Galatians

Why Galatians?

Marty was a young man born to a poor, bulky miner and raised in a very superstitious and spiritual world. One day, Marty got caught in a thunderstorm while out on an errand. When lightning struck a nearby tree, he was thrown to the ground and cried out “Save me Saint Anne! I will become a monk!” And a monk he became. A very legalistic monk at that. Overwhelmed by the weight of his own sin, he gave himself to fasting to the point that he would have lifelong stomach problems. He would spend so much time in confession that he was once told to lay with a prostitute so he could actually have something substantial to confess. Martin Luther was overwhelmed by his awareness of his guilt, and it wasn’t until he began to spend time in the Word of God, specifically in Psalms and Galatians that he came to realize, the just shall live by faith. It was no longer his responsibility to deliver himself righteous before a holy God, but grace that declared him righteous to stand before God.

Galatians is a letter of Paul to the churches of Galatia. Churches that were being misled by a group called the Judaizers, who were Jews that were zealous for the law teaching that salvation requires adherence to the Law in addition to faith in Christ. To follow Christ correctly, they claimed, you must be circumcised.

What a horrible message to hear as Gentile Christians. A message that you are not clean, not holy, not good enough, but it’s not horrible because it’s not true. We all are unclean, unholy, and inadequate before God outside of Jesus Christ, but the message is horrible because it says “You must make yourself right before you can come before the living God.” A message that Luther knew all too well, and the only solution is the Gospel.

Galatians 1:1–2 ESV

Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:

As we begin our study of Galatians, there is no better place to begin than in the author’s own introduction. We begin with the Apostle, Paul, writing to the churches, plural not singular, of Galatia.

The Apostle

Galatians 1:1 ESV

Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—

We know from the book of Acts, as well as from the book of Galatians, a bit about Paul’s own story. First, before Paul was called by Christ to be an Apostle, he was known as Saul, the Pharisee, the disciple and student of the great Rabbi Gamaliel, and the great persecutor of the Christian church.

We know that Tarsus is attributed as Paul’s hometown, but it is believed that Paul’s father was actually from Jerusalem and had ties there. Whether that is accurate history or not, we know for sure that Paul had Roman citizenship as a citizen of Tarsus and was a Jew who studied under a very important Rabbi who’s expertise was the Law. This background will be important in Paul’s message to the churches of Galatia, but we will return to that.

When Paul was still primarily identified as Saul, he was a zealous Pharisee who wished to eradicate Judea of this new “cult” of Jesus who turned Jews away from the law and brought them into fellowship with unclean Gentile sinners.

Yet one day, Saul was on the road to Damascus. Let’s read the text.

Acts 9:1–6 ESV

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”

There in Damascus, there was a man named Ananias to whom God was sending to Paul to further lead him in this new way of Christ.

God spoke to Ananias about Saul, Acts 9:15–16 “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”

After this narrative, Saul no longer is identified by his Hebrew name, Saul, but is identified by Luke in Acts and by himself in his epistles as Paul, by his Greco-Roman name Paulos.

This subtle change marks a major change in the person of Paul. Instead of identifying in the law as a Jew, he identifies in the person of Jesus Christ who called him, and who specifically called him to be an Apostle to the Gentiles.

Paul did not cease to be a Jew on the road to Damascus, but he became a Jew who knew the true fulfilment of Israel in Jesus Christ.

From a zealous Pharisee, persecuting the church, to evangelistic Apostles affirming Jesus Christ as the Messiah those whom he persecuted claimed Jesus to be.

Before we move on from Paul’s authorship of this letter, I would like to identify the significance of Paul’s call as an Apostle. The office of Apostle that we see in the New Testament is restricted to those who saw the resurrected Christ and were called by Him to establish the Church. This is specifically to designate an Apostle not called by man as the word apostle means “one who is sent” or simple “missionary.” If we as a church sent someone into the mission field, we could hypothetically call them apostles although that word is abused in the Western church today. What we cannot do is establish someone as an Apostle an receive new words of revelation from them as many in the church do today.

Paul is an Apostle through Jesus Christ who called him on that road to Damascus and who was raised from the dead by God the Father by the Holy Spirit, and who speaks the word of this Scripture through the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul’s identification as an Apostle is Trinitarian and not humanly like the identification of the teachers of a false Gospel who are misleading the churches of Galatia.

The Churches of Galatia

Galatians 1:2 ESV

and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:

Paul, along with his brothers in the faith, such as Titus and Timothy, greet the churches of Galatia whom Paul has previously visited at least once.

Specifically, these churches to whom Paul is writing are likely Pisidian Antioch, Lystra, Derbe, and Iconium of Acts 13-14 which were cities in the southern region of the Roman province of Galatia on the road to Ephesus.

On Paul’s first missionary journey, he is invited to give a word of encouragement in Pisidian Antioch, where he provides a summary of the history of Israel which he concludes with the good news of Jesus Christ. Paul concludes:

Acts 13:38–41 ESV

Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man [Jesus Christ] forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

This is the Gospel message that Paul preached to the churches of Galatia. Since God created man, and man fell through sinful rebellion, God called for himself a people and gave them a promise. God guided that people, rebuked that people, and guarded that people until the time that the promise would be fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God born of a virgin, truly God and truly man. And that child of promise would live a life of innocence under the law and before God that none of us could to bear a punishment that all of us deserve to be risen from the dead that God may declare upon those who believe a righteousness that they could never earn or deserve, not by the law but by grace.

Which brings us to the purpose of this letter

The Purpose of the Letter

Paul is writing this letter to the churches of Galatia because, despite his previous journeys through this region, the churches have begun to listen to false teachers who proclaim that Jesus Christ is not enough.

The Gospel of Christ three things: It is historical (crucified under Pontius Pilate), exclusive (requires an undivided loyalty to the one and only Lord), and sufficient (requires no work or merit of our own).

Only through Jesus Christ’s work on the cross can we begin to understand the true weight of law, covenant, and revelation. Yet the churches of Galatia are being led astray by a false Gospel that says there is more that you must do, and in the case of Galatia, that thing that these false teachers are claiming must be done is the covenantal sign of circumcision.

The churches of Galatia are not predominately Jewish. Yes, we see in Acts that Paul first preached in the synagogues, but we also see that both Jews and Gentiles were converted and that for the most part, the Jews rejected Paul. Paul is the Apostle to the Gentiles.

Yet here in the churches of Galatia, false teachers, who in this case are Jewish and claim to be followers of Jesus Christ, demand that the Gentiles be circumcised in order to be saved by Christ. In other words, these false Jewish teachers are requires the Galatians to become Jews under the law in order to become Christians.

Paul responds to this problem first by defending his call as Apostle of Jesus Christ.

Second, Paul challenges the Galatians to identify what in fact saves them from their sin. Is it the law? Or is it by faith? Is it active righteousness or passive righteousness? Did you do something to earn good favor with God? Or hear with faith?

This brings us to the pinnacle of Paul’s message and the purpose of the letter. Justification comes by grace through faith. The Just shall live by faith. Right standing before God does not come because you were good enough or worked hard enough, but because you heard the Gospel by God’s grace.

In 2 Timothy 1:12 Paul defines faith in his defense of why he endures so much hardship for the Gospel. Paul writes “Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.”

Faith is knowledge, conviction, and trust. Paul has knowledge of whom he believes in, conviction from the Holy Spirit, and a response of trust.

2 Timothy 1:12 “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day..”

It is by faith in God through Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit that we are saved and not by works of the law.

Galatians begins with a defense of the Gospel through a defense of his status as an Apostle of Jesus Christ. It continues with a development of justification by faith alone and the freedom that the believer has in Christ, and it concludes with an application of the Gospel.

In Christ, we are free. By grace we are free, because our freedom was not bought by human merit or means, but it was bought by the blood of God, the blood of Jesus Christ, God incarnate.

Let’s return to the definition of faith for a moment. Faith is knowledge, conviction, and trust. First, let me state this boldly: this Gospel is for you because you are hearing it. We were bound and enslaved by sin and we all deserve death and alienation from God because God is good and just, and we are sinners by nature. But GOD so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son that WHOEVER believes will not perish but have eternal life. God did not come to condemn the world but to save it. The world already stood condemned, but Christ came to save.

Step one knowledge.

Second is conviction or you could also use the word convincing. This comes through the Holy Spirit’s calling on your heart and bringing you alive to receive the truth of who God has revealed himself to be.

Step two conviction.

Then comes trust. With knowledge of the Gospel and conviction that it is true, then you must place your trust in the person of Jesus Christ. The result of this trust is sanctification and obedience because if you trust in who Jesus says he is and that He has done what the Gospels claims he has done then you cannot remain unchanged! Obedience is a fruit of faith! Not a component, part, or cause of faith.

Step three, trust.

I’ve heard many in the evangelical church define faith as belief plus obedience or belief plus submission, but that simply cannot be because then the definition of faith is literally faith plus works, and in that there is no freedom. The Gospel of Christ is freedom. That is Paul’s application in Galatians! It is a freedom that produces life and joy and glory to God through the sanctification of the believer by the Spirit!. This Gospel is for you! Because you hear it, and if you doubt it or have fear concerning your faith then let me assure you in the same way that Paul assures the Ephesians and the churches and as Martin Luther assured his church and followers. Make the Gospel your concern and your assurance of salvation will be shown forth.

In other words, do not concern about your status before God because it is not by your power or works that you stand before God. You stand before God in Jesus Christ. In HIS righteousness. It does not matter what you have done in the past or this morning. Repent and put your faith in Jesus Christ. Live in the freedom of faith in Jesus Christ.

And lastly, encourage one another in this same way and bear one another’s burdens. There is so much pain and hardship in our small body of this local church not to mention the Church global. We must love one another well in our church, in our community, in our county, and our country. Not just our country but all who are created in the image of God.

Let us sow seeds of love here at Christ Pres and in Daphne, Fairhope, Spanish Fort, and all throughout our region!

If your hope is in what you do or what you have done than you are worse off than the one who has never heard of Jesus Christ. In Christ we are a new creation, and it is not by human hands but by the gracious hands of God. In Jesus Christ we are sons of the promise, not sons of the law. But if you wish to earn your status as redeemed by the law, then you stand condemned under the law without hope. So, entrust yourself to Christ alone by grace through faith.

This is what Paul writes to the churches of Galatia, and this is what we are going to be going deeper in for the next few months.

The Just shall live by faith as sons of grace.

Benediction: Galatians 5:1

Galatians 5:1 NIV

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Go forth in the freedom that Christ has purchased for you by His blood.