anti-jewish and So Paul will speak here of his former zeal in the Jews religion He was actually going about persecuting the church And it wasn't that he was opposed to those that Were in Jerusalem the leaders He's setting out that he had some early contact with them It's not that they were contributing to the gospel that he was preaching But he was not opposed to them and they were not opposed to him In fact in verse 24 of chapter 1 it says that they glorified God in me when they saw the effect of how that one who was so radically opposed to the the church and with Persecuting the church his life had been changed and Paul himself was a living testimony to the gospel that he preached and they glorified God in me in chapter 2 He identifies the source of Where the attack came from he speaks of false brethren unawares brought in That is they were in the church of Jerusalem at Jerusalem Or they at least had effect upon the Saints there and they were promoting the concept that the the Gentiles Who had believed should not be circumcised and They seem to have scriptural backup because the Old Testament after all had had spoken of of circumcision But Paul says in verse 5 that he gave them subject a subjection not for a moment and he was not going to bow to that idea and In fact the rest of the the leaders there in Jerusalem They were in perfect agreement the elders and the Apostles they gave to him and to to Barnabas the right hand of fellowship to preach the gospel among the Gentiles verse 9 so Paul was moving with his brethren and In fellowship with the the leaders of the church in the local assembly in Jerusalem But there was an issue that that arose in the assembly at Antioch Now this is still a long way from Galatia But nevertheless Paul is setting out how that he has defended the gospel which he has preached and The attack which is coming upon the the assemblies in Galatia he has stood against that before and So he speaks about the matter that happened at Antioch Peter had come up to Antioch and Peter being a pillar in the church in fact Peter had received that vision in Acts chapter 10 of the of the sheet let down and I Arise Peter kill and eat and and what what God has given you to eat to call not common and unclean and the lesson was in in relation to Cornelius the Gentile being being brought in with his house into the blessing of the gospel and Cornelius and his household Receiving Christ were saved by the grace of God and Peter recognized that God was Extending the testimony now to the Gentiles Peter had been taught that Peter was instrumental even in bringing the gospel to the Gentiles and Peter Understanding that has been free to sit down and eat a meal with the Gentiles something that a strict Jew would never have done but there's some brethren now have come up from Jerusalem from James and And they don't think Peter should eat with the Gentiles and They would find fault with that Because it wasn't according to the law in their view They are they are what we would call legal beagles and have come up from from Jerusalem And they're frowning on Peter and so Peter as a result.

He separates himself from them. It says in verse 12 fearing them Fearing them man like Peter imagine and he's coming under the problem of legalism that these men have brought With them. They're trying to get back to the law Legalism, I want to I want to speak carefully about this because legalism Today that that word is an emotive word when it when it's used amongst us But notice some of the some of the lessons that we can pick up on here in relation to that Because it was legalism that was raising its head and was affecting even a man like Peter We noticed number one.

It runs on fear the fear of what others might think and it resulted in a separation. That was wrong That was divisive and it was overturning what Peter had previously learned What Peter previously had taught and what Peter previously had practiced? So says Paul he was being hypocritical he was Doing that which was not according to the truth of the gospel of the grace of God that had brought Blessing to the Gentiles. And so it says Paul withstood him to the face because he was wrong And we simply learned that good men can be Wrong and might even need to be rebuked as Paul did with Peter In a public way firmly I'm sure but graciously I would note as well Just jumping over quickly to chapter 4 verse 16 I would notice that legalism also makes those that speak the truth an enemy To those that subscribe to it Verse 16 am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth So there's an animosity.

There's a hostility against those that speak the truth That comes from the legal mind and then right there in chapter 4 again You follow on into verse 17 We would learn that that legalism threatens to exclude individuals from its little click Any who do not follow its code of rules That's what the legalists were doing legalism fosters cliquishness amongst the Saints Now those lessons are right on the surface of our Bible Paul's difficulty with it all is this that it was getting back to the very core of the gospel because It was basing it was basing justification and acceptance acceptance with God and with other believers on the basis of the works of The law and so now we're back in chapter 2 verse 16 the works of the law do not bring justification But faith in Jesus Christ So Peter's behavior was an attack on the very core of the of the gospel message Paul brings out now in verse 19 of chapter 2 That so far as the necessity of performing under the law was concerned that was finished with at the cross I am dead to the law Nevertheless, I live yet not I But Christ liveth in me the life that I now live in the flesh. I live by the faith of the Son of God Who loved me and gave himself? for me Marvelous to think of it, isn't it our acceptance with God is because the very Son of God Himself Was willing to lay down his life in death at the cross of Calvary To deliver us from the penalty of our sin To bring us back to God and give us perfect acceptance in his presence. So salvation by grace through faith is in a personal Savior and It is the opposite to the idea of achieving righteousness or acceptance with God through a performance System of trying to keep rules or trying to keep law It's the opposite to that Paul defends the purity of the saving message coming to chapters 3 and 4 He'll take up they thought now of the Liberty of the sons You notice how he approaches it in verse 1 of chapter 3 Oh foolish Galatians who has Bewitched you who has mesmerized you you're acting like you're you're hypnotized Hasn't Jesus Christ been graphically presented before you as though he was crucified among you So graphically was the presentation of the preaching of the cross So he's calling their minds back to when they first received the gospel.

And so he asked them some pertinent questions He says how is it that you came to have the Spirit of God within was it through the keeping of the law? Oh, or was it through what you heard and received by faith? obviously the latter he's on to show the consistency of that even with the Old Testament scriptures because the legal beagles they were going back to the Old Testament and they were trying to to Transpose the the truth of what was for then Over to here now in the new era of the of the of the gospel of the grace of God But Paul shows in verse 6 that Abraham believed God and it was counted on to him for righteousness and that statement was made before even the sign of circumcision was given and then Paul will prove that the blessing of justification by faith Does reach out to the Gentiles? Because God had promised to Abraham That in thee shall all nations of the earth be blessed And God makes the point God was presenting the gospel to Abraham then It was embodied in that that through Abraham and through the promised seed all Nations of the earth would be blessed and though the law comes 430 years after That covenant was confirmed to Jacob Paul's point is this that the law came after that so the the law cannot disarm or disenow What God has already unilaterally promised and just like an ordinary contract when it's signed sealed and delivered Then you can't change it. It's a contract So God made that contract with Abraham that there would be blessing that would extend to all nations Through the promised seed That is through Christ So then the question would arise. Well, what was the purpose then of the law? Why did the law come in chapter 4 will will deal with that and show that the law was our Schoolmaster to bring us to Christ that is it was it was given as a temporary measure in the program of God it was given as a Spotlight if you will to highlight the fact that man was a need of deliverance from the curse of the law Man couldn't perform it Perfectly and so in that temporary period had come to an end when the fullness of the time was come What happened God sent forth his son made of a woman made under the law that he might redeem them that were under the law and under its curse that we might receive The adoption of sons That's very significant.

That's bringing us into the second part of the epistle because now it's going to move on to the ground of a relationship and God has sent forth the spirit of his son into our hearts Whereby we cry ABBA father There's a new relationship has been established So the fullness of the time comes and God sends forth his son to redeem them that were under the law the focal point of all time and of all eternity is the life is the death of our Lord Jesus Christ chapters 5 and 6 the spirituality of the Saints Paul's thinking is is following. No doubt the attack that his detractors would bring and the question would be asked well if the law was just temporary and If that has been set aside Well, then how shall we then live? By what rule by what code of conduct What is going to regulate the life of the believer Paul is teaching that I am dead to the law Thank God for that because its curse is no more power Over me as a believer But he goes on to show that I am dead to the flesh as well with its affections and lusts. So we we do not Dealing with this negatively first of all, we do not have License to do whatever the flesh desires When Christ died on the cross, he died as a real man in a real body as a representative man before God He was actually put to death in the flesh So I am dead to the flesh with its affections and lusts he says in chapter 5 verse 24 they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and loss and Lusts so the cross has brought the believer now on to new ground where he has decided Against his depraved self and recognizes that that was finished at the cross And that's the mind of God that we should be finished with it And so when I enter into the mind of God in that matter, I'm actually expressing the will of God in my life Finished with the flesh and its lusts and affections But then there's a third thing he says that I'm dead to he says I'm dead to the world chapter 6 verse 14 But God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ By whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world So what is it that stands between me as a believer and the world? What stands between me as a believer and the world? It's not some line drawn in the sand by men Somewhere around the cultural norm of the 1950s in the Western world Nor the line drawn by the Amish code of community rules Nor by the Hutterite collective idea nor some preachers printed booklet of extra biblical rules That's not going to regulate the life of the believer and separate him from the world What is it that will separate him from the world it's the cross The cross the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world and On resurrection ground the believer has a new power to operate within him the Holy Spirit Which when we move subject to his will to his teaching from the Word of God From his leading from the Word of God, we will walk in the spirit and we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh Teaching of chapter 5 So it's not some code of behavior Behavior either from the law or some other code of behavior that will regulate the life of the believer But it's an indwelling divine person That will produce within that believer a living likeness unto the Lord Jesus Christ The fruit of the Spirit love joy peace long-suffering gentleness goodness faith meekness temperance against such there is no law righteousness Practically lived out in the life Of the believer so an obedient walk is the result of the believer that's living in fellowship with God in the energy of the Spirit of God according to the Word of God an Obedient life results Obedience is not legalism.

It is scriptural behavior Legalism goes beyond the Word of God So as believers we do not have ten commandments to follow Our brother Alice already mentioned this But I noted with interest just yesterday that 12 times over in the New Testament. We have this expression love one another 12 times over Is the Spirit of God emphasizing that I think so Love one another just Paul emphasized that in this subject Notice verse 5 verse 13 chapter 5 verse 13 for brethren You have been called unto Liberty only use not Liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but notice But by love Serve one another that would be the test of true spirituality, wouldn't that the test of true? spirituality is not How well we follow a set of rules or even of? Expected gospel hall behavior. That's not the true test of spirituality.

What's the true test of spirituality? How well we in love serve one another it's the fruit of the Spirit the first one mentioned love joy peace and the believer that's living in the good of that will be a peaceable believer and Will have that effect on others and it's easy to love him a person that's lovable toward us Isn't that in love serve one another just the Lord will bless his word to our hearts