GALATIANS STUDY

DEFENDING THE SUPERIOR VALUE OF THE GOSPEL OF GRACE (1): “Understanding Perfection As Faith In the Gospel of Grace”

I. Introduction

II. The Gospel of Grace, Deception and the Problem of Perfection?

A. Don’t Be Mesmerized By Sophisticated Proclamation

It is a question of DECEPTION

Galatians 3:1 ESV

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.

BEWITCHED:

1. To deceive with an evil eye; to cast a spell

False teaching is like magic

§ Magic in Paul’s day: While the sick sought natural remedies, they also believed they could manipulate supernatural powers with sacrifices, incantations, and magical formulas. In contrast, Paul made it clear that God could not be manipulated. Instead, the practice of Christianity was to pray, humbling yourself before God and trusting him to provide for your needs.

The dangerous ... is that the Galatians have willingly yielded to these magicians and their influence without realising to what powers of Falsehood they were surrendering.

BEWITCHED:

1. To defame and to hurt someone through unfavorable words

Paul’s is saying that this false gospel only seeks to defame you (cause you to identify with your own worth) and hurt you (cause you to turn away from your true help - Christ)

You cannot know the damage this is doing to you unless you know the value of what it is moving you away from

IMPLICIT IN THIS IS THE SENSE THAT THE GALATIANS WERE GIVING THEIR EARS TO TOO MANY PEOPLE AND, AS A RESULT, CONFUSING THEMSELVES. WHAT IS THE RESULT OF SUCH “OPENNESS” WITHOUT DISCERNMENT?

ACTS 17:16 – ALL THEY DID WAS LISTENED TO WHOEVER AND WHAT THEY ENDED UP WITH WAS A LOCATION WITH MULTIPLE GODS!!!

Acts 17:16 ESV

Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.

Acts 17:21 ESV

Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.

EYES: Eye represents the Mind’s Eye: to see or identify something for what it truly is

The Galatians were not foolishness of the heart, per se, but in their mind.

“Oh you dear idiots of Galatia…surely you can’t be so idiotic

Here is the REAL DANGER OF DECEPTION

· your heart can want and be seeking after the truth...

· and, at the same time, you can lend your ears to falsehood

PUBLICLY PORTRAYED: The gospel was like a billboard before you

THIS IS A C ALL TO TURN THEIR EYES BACK TOWARDS CHRIST: THAT IS WHERE YOUR PERFECTION IS

As the text will show their fascination was not one in which they were denying Jesus. It was a question of Perfection.

The Perfection Issue

§ The gospel teaches us that were are perfected in Christ

§ Life shows us that we are far from practical perfection

§ This false teaching showed what would to the naked eye seem to a a problem

HERE IS THE WEDGE WHERE FALSE TEACHING DECEIVED

· Professing to be Perfected in Christ

· Practicing less than Perfection in Life

FOOL NOTE #1: Fools know what is right but are always open to new ideas

Matthew 7:26 ESV

And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

B. Don’t Forget How You Came to Know the Lord

How did you come to know Christ - to be saved

Galatians 3:2 ESV

Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?

FOOL NOTE #2: Fools think and act like being holy gets you the Holy Spirit

C. Don’t Think That You Can Help God Complete You

Galatians 3:3 ESV

Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

It is a question of COMPLETION

FOOL NOTE #3: Fools think their relationship with the Lord is Transactional

Deuteronomy 32:6 ESV

Do you thus repay the Lord, you foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you?

D. Don’t Minimize Your Cross Connection

Galatians 3:4 ESV

Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?

It is a question of PERSECUTION

FOOL NOTE #4: Fools think suffering for the gospel of grace is proof that it is not gracious

E. Don’t Forget What You Experienced

Galatians 3:5 ESV

Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith—

FOOL NOTE #5: Fools think and act like God performs miracles for men and women because they are worthy of them

It is a question of MANIFESTATION