Book of Galatians: Part 2
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
We saw in Galatians 1 that Paul is saying laying out the introduction for his masterpiece on grace. He is saying that this is something which he got from the Lord.
Paul was saying that the teaching was not popular, but he stood by it.
He already gave an introduction to it by saying “grace and peace” which are the key terms in the gospel.
He also mentioned that the gospel is for rescuing us from this present evil age. God rescues us from this evil age by not taking us out of it, by living through us victoriously in Christ.
We were never under the law
We were never under the law
Then after an interval of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also. It was because of a revelation that I went up; and I submitted to them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain. But not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.
Paul is saying that I am no copycat. This is the original gospel. Paul went to the Word to understand what the true gospel was. He did not say Peter was an amazing person, who was touched by God. Let me go and ask him. He did not say I will only ask James and John and learn from him. Though these things are good, you should anchor the confidence in what you believe from what you have learnt from the Lord.
Paul has a private meeting among the other apostles, and they find out that everything fits. A lot of people teach that Paul had a different gospel and the other disciples had a different gospel. Here, you see that all their message fit perfectly.
Regarding Titus, Paul is saying that Titus did not feel compelled to be circumcised. Why? Because Titus was a Gentile, and the law was never given to the Gentile (Rom 2:14). All of us, who are Gentiles, were never under the law.
For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves,
Consider your heritage. Are you a Jew or a Gentile? If you are a Gentile, then it is true that the law was never given to them. So how then are the Gentiles going to be judged?
For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,
For the Gentiles, it is the conscience that bears witness and alternately accusing or defending people. We were never given the law.
The Gospel celebrates liberty
The Gospel celebrates liberty
But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage.
There were looking and spying into the church, and they secretly sat through and did not like what they saw. What did they see? They saw liberty, and they wanted to put them into bondage through legalism.
The Gospel is about liberty in Christ Jesus. 2 Cor 3:17 says
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
Already Paul has laid out some of the basics of the gospel, that it is about rescuing from this evil age, and that it is about liberty.
Standing for truth
Standing for truth
But from those who were of high reputation (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me.
Paul is saying that for him these apostles of high reputation were no different that other believers. They are also people who have received Christ, and are one with Him, and so is Paul, and so is any believer.
Think about how people Lord us, by saying that they are anointed, and if someone does not show utmost respect towards them for their anointing it will greatly upset them. There are people who say their achievements in the ministry and expect people to go head over heels for them. Paul was not idolizing anybody. He was not following someone blindly, but he was following Jesus!
Paul is making it clear, that God shows no partiality.
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?
Also there was another incident which Paul mentions later in Ga 2:11 that he opposed Peter face to face. You can oppose people of reputation, or a minister without dishonouring them. You do not have to demean them, but rather you can oppose them.
If we can take Paul’s example, the truth is bigger than the person.
Two ministries, Same Message
Two ministries, Same Message
But on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised (for He who effectually worked for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles),
It is the same message and the same gospel that was preached but to two different set of people. Peter catered to the circumcised while Paul to the uncircumcised, the filthy and horrific Gentiles. If it was not for Paul, where would we be?
Every piece matters in the sharing the gospel, and the Master is building his masterpiece which is the church. We always talk about how the church is lazy, sleeping and all that. But what does God say about the church? He loves the church and Jesus loves his bride and he calls us spotless and without blemish.
that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.
and recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. They only asked us to remember the poor—the very thing I also was eager to do.
As we can see all the disciples are on the same page. This is an answer to the people who say that there is one gospel for the Jews and another gospel for the Gentiles. It is the same gospel for both the Jews and the Gentiles.
The Message of Grace builds bridges
The Message of Grace builds bridges
“We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles; nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
Gentiles were like second class citizens in the planet, and Jews always considered themselves as the superior race. You can see that even Paul has that thought when he says “even we have believed”. That was a prevalent thought in those days. They were always brought up in the thought that Jews were superior to the Gentiles, and then all of a sudden the message of gospel liberates them and builds bridges between them.
Paul is saying that we may have the law, and Gentiles may have no law they might have some other way of life. The Jews, since they had the strict laws and things to do, that made them presentable, and it would have been easy to deal with them, and for Gentiles, many were absolutely wayward, and without no hope. Today it is hard to understand this, but Gentiles were outcasts. Maybe they never showered, had bad breath, and a foul language. But then, Paul is saying that a man is justified not by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus. He is saying that even though these Gentiles have not kept the law at all, they are justified. The have been justified.
Justification, in the context of Christianity, is a key theological concept that refers to the act of God declaring a person righteous and forgiven of their sins. It is a legal term that signifies being acquitted or declared not guilty before God's divine judgment. Justification is a one-time event that occurs at the moment of faith in Jesus. It is not a process or something that needs to be continually earned or maintained. Once justified, believers have a secure and unchanging standing before God, fully accepted and forgiven.
Rebuilding walls of slavery
Rebuilding walls of slavery
But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be! For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor.
Paul is saying that if you have a hold of the gospel, and if you understand that salvation and righteousness is by faith alone, and not by law, and then you say that I am a sinner. Then that means you are not a saint, and that means you have not understood the gospel, and you are rebuilding what which was once destroyed. This is what Paul asks in Ga 3:3
Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
We died to the law
We died to the law
For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God.
That is the only way to live to God, or live for God, or live from God. The only way is to die to the law.
The popular thought is that law might help us. In Bible belt regions, we are pushing for the 10 commandments and we are pushing for the rules and Christian principles. As Colossians 2:23 says
These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.
What does it mean to die to the law? This is also given in Rom 7:1-4
Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.
Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.
In the picture in Romans 7:1-4 Paul illustrates our deliverance from the Law there is only one woman, while there are two husbands. The woman is in a very difficult position, for she can only be wife of one of the two, and unfortunately she is married to the less desirable one.
The man to whom she is married is a good man; but the trouble lies here, that the husband and wife are totally unsuited to one another. He is a most particular man, accurate to a degree; she on the other hand is decidedly easy-going. With him all is definite and precise; with her all is vague and haphazard. He wants everything just so, while she accepts things as they come. How could there be happiness in such a home.
And then that husband is so exacting! He is always making demands on his wife. And yet one cannot find fault with him, for as a husband he has a right to expect something of her; and besides, all his demands are perfectly legitimate. There is nothing wrong with the man and nothing wrong with his demands; the trouble is that he has the wrong kind of wife to carry them out. The two cannot get on at all; theirs are utterly incompatible natures. Thus the poor woman is in great distress. She is fully aware that she often makes mistakes, but living with such a husband it seems as though everything she says and does is wrong! What hope is there for her?
If only she were married to that other Man all would be well. He is no less exacting than her husband, but He also helps much. She would marry Him, but her husband is still alive. What can she do? She is “bound by law to the husband” and unless he dies she cannot legitimately marry that other Man.
This picture is not drawn by me but by the apostle Paul. The first husband is the Law; the second husband is Christ; and you are the woman. The Law requires much, but offers no help in the carrying out of its requirements. The Lord Jesus requires just as much, yea more (Matt. 5:21-48) but what He requires from us He Himself carries out in us. The Law makes demands and leaves us helpless to fulfill them; Christ makes demands, but He Himself fulfills in us the very demands He makes.
Little wonder that the woman desires to be freed from the first husband that she may marry that other Man! But her only hope of release is through the death of her first husband, and he holds on to life most tenaciously. Indeed there is not the least prospect of his passing away. “Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished (Matt. 5:18).
The Law is going to continue for all eternity. If the Law will never pass away, then how can I ever be united to Christ? How can I marry a second husband if my first husband simply refuses to die? There is one way out. If he will not die, I can die, and if I die the marriage relationship is dissolved. And that is exactly God’s way of deliverance from the Law. The most important point to note in this section of Romans 7 is the transition from verse 3 to verse 4. Verses 1 to 3 show that the husband should die, but in verse 4 we see that in fact it is the woman who dies. The Law does not pass away. God’s righteous demands remain for ever, and if I live I must meet those demands; but if I die the Law has lost its claim upon me. It cannot follow me beyond the grave.
Crucified with Christ
Crucified with Christ
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
It is important to know that when Jesus died for you, you died with Jesus, This was one of the main reasons why you were chosen in Him before the foundations of the world (Eph 1:4) and you were placed in Him. Because when you Christ died, you died with Him. So this means that we have died. If when we were in Adam, and when Adam sinned, we became sinners, thus since we were in Christ, and when Christ did the righteous act, we became the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
We died so that we can be free from sin. So that we would be freed from the law. The law was never sin, and neither was the law bad. But we died to sin, so that we would be freed into liberty.
Why was it important to be crucified?
Why was it important to be crucified?
Firstly, it was so that we could die to the law.
Secondly, exactly the same principle operates in our deliverance from the Law as in our deliverance from sin. When I have died my old master, Sin, still continues to live, but his power over his slave extends as far as the grave and no further. He could ask me to do a hundred and one things when I was alive, but when I am dead he calls on me in vain. I am for ever freed from his tyranny.
God’s purpose in uniting us to Christ was not merely negative; it was gloriously positive—“that ye should be joined to another” (Rom. 7:4). Death has dissolved the old marriage relationship, so that the woman, driven to despair by the constant demands of her former husband, who never lifted a little finger to help her carry them out, is now set free to marry the other Man, who with every demand He makes becomes in her the power for its fulfillment.
And what is the issue of this new union? “That we might bring forth fruit unto God” (Rom. 7:4). By the body of Christ that foolish, sinful woman has died, but being united to Him in death she is united to Him in resurrection also, and in the power of resurrection life she brings forth fruit unto God. The risen life of the Lord in her empowers her for all the demands God’s holiness makes upon her. The Law of God is not annulled; it is perfectly fulfilled, for the risen Lord now lives out His life in her, and His life is always well-pleasing to the Father.
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
The life that I now live, I live in dependency and trust in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Some people say that it is faith of the Son of God, but the grammar in Greek does not support that.
I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”
Christ died, and it was needed because that was the only way we could be righteous.
Summary
Summary
The negative angle of the gospel message is that we have been crucified with Christ, and that we have died to sin. It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in me.
We enjoy the liberty and freedom in Christ Jesus!