Untitled Sermon (2)

1. Context and Timeline (ch. 1:11-2:2)

Paul and Galatia: In Acts 13-14 Luke records that Paul and Barnabas were the first missionaries to bring the Gospel to the Southern province of Galatia. I want to define our terms real fast. When we hear the term Gospel our minds might go straight to the four Gospels, or to the work of Jesus upon the cross. This is correct, but we want to complete the idea. The term εὐαγγέλιον (trans. Gospel) means “good news; good tidings.” It was used in the LXX and in the secular Greek world to refer to “news of victory.” See, the essence of the term “gospel” is that it is good news. Throughout the NT this word is typically used concerning the message about Christ, which tells us that that message is “good news” at its very core. It was this good news that Paul brought to the once capital of Southern Galatia in Pisidian Antioch, and he declared these words in Acts 13:38-39 “Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man (Jesus) forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed (justified δικαιόω can have the sense of “set free”) from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.” He declared the message of freedom from sin, which tells us that part of the good news is a recognition that at one point (and if you have not come to believe you still are) we were slaves to sin. The Law could not free us, it could merely point to our sin as being sinful, but the power is in the blood and resurrection of Christ. That is good news.

Paul and Galatia: Well the problem that Paul faced when he wrote this letter is that those who once accepted the “good news authored by God” were now being tempted to follow a so-called “good news authored by men.” Carson and Moo describe how this took place: “after Paul and Barnabas left the scene, apparently some Jewish Christians came into the area and taught that those who embrace the Christian salvation must submit to Jewish law” in doing this they set up another necessity to salvation which made it a rival to Jesus. This “so-called good news” shifted away from “saved by grace through faith that demonstrates itself by works” to “saved by works and Jesus.” A good news centered on our ability is not good news at all. So, this is why Paul goes to great lengths in the first two chapters to remind the Galatians of what they knew when he first brought the “good news authored by God” to them. He says in 1:11 “For I would have you know, brothers, that the good news that was preached by me is not man’s good news. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” The good news Paul preached was not just some good idea developed by a man who sat in contemplation and said “yes this would be good.” No, it was a God empowered, God delivered, God enacted means of truly setting people free from Sin. This is what Paul sets out to demonstrate in ch. 1:11-2:10 so that the Galatians would not pursue a man authored “good news.”

Paul and Cephas: In 1:16-24 Paul states that it was three years after his conversion on the road to Damascus that he had any contact with one of the apostles. Think about that. Paul waited THREE YEARS before going and seeing one of the apostles, which tells us that he viewed the revelation of Jesus Christ given to him by the grace of God sufficient. He had no need to go and verify it, and in verse 23 its clear enough that the good news he was preaching was right in line with what the apostles had been preaching “(The Judeans) were hearing it said ‘He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.’” At the start of chapter 2 it becomes even more apparent that Paul had no need to go to Jerusalem and verify the Gospel that he was preaching. If he was worried that he was wrong, or if he received the “good news” from man and not from God, then we would rightfully expect him to make a trip quickly to Jerusalem to confirm it, and perhaps even go there often in order to make sure that he is doing the right thing. The first time he goes is three years after his conversion. The second time he goes is 14 years after his conversion. That first trip seems to have been made to simply make a connection with Peter (establishing fellowship between the two apostles) while the second one was provoked “by a revelation from God.” Acts chapter 11 shows that this second trip involved a collection for famine relief that was initiated in Antioch because of the prophesying of Agabus (Acts 11:28-30). This was during the time where the Gospel really started to go to the Gentiles in greater numbers and so that became a part of Paul’s conversation with Peter and the others in Jerusalem, but notice that the reason for his going to Jerusalem this second time was not to “make sure that the Gospel that he was preaching was correct” it was in response to God’s revelation given to Agabus. Paul was confident in the “good news” he was preaching because it came from God, not man. When he talks about running the race in vain here he does not suggests that he doubts the truth of the good news he preached, but he was greatly concerned with the mission to the Gentiles being undermined by division in the church. Carson writes: “His evangelizing efforts would surely be undermined if he was not supported by the leaders of the Jerusalem church, and the unity of the church would be compromised” (ZSB 2385).

2. Apostolic Agreement and Gentile Freedom (vv. 3-6)

Titus: Whatever worry he had concerning the Gentile mission’s reception by the leaders in Jerusalem are put to rest by their response to Titus. Paul finds in Jerusalem apostles holding firm to the same “good news authored by God” that brings freedom from Sin. Although Acts does not mention Titus anywhere, his mention here tells us that Paul might have brought him as a test case (George 142). See, Titus is a Gentile convert through and through. He has come to Christ by grace through faith and demonstrates this faith through his works (his integrity was on full display for all to see as we find throughout Paul’s writings). He had not, however, ever submitted to circumcision, which was a defining characteristic of God’s people according to the Israeli Law and it was one mark that served to distinguish God’s people from those on the outside. The question becomes will those in Jerusalem compel Titus to undergo this, and so require him to be saved “by works and Jesus”?

False Brothers: It’s a fair question, and one that Paul was eager to get an answer to, for he had been dealing with “false brothers” coming to Antioch and teaching that very same “good news authored by man.” There were so-called Christians going to Antioch from Jerusalem teaching “You Gentiles must be circumcised in order to be saved” “You must be saved by works and Jesus.” But Paul was keenly aware that that “good news authored by man” is not good news at all. It was slavery to Sin all over again. This is why he calls these opponents “false-brothers” because they claimed to be followers of Christ, yet they continued to lead others into captivity. This is what Man-Made Gospels do. They enslave us, and always to Sin. They say “The power of the blood and resurrection of Christ are insufficient, so add to it this” and as soon as you add to it you actually rob yourself of its power. We say: “Yes I believe in Jesus, but what’s really going to change my life is this ‘12 steps to a New Me.’” “Yes I believe in Jesus, but what’s really going to help me overcome Sin and get right with God is a good therapist and the right medications.’” Paul strenuously contended with these “false-brothers” in Antioch because he knew full well that the “good news authored by God” is the only good news that has the power to bring freedom from Sin. He says: “We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the good news might be preserved for you.” Good news authored by man leads to slavery and division. The good news authored by God brings freedom from Sin and unity.

3. Entrusted Apostles (vv. 7-10)

Evident Entrusting (by God): In verse 6 as Paul relates to the Galatians the results of the conversation the Jerusalem leaders and he had, he makes it clear that those same leaders found “nothing lacking” in the good news that Paul was preaching. Paul’s taken great pains thus far to demonstrate that he had no need to go and confirm the veracity of the good news he had been preaching, because he had received it from God, but even when he does present it to the Jerusalem leadership (fourteen years into his preaching of it) they confirm that they do not need to add anything to it. That’s incredible to think about, and highlights the divine origin of the message. Without so much as a “Bible Study with the 12” Paul has been preaching the same good news for 14 years that they had been preaching. They had no need to add anything to Paul’s preaching, in fact it was evident to them that God had entrusted him with this good news to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been entrusted with it for the Israelites. The word translated “entrusted” here is a perfect passive, meaning it happened before this meeting and not by the 12. They recognized the divine commission given to Paul.

Grace Given: The saw that God was at work in Paul’s apostolic ministry, just as he had been at work in Peter (God was the empowering force behind both), and Paul says in verse 9 that “James, Cephas (Peter), and John all “perceived the grace that was given to me.” The word here is γινώσκω meaning “know; understand.” At the end of this meeting, it was apparent to all that the “good news” that Paul preached to the Gentiles was authored by God and not by man. There are tremendous implications to this. It means that the “good news” presented in the NT is the only Divinely inspired “good news” which is to say that it is the only one that can truly be called that. The “good news authored by man” will never lead to the freedom it promises. It enslaves. It divides. It leaves us hopeless.