Faith and Freedom: A Different Gospel

: Setting the Table

Setting the Table

Not crabby, but he’s just serious.

We are all prone to wander, “prone to leave the God I love!” We are wanderers.

Only one Gospel. Exclusivism, not popular today, not popular then!

Please people

What is the Gospel?

“If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”

: “The gospel of the grace of God.”

: “You have fallen away from grace.”

Structure of Letters

Setting the Table

Set the table: Getting ready for dinner

Geography

Where is Galatia?

Modern Day Turkey

First missionary journey

Show 1st Map

First missionary journey

Who's Receiving This Letter?

Who's Receiving it?

Paul.

Who's Receiving it?

First missionary journey

First missionary journey

Where is Galatia?

Not just random people!

Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe

First missionary journey

Antioch Pisidian:

After preaching the Gospel there: : The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him.

: And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. 50 But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district.

49 And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. 50 But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district.

Jews gathered up the most influential people in the city and ‘stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, then they headed east towards Iconium.

Iconium:

: They remained there for a long time… BUT the people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles.

Assassination Attempt: They heard about it and fled

Lystra:

Miraculous Heading of a crippled man

 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.

Jews from Antioch and Iconium followed him to Lystra

Crowd Stones Paul and Barnabas

On route back from these cities, Paul set up elders/leaders

Who Wrote it?

Paul, an apostle: Credentials:

Analogy of Cop flashing credentials

Act like a Cop:

“Paul, an apostle- Not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father”

Not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father

Not delegated authority by the 12 or any other group

What’s so special about Apostle?

Unique office

“Thus they were personally chosen, called and commissioned by Jesus Christ, and authorized to teach in His name. The New Testament evidence is clear that this group was small and unique. The word ‘apostle’ was not a general word which could be applied to every Christian like the words ‘believer’, ‘saint’ or ‘brother’. It was a special term reserved for the Twelve and for one or two others whom the risen Christ had personally appointed.”

“Thus they were personally chosen, called and commissioned by Jesus Christ, and authorized to teach in His name. The New Testament evidence is clear that this group was small and unique. The word ‘apostle’ was not a general word which could be applied to every Christian like the words ‘believer’, ‘saint’ or ‘brother’. It was a special term reserved for the Twelve and for one or two others whom the risen Christ had personally appointed.” John Stott

Peter didn’t ordain him, James didn’t ordain him. He was equally ordained directly by Jesus Christ! That was the unique office of Apostle and that’s why we don’t have Apostles anymore.

Paul flashes his credentials around throughout Galatians.

Road to Damascus confirmed or authorized his Apostolic Ordination

Why is flashing his credentials important?

Jews and Judaizers were meddling with his ministry!

Next week: Vs. 7: “Some who have come who trouble you and want to distort the Gospel of Christ”

The Jews who were interfering with his ministry remained in Galatia!

Judaizers vs. Jews

Jews: Didn’t believe Jesus was the Messiah

Judaizers: Did believe Jesus was the Messiah, but held that the Old Administration of Grace still operated in the New Administration of Grace.

Sabbath observance

Circumcision

Authority did not come from men, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father

Who wrote the Bible? The church or the Apostle’s or someone connected to the Apostles

Criteria for Canonicity: Not the church, but Apostolicity

And it’s with these heavy weight credentials that Paul comes and he lambasts those who come and downgrade the Gospel!

He came to preach a particular gospel, and those with ‘other gospels’ are watering it down! Robbing the Gospel of it’s raw power! TOTAL Freedom!

That’s why this series is called FAITH AND FREEDOM!

POWER OF THE GOSPEL!

These short few verses give an overview of the Gospel of Grace

So this introductory part of Paul’s letter gives us an overview of the Gospel...

Gospel Sprinkles in 5 Short Verses:

Flashing credentials AND flashing the Gospel!

“Truth of the Gospel is based on the content, not the credentials. A person can’t just claim to be inspired…” Thomas R. Schreiner

v. 1: Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.

v. 1: Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.

Sprinkles of the Gospel:

v. 1: Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.

Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.

Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.

v. 3: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.

Verse 4: Reveals TWO Major Themes in 2 short verse: Justification and Freedom!

JUSTIFICATION: v.4: Who gave himself for our sins:

What does that mean? He gave himself for sins and I received forgiveness...

Served multiple terms of elder

Served multiple terms of elder

Still dealing with guilt of when he was a child

Still dealing with guilt of when he was a child

: And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

FREEDOM: to deliver us from the present evil age.

“Deliver”: Main theme of Galatians!

: Israel saved from slavery

: Peter from prison

: Paul mob about to lynch him

So yes, Jesus gave himself for our sins to receive forgiveness, BUT the purpose goes beyond forgiveness: FREEDOM!!

“Christianity is, in fact, a rescue religion.” John Stott

Sharing story of Herb De Ruiter: 75 or so:

Served multiple terms of elder, gentle soul

Served multiple terms of elder

: Peter from prison

Still dealing with guilt of when he was a child

Still dealing with guilt of when he was a child

: Paul mob about to lynch him

Deliverance from what?

To deliver us from the present evil age

To deliver us from the present evil age

Not from Satan, not from our sin, but from an epoch of time!

NIVAC: “How is one rescued from a “time period”?”

CROSSLESS TIMELINE!

CROSSLESS for those apart from the Covenant

CROSSLESS for those stuck within the Laws of the Covenant

Need a timeline jump.

Timeline #1:

: “For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.”

, "Do not be conformed to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind."

: So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

: “For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.”

The New Age, the Cross-FILLED! Timeline is where we find deliverance from SIN AND deliverance from performance.

: So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Evil and the Ethical

Evil and the Ethical

Sinful and Self-Righteousness

Lawless and Law-abiding

License and Legalism

There is life and death at stake for Paul in communicating this true Gospel.

URGENCY!

BOTH LEAD TO A LIFE OF SLAVERY!

The Message of Galatians b. Christ Died to Rescue Us from This Present Age

But Christ died to rescue us ‘out of this present age of wickedness’ (NEB), or, as perhaps it should be rendered, ‘out of this present age of the wicked one’, since he (the devil) is its lord. Let me explain this. The Bible divides history into two ages: ‘this age’ and ‘the age to come’. It tells us, moreover, that ‘the age to come’ has come already, because Christ inaugurated it, although the present age has not yet finally passed away. So the two ages are running their course in parallel. They overlap one another. Christian conversion means being rescued from the old age and being transferred into the new age, ‘the age to come’. And the Christian life is living in this age the life of the age to come.

Jesus is the answer to DELIVERANCE!

The NIV Application Commentary: Galatians Original Meaning

It is probably best to regard this expression as describing “life dictated by the law.” Because Christ has eclipsed the age of the law and brought history to a new era (see notes at 3:19–25), life under the law, whether lived now or in the past, is considered “an evil age” (cf. 4:3, 9; 5:1; see also 5:16–26). One who trusts in Christ is rescued from the present evil age: “he gave himself for our sins to rescue us” (1:4). This expression, then, probably reflects the polemical situation of Galatians: the present evil age is the age in which the Galatians are being seduced to live, and life in Christ is a life of freedom (5:1–12).

v. 5: to whom be the glory forever and ever...

This whole process is for the glory of God!

This evil age… VS. to whom be the glory for ages and ages...

Lit. “for ages and ages”

End with Prayer of Praise!

End with Praise and awe! To whom be the glory forever and ever. AMEN!

Grace and Peace

The Age to come is one where God’s glory is given forever and ever!

Three Stages of Divine Action for Man’s Salvation:

“Death of Christ for our sins to rescue us out of this evil age” Stott

Appointment