Led Astray??
Notes
Transcript
Last week:
Paul opens up this letter to the Galatians, knowing God wants them to experience His peace and grace
Illustration:
A man arrives at the Pearly Gates, and St. Peter tells him he needs 1,000 points to enter.
The Man: "I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated."
St. Peter: "That’s wonderful! That's worth two points."
The Man: "Two points? Well, I attended church every Sunday and tithed faithfully."
St. Peter: "Terrific! That’s worth one point."
The Man: "One point? My goodness! I also started a soup kitchen and worked in a homeless shelter."
St. Peter: "Fantastic! That's worth another two points."
The Man: (In despair) "At this rate, the only way I'm getting in is by the Grace of God!"
St. Peter: "Bingo! That’s what we’re looking for. Come on in!"
No Other Gospel (V.6-9)
V.6
O: I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel;
I: Paul is shocked that the Galatians are so quickly turning from the Lord to follow something completely different.
A: This is why Paul is writing this letter:
Quickly deserting Him: they are leaving Christ for a different gospel
This is where people become deceived, thinking they are following Jesus, but in fact, they are deserting Him altogether.
How were they called??? By GRACE, not works
You and I were called by grace, not to follow a religion of works
V.7
O: Which is really not another gospel; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
I: There are people who pretend to be sharing the gospel, but they aren’t. It is just a twisted, perverted view to knock people out.
A: What are the Galatians dealing with?
Jewish believers that want the Gentiles to follow the Jewish laws
“If you want to be saved, you have to become a Jew first.”
“If you want to be part of the family, you must be circumcised”
This isn’t the gospel, it is a distortion of the truth and only disturbs people, especially those who are weak in the faith.
WARNING!!!
Paul is defending against these teachings, and is important to remember as we go through this book.
Put it all in context.
I love this practical wisdom from Howard Hendricks when it comes to reading your Bible:
Living by the Book: The Art and Science of Reading the Bible Read Entire Books at One Sitting
So go ahead and read [whole] books of the Bible at one sitting. The value here is that you’ll be able to appreciate the unity of each book. That’s what most people miss when they skip from passage to passage. They never get a sense of the whole. Consequently, their perception is fragmented. It’s like switching from channel to channel on a TV set, catching a few scenes or snatches of dialogue but never watching an entire program.
Living by the Book: The Art and Science of Reading the Bible Start at the Beginning of the Book
Often readers dive into the middle of a book in the Bible, and then they can’t figure why the text makes no sense. They wouldn’t think of starting a novel in the fifth or sixth chapter, and then condemning it as dull and uninteresting. But that’s exactly what they do to the Scriptures. They take a passage, rip it out of its context until it virtually screams, and then wonder why they can’t understand it.
To have a good grasp and good theology that pertains to Galatians, you must read it, you must read it in context of scripture, context of culture, context of history
If you don’t, you risk building doctrine and theology that aren’t good
You also risk being disturbed by distorted views of the gospel
V.8-9
O: But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! (9) As we have said before, so I say again, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed.
I: If angels or men, or if even Paul himself, start preaching something other than the gospel of Jesus Christ, they are to be accursed.
A: First of all, we need to reject all other gospels. WIth that, we need to reject all those who preach another gospel.
Angels: Sound familiar?
2 religions, the fastest growing
Islam- Muhammad is visited in a cave by the angel Gabriel in 610 AD
Mormons- Joseph Smith is visited by the angel Maroni in 1823
Remember what we just read in 2 Corinthians 11:14-15
14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
15 Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.
Do not preach anything other than the gospel of Christ
This is what we try to do in the Calvary Chapel movement:
Rightfully dividing the word of God
Don’t take hard lines on non-essentials
Seek to be balanced in our approach
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
The safest place to be is in God’s word, is simply in the gospel of Jesus Christ
Seeking God’s Favor (V.10-12)
V.10
O: For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.
I: In Paul’s ministry, who is he seeking to please, to gain approval? In fact, if it was men, then he would certainly not have chosen to be a servant of Christ.
A: What Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:4
4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
Who are you trying to please??
If you are wanting to please men, then the ministry is not for you. Paul knew this, that he is first and foremost the servant of Christ, not the church or people.
He serves the church because of his desire to follow Christ and serve him, not the other way around.
Many make this mistake… “I just want to help people.”
Then get into social work, not the ministry. WHY?
Because you will face rejection, people fighting back, people belittling you, people backstabbing, situations where you have to correct, times when you have to protect, and that isn’t always a good feeling, but necessary.
V.11-12
O: For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. (12) For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
I: Paul wants them to know that what Paul preached was not coming from man, but from Christ. He isn’t preaching what someone else told him, but what Christ revealed to him.
A: Typically, this is a big red flag… “The Holy Spirit told me” or “I had a revelation from God”
But here is what I see Paul saying:
“My beliefs weren’t influenced by a denomination or by what my pastor told me, it was simply influenced by Christ and the Holy Spirit.”
Again, stick to the word of God. May the scriptures deconstruct what man has taught you and challenge the manmade influence you have in your belief.
Be a Berean, learn how to think, how to read, how to listen to the Holy Spirit, rather than just being told what to believe.
Is your former denominational ties making you struggle as you are taught the word of God?? Then dig deeper in Christ. Don’t hold onto things that aren’t good.
Took me 2 years searching the scriptures and the Lord on the rapture of the church… is it real or just made up? But now, I not only know what I believe, but why I believe it. Doesn’t make me necessarily right, but definitely makes me convinced.
Is what you received from man or from the Lord? Is what you believe denominational or truth? Is what you hold to because your pastor told you or the Lord confirmed it?
Paul’s Testimony (V.13-24)
V.13-14
O: For you have heard my former manner of life in Judaism, how I use to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it; (14) and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.
I: Paul is sharing why he had every reason to preach Gentiles to follow the law. His former life was dedicated to the works of the law, even more so than all the other Jewish believers, and why he had every reason to be against grace and freedom in Christ
A: We cannot allow our past to influence what we hold onto.
Many Jewish believers struggle with this, not only in Paul’s day, but today as well.
Jewish believer once told a good friend of mine that he really needed to understand more of the Jewish traditions and customs.
NO YOU DON’T!!! Not as it pertains to salvation or faith
The only benefit is to put everything in context, but should not be an influence in how you worship God or what you believe about the gospel
V.15
O: But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased
I: Even before Paul was born, he recognizes God’s favor upon him
A: Makes me think of what David says in Psalm 139:13-16
13 For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.
Nothing Paul did was a surprise to God.
Not even his persecution of the church surprised God
Nothing you have done surprises God, and nothing you do.
The beauty of this all… God still uses us in spite of our past and failures. It is HIS grace
Paul understood this, that it was Paul’s zeal that brought persecution, but it was God’s grace that brought redemption. What Paul could never do in his own zeal, Christ did through grace.
V.16-17
O: to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood (17) nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus.
I: Paul didn’t immediately turn to the big guys of faith, he went away to Arabia.
A: Why did he go to Arabia??
The reason is unclear…
was it to go minister immediately to the Gentiles in Arabia and preach the gospel?
was it a time of solitude and spiritual formation as Paul was trying to come to terms with such a dramatic conversion himself?
One thing is for certain… Paul was not influenced by other believers, but by the Holy Spirit. His theology was established by Christ, not by men
V.18-20
O: Then three years later I went up to Jerusalme to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days. (19) But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. (20) (Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.)
I: Only after three years did Paul finally go spend time with Peter and James, but nobody else.
A: Paul didn’t just become a secluded Christian, but did in fact involved himself in fellowship.
We will see that Paul was held accountable to the truth of the gospel, not just rogue and by himself.
Paul’s journey is not an excuse to do his own thing, but in my opinion, to grow, to wrestle with things in his own life. But he never uses this time as a means to separate himself from the church, but to establish himself in truth… truth that is undefiled.
V.21-24
O: (Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. (22) I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ; (23) but only, they kept hearing, “He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.” (24) And they were glorifying God because of me.
I: Paul had no influence from the Judean church, from the Jewish believers. The only thing is God was receiving the glory as they heard of Paul’s conversion.
A: The one thing that Paul had in common with the Jewish believers… was simply in Christ Jesus.
The essentials were the essentials
Paul wasn’t around long enough to be influenced by those who wanted to keep the law, nor was he around long enough to get other peoples thoughts on not keeping the law
Paul and what he preached to the Galatians was simply the gospel, the essentials, and that is what Paul is wanting them to understand.
Conclusion:
As we continue in Galatians, this becomes an important distinction for Paul to make. His training wasn’t in some seminary in the center of Jerusalem or some training school in the Judean wilderness, his theology, his training, his spiritual transformation was by the reality and simplicity of God’s grace through Jesus Christ, through the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. This is what he desires for the Galatians to understand, and for us as well to experience. Not religious rules and regulations, not trying to do things that will make us more holy or righteous than we already are, but to rest in the grace and goodness of Jesus Christ, to experience the true freedom that is found in Him.
