Galatians 1

Study on Galatians-1

Paul visited the Galatians twice before he wrote this epistle. During his absence the Pharisees or Judaizers came from Palestine and insisted that the believers there submit to the jewish religion and be circumcised. The Galatians being naïve accepted the jewish religion and their teachings enthusiastically. The purpose of the book of Galatians is to teach Christians to reject the religion of the jews as you will see.

Jesus referred to the religion of the jews as the tradition of the elders. Today we know it as the Talmud. Today most Christians falsely believe that the religion of the jews is the bible. It is NOT. I cannot make that any more clear and you will see that from this study of the book of Galatians. The religion of the jews is the worship of Satan, not Jesus.

In the Old Testament time Christians did practice circumcision. When the Pharisees took over the Temple. Something they did during the captivity of Israel in Babylon. They began to practice many Christian traditions. But they never understood them. This is why Jesus corrected them all the time. Not because the Old Testament law was wrong. But because the Pharisees could not understand the things of God.

First the Pharisees tried to say that Paul was not a true apostle bc he was not one of the twelve. But Paul proves otherwise in this letter. Once he proved his authority to teach the word of God Paul demonstrated that men are justified by faith and not by the works of the law.

The book of Galatians is an extremely important book for modern Christians. As the religion of the pharisees has once again taken hold of our churches.

Now there are two views as to where the church of Galatia was located. Some say it refers to a Roman Province called Galatia. While others say that Paul was speaking to a group of Gaelic descent. To be of Gaelic descent means to be Irish or Scottish. Again, this is why the word gentile has been changed. Paul was an apostle to the gentiles. Meaning he was an apostle to the nations. If we truly understand that Jesus came for the lost sheep of the house of Israel then why is Paul and other missionaries going to Ireland, Scotland Greece and Rome? Never forget that Jesus said. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me.

There are those who say that Paul was writing to the Gauls. Today we would call them French that is what the word Gaul means. So, Paul was an apostle to the nations. Giving the word of God to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And regardless of whether not this letter was written to the French, the Romans, the Scottish or the Irish peoples. It was written to a church of European people. That cannot be denied.

The judaizers attempted to subvert the teachings of Paul in the early church. Just as they do today. It is important to keep in mind that anyone who has faith can be grafted into the seed of Abraham. So, there is no such thing as a superior or master race. But this doesn’t take away from the truth that the lost sheep of the house of Israel were our relatives and not jewish at all.

With that in mind lets begin reading in Galatians 1

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

2 And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia:

3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,

4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:

5 To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

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

7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

8 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.

9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.

12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

13 For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:

14 And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.

15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace,

16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:

Pray:

The message of the Pharisees was this. Jesus isn’t enough to save you. The message of the Pharisees was that they were Gods chosen and that Christians must submit themselves to them.

Remember Jesus said plainly that the jews were not his sheep. He also told them that they were not Abraham’s seed. Then he said that they were of their father the devil. But modern Christian so called pastors have become judaizers. Teaching that the church is jewish in its origin. Teaching that God loves the Pharisees more than anyone ese. Paul taught the very opposite of this as you will see.

We have been taught that the word judaizer means someone who teaches works salvation. But that is not what that word means. It means someone who believes in and practices the religion of the jews. Works salvation is only a small part of Judaism. As you will see.

Notice that Paul says in verse 4 that Jesus gave himself for our sins. The sacrifice that Jesus made on Calvary is all that we need to be cleansed of our sins. We must have faith in Jesus to receive this gift. And then note that Paul refers to the world as evil.

It should be no surprise to us today that evil men have crept in unaware Jude says:

Jude 4

4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Please note that these men were ordained to condemnation and that they are ungodly men. And that they deny Jesus Christ. This is talking about the Pharisees.

Now listen to Jude 11 and 12.

Jude 11-12

11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

Again, who are these people? Made to be condemned. They hate Jesus and hate Christians. They are twice dead and have no roots? This means they are not of God. Let us hear what Jesus had to say about this: Turn to Matthew 13:24

24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Jesus explains this parable in verse 36:

36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.

37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;

38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.

41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;

42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

So, who sowed the tares? The enemy that sowed them is the devil. Sowing seed, right? Where have we heard about the wicked one sowing seed before?

Now modern Pharisee Christianity teaches that the tares are those who reject Christ. And that is sort of true. But not completely. They reject Jesus because they are NOT his sheep. They are tares.

The modern version of Christianity calls Jesus a liar. The modern version of Christianity says that those who reject Jesus are chosen.

Turn to 1 John 2:22

22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

Now let me tell you how modern Christians interpret this verse.

They will say. Who is the chosen but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ. Those who reject Gods chosen are bad Christians. And don’t you know he came unto his own and his own receiveth him not?

That verse means he came to mankind and mankind refused to receive him. He didn’t come for the tares. He didn’t come for the Pharisees. The bible tells us over and over that they are the seed of the wicked one. But who has crept into our churches unawares? The Pharisees and their religion. The children of the wicked one have subverted our faith. And even re-translate the bible to fit their lies. And they change the meaning of words in order to teach a lie.

Now my bible says those who reject Christ are anti-Christ. My bible says My sheep hear my voice and they follow me, and Jesus said directly that jews are not his sheep. He even outlined that they are CAIN.

This anti-Christ element had crept into the church of Galatia. And Paul is exercising vigilance by correcting the churches doctrine.

Why aren’t pastors vigilant today? I’ll tell you why. Imagine going through 4-6 years of bible college. And you are a young man, just got married and has a family to provide for. On top of that you have student loans to pay off. Now imagine that poor young preacher starting out. Most of them only understand what they are taught. And bible colleges all over America teach this chosen garbage.

But what about the few who study the word of God and see the truth? What about the few who see that the religion of the jews have taken a hold of their church? What can they do about it?

Matthew 22:14

14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

So, let’s say you are among the few that are chosen. The few who have been led by the Holy Spirit to truly understand the word of God. Do you have enough faith to risk losing the rich guy in the church? What do you do?

I know of one such pastor who pastored a church in Florida for years. Built it from nothing. One day God showed him that the religion of the jews had crept into our faith. He said he studied it for more than a year before realizing it.

He decided to take a stand. And predictably all the rich people in the church turned against him. They pushed him out of the very church he had built. They did everything they could to destroy his wife, his kids and his family.

The Pastor had taught the religion of the Pharisees for almost 30 years before God opened his eyes. He took a church in the Northwest part of America and today has a congregation that fully supports the truth. I believe this man will be rewarded for taking a stand for truth.

Now let’s get back to Galatians 1:6

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

So called pastors like John Hagee would teach you another gospel. False prophets like him will teach you the jews religion. This is what Paul calls it. The jews religion is that God loves jews more than anyone else. The jews religion is that these pharisees are special to god. The jews religion is that God will make a special trip to come back for them even though they have rejected Christ.

Today any honest man of God can say the same. I marvel that you are so soon removed from the gospel of grace unto a false gospel.

The gospel of grace is that it is not by works. And by the way it is NOT by race. Nowhere in the bible does it say that a certain race can reject Christ and still be saved. That is a false gospel.

Let’s pick up in verse 7 and read through 10.

Galatians 1:7-10

7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

8 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.

9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

John Hagee teaches another gospel. He teaches that those who reject Christ are chosen. The bible teaches that those who reject Christ are anti-Christ. Therefore, Hagee is accursed. And those who say that Ruth is a Moabite are in danger of teaching a false gospel. They are teaching the religion of the jews in a Christian church.

Those who are teaching that people who reject Christ are chosen are teaching a false gospel. The bible says let them be accursed.

Then listen to what Paul says in verse 10. He declares that he is the servant of Christ. He is not for sale to the wealthy. He is not for sale to the devil. He will not teach anything, but the truth and he doesn’t care who it offends.

If you believe that we are living in the last days. Then you should also believe that we are living in the time when people have itching ears. They do not want to hear the truth. They want a false God. They want a God made in the image of their secular beliefs. They reject any God that goes against the norms of society and peer pressure. This is why it is so hard to find a good church today. Because all of them have been infected by the religion of the jews and have nothing in the pulpit but a hireling. More concerned with money than truth. More concerned with fitting in than teaching the truth.

I don’t want to take too long tonight. But before I close tonight’s lesson I want you to understand one more thing.

And that is this: What is a Semite? Now if you go to google and you type in what is a Semite you will get this answer: A Semite is an Arab or a Jew.

But what is the biblical definition of the word Semite?

Well Noah had three sons. Ham, Shem, and Japheth. The biblical definition of a Semite is anyone who is a descendant of Shem.

So, let’s start with the Arabs. Are they a descendant of Shem?

According to my bible Arabs are descendants of Ishmael. This would make them Ishmaelites and not Semites. In other words, google is wrong.

We get our beliefs from the bible not the internet.

Now what about jews? Well according to Jesus they were not Abraham’s seed. And if you study what Jesus is saying in the gospels carefully you will discover that the jews are the descendants of Esau. God changed the name of Esau to Edom. Making them Edomites and not Semites.

It is very important when studying the word of God to know the meaning of words. And let me say this in closing. I am not perfect. I have said it before, and I will say it again. I am an imperfect man trying to deliver a perfect message.

If I make a mistake or teach something false. Then you have every right to come to me and correct me. But there is a right way and a wrong way to do these things. And I would prefer that we discuss my mistakes in the spirit of brotherly love. So, I can be a better teacher.

Of course, you will have questions. I had a ton of them when God showed this to me. But as brother Don has said. I cannot teach you the entire bible in just a few settings. If you are patient and allow me time all of your questions will be answered.

I had no intention of getting into the whole Ruth was not a Moabite thing. I had hoped that some measure of trust would be extended to me until I could get around to teaching it.

Please show me the same love and patience that Jesus taught us to have for one another.

Pray. Close.