A Greeting of Freedom

Introduction

Well if you have your Bibles, you can take them and open them to Galatians chapter 1. For the last two weeks, we have introduced ourselves to the book of Galatian getting some of the history and context for this letter that Paul is writing to the churches in the Southern Region of Galatia. We also took the time to focus on the theme of “Freedom” found in this letter by getting an overview of the letter’s structure and other major themes in found within its content by looking at how the Galatians in the Gospel have been freed from false gospels, the law, and their flesh, plus seeing how they were freed to serve one another. We get into the first major section of this letter “Freed from a False Gospel”, by getting into the details of the first five verses this morning. Although there are elements to this greeting by Paul that is consistent with other letters, there is also some unique elements to be found here. I believe this is intentional, because in these first five verses, Paul has summarized in just a few short phrases his call to ministry, the message of his ministry, and the issue that he is going to deal with in this letter. So if you will, stand with me as we read Galatians 1:1-5, and we will begin looking at three major points to set us up for the rest of this letter.

Body

(1) The Source (v.1a)

a. The Authority

Now why would Paul appeal to the source of his apostleship? Was Paul a vain man wishing to prove through his credentials that he is someone worth listening to? No I don’t believe so, because this is the same Paul who will soon write in letters after this that he is the “least of the Apostles” and “The chief of all sinners”. Therefore, I don’t think that Paul is trying to prove anything concerning himself.

Rather, Paul acknowledging that his apostleship is by Jesus Christ and God the Father is not intended to highlight Paul as some authority figure that the Galatian church should place their confidence in. As a matter of fact, Paul later in verse 8 wrote, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, a curse be on him!” (1:8). Take note of that collective “we” Paul uses there, he warns the Galatians that if anyone, and I believe he is including himself, brings a gospel different than what they received when Paul and his companions first preached to them, then the preachers of the false gospel should be cursed. Paul, pointing out the source of his apostleship as Jesus Christ and God the Father shows that God is the authority of his ministry and message.

It is intended to do the opposite of highlighting himself. Paul is taking their eyes off of all men, and is turning them to God. He is not spotlighting himself, but rather is placing that spotlight on God, because Paul wants the Galatian believers to place their confidence in the authority of the God of heaven to use humanity under His authority to do the work ministry and proclaim His message. It was not Paul’s bidding to take the Gospel to the Galatians believers, nor was it Paul’s message that he was taking to the Galatians. It was the will of God for Paul to proclaim the message of the Gospel to the Galatians. Therefore, the source of Paul’s ministry and message was the Authority of God and His Word, not Paul’s.

This is what separates Paul’s ministry and message from the other Jews, later identified as the “circumcision party” (2:12) who followed after Paul. They are the ones who are causing the believers to “so quickly turn away” (1:6). The circumcision party was not acting under the authority of Christ and the Father, but rather was ministering by their own authority and bringing their own message, which was indeed contradictory to what Paul preached to the Galatians during his first missionary journey.

Paul, in an effort to build confidence in the Galatians that what they received is the true Gospel, appeals to the source of his message being the authority of God and His Word, because if his status as an apostle comes from anything or anyone else, then there is reason to believe that his message is just as questionable and trustworthy as the circumcision party’s. But, because the source of his apostleship is not from man, then neither is his ministry or message. It is from the God of Heaven, therefore, the Galatian believers can have full confidence in the Gospel that they originally received from Paul and his companions.

Now the source of Paul’s apostleship not only speaks to the authority of his apostleship, but it also speaks to the very essence of his ministry (transition to subpoint b: “The Ministry”).

b. The Ministry

As we work through chapter 1 and the beginning half of chapter 2, we will often refer back to Paul’s conversion and call to missions, so think back to Acts 9 for a moment. Paul, at the time Saul, is on his way to Damascus to persecute and imprison Christians. Before he gets there, he and the people he is traveling with is met with a glaring beam of light, but only Paul is actually able to make out the man standing before him. Jesus then crys out to him “Saul, Saul. Why are you persecuting me?”. Paul then responds, “who are you, Lord”, and Jesus reveals himself to Paul, and instructs him to go into the city. It is in that city that Ananias is told by Jesus to go to Paul and tell him that he is Jesus’, “chosen instrument” to take his name to the Gentiles, kings, and Israelites.

Now, this personal encounter with Jesus and this call to go to the Gentiles with Gospel is the source of Paul’s ministry as an apostle. But what does this mean, and what does this look like, and why is this important for the Galatians to understand? You see, the apostles were the ones specifically tasked before the ascension to “Go make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son ,and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that Jesus commanded” (Matthew 28:19-20).

Luke in the book of Acts wrote, “I wrote the first narrative, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up, after he had given instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen” (Luke 1:1-2). Then Luke wrote in Acts 2, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching”. Well, what were they teaching you may ask. They were teaching all that Jesus had commanded.

You see, the ministry of the apostles was to ensure that the work Jesus began to do in his earthly ministry continues after his ascension, and even though Paul’s apostleship came after Jesus’ ascension, his task was the same, except he was chosen to be the one to focus on taking the Gospel beyond the boarders of Israel to the Gentiles. Therefore, the source of Paul’s apostleship being Jesus Christ speaks to the essence of his ministry. His mission was the same as Jesus’, his message was the same as Jesus’, and his desire was the same as Jesus’. The Galatians could take great confidence in the ministry and message of Paul, because the very one who came to this world not to condemn it, but save it, and the very once who achieved that by sacrificing himself, Jesus Christ, was the very one whom Paul was continuing the work of by proclaiming the truth of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection and teaching all that Jesus commanded.

Now, you may be saying to yourself, Michael all of that is cool, but I am not seeing how this is relevant to the theme of freedom that you brought out the last couple weeks, especially because this all sounds very rigid, structured, and binding, but yet you’ve even gone so far as to make the title of this sermon, “A Greeting of Freedom”. Well I’m glad you told yourself that. Let us learn from this a couple of things relevant to us as East DeSoto Baptist Church. (Transition to “connection/application”)

Connection/Application:

I for one, find this to be very freeing, because as one who is called by God to proclaim his truth and serve as pastor, it eliminates all the guess work in my ministry that God has called me to. I don’t have to come before you every week, twice a week with my own wisdom, teaching, and counsel. I don’t feel the need to get up here each week on my authority and convince you that what I have to say is important, because the ministry and message that I am committed to is to proclaim the authority and message of Jesus Christ and God the Father. To me, I couldn’t be more free than I am knowing that every sermon I could ever preach has been preserved for me by God, and for my convenience has been given to me in my language and bound together in leather all in one book.

This is why my commitment to East DeSoto is to do my best with the aid of the Holy Spirit to lead you through Biblical Preaching, Biblical Teaching, Biblical Counsel, Biblical Prayer, Biblical Worship, Biblical Accountability, and so on. God is the source of my ministerial calling and message, therefore he is the authority of all I say and do, and the very essence of my ministry is to simply be an under shepherd to the Great Shepherd, and if God is truly going to be the source of all we do here at East DeSoto, then I as well as everyone here, must commit ourselves to these Biblical practices, because in obeying God’s word, we are obeying God himself.

Is this attractive? Not always. Is this popular? Not really. But it’s faithful, and I would much rather us commit ourselves to doing what is faithful and forsaking that which is attractive and popular, than forsaking faithfulness for attraction and popularity. Sure, we could do some really cool things and devote a lot of time and resources to doing what’s attractive and popular, and it will get people in the door, but I am simply not interested in doing things to just get warm bodies in cold chairs. When the rose-colored lenses and the church honeymoon phase is over, the chair will just become cold again. But, when we get people who are serious about God and His Word, the church glorifies God and serves him faithfully by doing that which is Biblical.

It’s not only freeing for me though, this is also freeing for each one of you. This frees you from having to place your confidence in the limitations of man, because you are not here at East DeSoto to serve me or anyone else who may be a leader in the church, but you are here under the authority of God to also participate in his ministry.

I am not the ultimate authority in this church and no other one person or group of people is the ultimate authority of this church, but Christ is indeed the head of this church, and he has made it abundantly clear in his word what is faithful and biblical within the body of Christ.

Therefore If I or anyone stands in this pulpit and preaches something contrary to the truth of the Bible, you are free to search that and reject what is false. If I or anyone tries to lead you into doing something that is unbiblical, you get to stand in opposition against it. This is why my authority in the church is limited to your authority as the gathered body, and your authority as the gathered church is limited to the authority of Christ who is over all the church. I don’t get to make decisions apart from your approval and you don’t get to make decision apart from God’s approval. This is why I preach the Bible, and the church makes decisions according to the Bible. In doing so, we operate under the authority of God and participate in kingdom work. The Galatian churches needed to hear this and so do you: You are not bound to believe and obey the loudest mouth(s) in the room. You are only bound to believe and obey that which has been revealed to us by God in his Word.

(2) The Message (v.1b-4)

a. The Sacrifice

Just as Paul’s apostleship highlights the the authority and ministry, verse 3-4 highlights where grace and peace comes from, and how it has been provided. First through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

b. The Rescue

c. The Will

(3) The Glory (v.5)

a. The Direction of the Glory

b. The Duration of the Glory

Connection/Application:

Conclusion

Now how should we respond to this?