Running and Winning
Galatians 5:7-12
Jerry Bridges has said: “Endurance and perseverance are qualities we would all like to possess, but we are loath to go through the process that produces them.”
Isn’t it true? It reminds me of the joke, “Lord, give me patience; right now.” We want things now. I think it’s our nature to want in an instant what can only be produced through long hours of waiting and endurance. So waiting is necessary. But sometimes in the waiting, we lose focus and begin to feel disengaged from our families and distracted from our work.
Years ago, I listened to my friend, Dr. Maxie Dunnam, preach a sermon called, “When Being a Christian Has Worn You Down.” It was just what I needed to hear. It came at a time when I was struggling to balance the truths of discipleship with the hardships of daily living. I still struggle; but I’m learning that the struggle is part of the discipleship process. For me, it was a reminder that just because you know Jesus Christ, and just because you love His truth, and just because you diligently yearn put that truth into practice, doesn’t mean life will be easy. Being a good runner in the Christian race doesn’t mean you will never fall, it just means you keep getting up and coming back to Jesus.
In thinking of Maxie Dunnam’s sermon and Jerry Bridges’ words on endurance, my mind was drawn back to the fifth chapter of Galatians. The reason I thought of the Galatian Christians is because Paul was writing to them at a time when being a Christian for the wrong reason had worn them down… and like Jerry Bridges said, they had grown to loathe the process that produces the endurance and perseverance they so desperately yearned to possess.
Paul used the illustration of a runner to teach them perseverance; then he used the illustration of a baker with yeast to teach them the consuming power of indwelling sin. The fact is, something had knocked them out of the race and sin was consuming their lives as a result. Let’s consider this scene in Galatians 5:7-12. In honor of God and His word, let’s stand for the reading of these verses.
7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be. 11 Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. 12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves! [NIV]
[Prayer] These verses are bold and to the point. Paul begins with a race and concludes with a sarcastic jab at the legalists who would never practice their faith to the fullest extent. Verses 7-12 show us the difference between the emphasis of false teaching and the emphasis of true teaching.
I. False teaching exalts in human strength and comes from the evil one (7-10).
We see this is verses 7-10. They were running a good race and someone “cut in” on them and kept them from obeying the truth. Paul loved to picture the Christian life as a race in the arena. To run the race well in the Christian life requires more than intellectual assent to the truth; nor can it be fulfilled if it merely behaves in a certain way (that’s what legalists were prescribing). We must obey the truth from the heart because we have come to delight in Jesus. Only he who obeys the truth can be called a maturing believer.
At first, the Galatians were running well. They knew that Jesus had set them free from a works based form of salvation. But something happened. Someone has hindered them by cutting in on their stride in the race. Paul’s description is of a runner at full stride with another runner gaining speed from behind. Then the adversary runner cuts right in front of the Christian and breaks his stride so that he misses his step and begins to stumble.
In the foot races of the Greek festivals there were rules against tripping or cutting in on an opponent just as there are today. Paul asked the rhetorical question: “Who cut in on you?” which has the same answer as his earlier question: “Who bewitched you?” It was the legalistic Judaizers. When they first heard the gospel, it was as if Jesus Himself had set them free from their bondage and they were at liberty to serve God to the fullest extent of their being! That’s what God wants for us… to live in Christ to the fullest possible measure. But now the Galatians were like runners with heavy chains around their ankles. The false teachers had exalted human law-keeping as the only way to be right with God… and such teaching is contrary to the gospel and is really from the evil one. Christian legalism had begun to wear the Galatians down.
False teaching, however religious or devout it may appear, is dangerous. It actually keeps people from obeying the truth. That’s what happened to the Galatians when legalists cut in on their Christian stride with false teaching. And what is the source of such falsehood? The Bible makes clear, it didn’t come from God. Verse 8 says, “8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.” Who calls you? God does. This teaching to work your way into His good favor doesn’t come from God. It comes from the evil one who uses religious and devout means to lead people astray. Since the devil can’t snatch any Christians out of Christ’s hands, he will do everything he can to cut in on your stride to hamper your running. Since he can’t knock you out of the race, he’ll do everything he can to knock you down in the race..
False teaching from the enemy of our souls can be classified as that form of persuasion that does not come from the one who calls you. It may sound religious; it may sound upbeat and positive, but there’s something wrong with it. It’s wrong at the source. It comes from a source that keeps you from running the race that Christ has set before you. The evil persuasion says your faith in Jesus won’t save you; God really wants you to be more religious, be more ritualistic, and suffer yourself into the good pleasure of God. Because false teaching exalts in human strength and comes from the evil one. And verse 8 is addressing this source of false teaching.
There is urgency when false teaching is detected among God’s people. There can be no neutrality when good and evil have been so clearly presented in God’s word. Verse 9 quotes the proverb, “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” Paul likes this quote. He used it in 1 Corinthians 5:6 as a reference to sin spreading throughout the Christian community. Here, he applies the same principle to false teaching that spreads throughout the whole Christian church. It only takes a small amount of yeast to permeate the whole batch of dough. Christians in Galatia might have reasoned that relatively few people were following the Judaizer’s teaching. But Paul’s point is that unopposed false teaching can spread throughout a church like yeast; it grows, it spreads, and it multiplies. Early on, false belief can be addressed privately. But when beliefs have become a matter of public discord, they have to be addressed publicly and directly.
In a living organism, whatever affects a part ultimately impacts the whole. The church is a living organism. The church isn’t an organization, like a business; it’s a living organism, like a body. We have a head. His name is Jesus and His word holds sway over His people. What one of us does will eventually impact the rest of us… for better or worse. When the word of God is taught to exalt the power of God, then the body is nourished and built up. But when the teaching is man-centered and crowd-focused, then God is less honored and the body is weakened.
The Judaizers in Galatia were cutting in on the stride of believers. They were emphasizing a man-centered way of justification by works. After Paul presented the truth about the metastatic nature of sin in the church, he said, “I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be.” He knew that those who belonged to Christ would obey the Shepherd’s voice and turn from their fleshly rituals back to Jesus. He also knew that the individual leading the apostasy would suffer the consequences. In other words, dissolve your union with those false teachers, those legalists who are about to be punished at the judgment.
When false teaching is exposed and laid bare, it needs to be replaced with true biblical teaching. Christians need solid doctrinal foundations upon which to build their lives. When we aren’t being exposed to the truth, our hope is undermined. And when our hope is undermined, the enemy can tempt us to despair. The only answer is the truth of God’s word. So that’s where Paul turns next. Since false teaching exalts in human strength and comes from the evil one who wants to knock you out of the race and steal your joy, he then presents the evidence that…
II. True teaching exalts the power of God to save sinners apart from human merit (11-12).
Listen again to the shocking words in verses 11 and 12:
11 Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. 12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
Strong words. One of the reasons that Paul is still being persecuted by his own countrymen is because he isn’t preaching justification through circumcision. Paul’s point is that a message of human works, like circumcision, doesn’t offend the natural mind. The natural mind goes right along with the flesh and all of its human merit. But the message of the cross offends the natural mind. The message of the cross penetrates our humanity at the deepest level. The cross exposes us as helpless sinners who cannot save themselves apart from God. If Jesus Christ is the all-satisfying sacrifice for sin, then Christians can pursue their satisfaction in Him and delight themselves in Him to the fullest extent of their being. The more they know Him, the greater their joy and pleasure in Him will grow! Not so for legalists. If legalism and rituals and circumcision are what make a person right with God, then Paul says, why stop at circumcision— go all the way!
Remember earlier when we said that an uninhibited life of faithfulness is what God wants for each of us… to live in Christ to the fullest possible measure. If delighting in Jesus as the chief object of your joy is the goal of your life, then there’s no limit to your pursuit; because God wants us to pursue our joy in Him to the fullest extent of our being. But if legalism is the way to please God, then follow that line of argument to its logical conclusion. How far can you take legalism and circumcision? Paul’s sarcasm (v. 12) is aimed at the fruitless limitations of earning God’s favor through human merit. If circumcision is the way to please God, then Paul says, why stop there… castration must be the highest form of man-centered, joyless dedication. BOOM! They got it.
Sometimes people need to be shocked out of their stupor before they can really hear the truth. Sometimes God’s spokesmen have to shock God’s people to get their attention. Paul shocked the Galatians and the truth became clear. God isn’t pleased with your ritualistic religion; He isn’t impressed with us. He’s pleased by His Son working in the lives of His chosen people. You can mark this down: the only thing that pleases God in us… is that which He provides for us. You can thank God for every mark of grace in your life. It didn’t come from you. It came from God’s work within you. The cross exalts God’s power. It says “Jesus paid it all; all to Him I owe.” The cross humbles our pride and shows our most ardent religious labors to be damningly insufficient.
The old call-and-response spiritual asks:
What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
True teaching exalts the power of God to save sinners apart from human merit. Paul said if he was still teaching a form of works, then the offense of the cross would be negated. And what is that offense [that skandalon] of the cross he mentions in verse 11? It is the message of the gospel, that men and women are totally unable to contribute anything to their own salvation. No amount of working, or willing, or running, or crying, or serving, or giving, or praying could ever outweigh the merit of Christ’s atoning blood to save you. Do not add anything to the finished work wrought by God through Christ Jesus on Calvary. This is the unchanging message we still proclaim today. It’s the same message that every orthodox evangelical has preached from the 1st century onward. In the mid 1700s, that great hymnist and theologian Augustus Toplady wrote:
All the labors of my hands cannot fulfill the law’s demands;
Could my tears forever flow, could my zeal no respite know,
These for sin could not atone, for Thou must save, and Thou alone.
Let’s pray.
(c) Charles Kevin Grant
2003