Galatians Part 1

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So today we are kicking off in our brand new series in the book of Galatians and I am so excited

Galatians is at the top of my list as favorite books of the Bible

There’s a simplicity to it and yet a deep struggle in it as well

And you’ll hopefully see what I mean as we continue

Now, before we begin reading and walking through Galatians we need to know what’s going on

So we want to ask questions like:

When was it written?

What was going on during that time period?

To whom was it written to?

To whom was it written by?

What is it’s main objective or theme?

I’ve said before when talking about studying the Bible that the best place to start studying is at the beginning of a book

And I compared it to the fact that you wouldn’t start a netflix series 7 episodes in and just hope you can catch up

Well studying these things about the book is like reading the series description

It may not be quite a necessity but it definitely helps you understand things more clearly as you begin to dive in

And any time we can understand God’s Word more clearly we need to jump on the opportunity

So let’s see what the “description” of Galatians would read like

Galatians was written somewhere between 48 AD and mid 50’s AD Most believe it to be 49 AD

The primary argument on date would deal with the Apostolic Council in Jerusalem that is recorded in Acts 15 that Paul refers to in chapter 2 of Galatians

That’s dated no earlier than 48 AD but when you date it will affect exactly what part of Galatia this letter was written to based on what missionary journey had taken place by Paul

Regardless of when exactly it was written what is important for us to know and understand is that this is one of the earliest NT books written.

It’s really between Galatians, 1 Thess, and James

Now, I personally believe James is probably the first but nevertheless, Galatians is one of the earliest

So if Christ was crucified in AD 33 this could have been written just 15 years later

Which means, the gospel that Jesus came and preached is very new

The church is very new

All of it is very new

Which will make more sense by what Paul writes

Speaking of that, this letter is pretty widely accepted to be written by Paul

The book starts by saying that it’s written by him and the stories and wording is Pauls

We will learn a good bit about Paul in this letter but Paul was formerly Saul who persecuted the church and hated the gospel of Jesus

He has an encounter with Jesus and everything changes

He goes on several missionary journeys, starts many churches, and becomes one of, if not the greatest evangelists of the gospel of Jesus that the world has ever seen

Now, Galatia.

Because we don’t know the exact date we don’t know the exact location that this letter went but most scholars believe Galatians was written to churches founded by Paul and Barnabas ( Paul’s right hand man) in Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe.

These churches would have been located in the southern part of the Roman province of Galatia in the interior of Asia Minor (modern Turkey)

One final thing before we dive in and maybe most important.

The purpose of the letter

Why was Galatians written

It’s important for us to understand this because Galatians can’t mean today what it didn’t mean then

So, it’s purpose then is it’s same purpose now, just for us as well as the Galatians

So what is it?

So I call this the “Galatian Situation.”

There was something going on around this time in the early church

You see from as early as Genesis up until the time Jesus steps onto earth there was this covenant between God and His people

Israel was God’s chosen people and they had an in that no one else did

And the way that they kept their side of the covenant was by obeying the torah or law

Things like:

Every male being circumsized

Eating Kosher

Obeying the Sabbath

And so on

But Jesus steps on the scene and by the cross He establishes a new covenant that now extends to all people and people groups

And it’s a covenant of grace

But it’s a covenant that we keep not by being circumsized or eating the right foods

But rather by giving up our whole lives

By repenting and chasing after Jesus with all that we are

The problem with all of this is that there were Jewish elites that would come in and demand that the gentiles or anyone outside of the people of Israel must still obey and live in the Old Covenant to be save be Jesus

So the whole purpose of Galatians is this: Getting the Gospel right!

The whole book is about knowing, understanding, and getting the gospel of Jesus right!

This is really important!

There are major current implications of this in our lives today

There are all sorts of ramifications behind this but when we get the gospel wrong there are two major, damaging outcomes

#1 Sinners are not saved

#2 God is not glorified

If we are being fooled into another gospel than we are believing the wrong one and can not be saved by the proper one

And if we are being fooled into another gospel than we are spitting in the face of Jesus for the gospel that He gave His son for and therefore He is not glorified.

These are two of the terrible outcomes of not getting the gospel right a long with probably a million others

We must also understand, the problem that Paul is writing to the Galatians for is a problem that we still deal with today

There are so many spin offs of the gospel of Jesus that I’ve lost count

There’s a constant war for your heart and the enemy knows that if he can get you to believe something other than the true gospel of Jesus than you’re not really a disciple of Christ

This is life and death, this is heaven and hell

It’s that important and it’s why I’m so passionate about it and it’s why that you’ll see Paul so passionate about it

When we begin to read Galatians what we will notice is Paul’s passion

You can tell by his tone that this was urgent, it was personal, and it was passionate

It’s, in a way, emotional and driven

If we were to contrast this to say Romans where it’s more pragmatic and logical. It’s lengthy and Paul deal with doctrinal issues step by step

Galatians is shorter and argumentative. You can almost hear the anger in Paul’s voice as you read it

I have 3 daughters

Wren my oldest

Essie my 2nd and Naomi my 3rd

Naomi is just starting to get to the age where you see her personality so we don’t know a whole lot about what she will be like

But wren is our quiet, reserved, rule follower

That’s just who she is

Essie is our out there, loves to ride the line, scrapper

There’s times when I’ll get on the floor and I’ll “wrestle” in the loosest form of the word and with Wren she’s calculated and cautious

She looks for her spots to jump in and always goes half speed

Essie doesn’t care, she goes full blazing in

If Romans is like Wren, Galatians is like Essie.

You can feel the tension and controversy and it’s just full blaze ahead not holding back any shots

Maybe some of y’all can relate to that

Galatians is explosive and powerful and I believe it to be that way because the gospel is as well

So let’s begin by reading Chapter 1:1-10

Galatians 1:1–10 NIV

1 Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—2 and all the brothers and sisters with me, To the churches in Galatia: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. 6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse! 10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Paul starts with the gospel

He says here in the first line that Jesus is Lord

He is one with God the Father

This is distinctive from all other greeting from Paul in his letters

The reason being that there were other teachers trying to undermine Paul and his authority to preach what he was preaching

Jesus was raised from the dead after His crucifixion

He continues with:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins to rescue us.

This is the gospel

God sent His one and only Son who gave Himself up for us to rescue us

according to His will

Why?

For His glory!

You want a snippet of the gospel? Here it is in Paul’s opening prayer

Jesus is Lord, He gave himself up for you so that you may be rescued from your sinners death and doom and He was raised from the dead and all of this is for His glory for ever and ever!

Then the fireworks begin:

If you were familiar with Paul’s writing you would probably expect a thanksgiving at this time but instead Paul actually replaces that normal thanksgiving with a rebuke

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel

I am astonished

He is astonished because the gospel is not intended to be a temporary fad, it’s a life changing faith

And so the question Paul is raising is....if it truly is a life changing faith for you how could you desert it so quickly?

Paul is saying that the gospel is complete. It is not lacking and it does not need softening.

The gospel of Jesus is fulfilling and sustaining in and of itself

So if anyone comes in and tries to preach anything other than the gospel of Jesus Paul says that they will be cursed by God

The stakes are extremely high!

Then in verse 10 Paul makes a statement that we all need to understand.

So men had come in and undermined Paul’s teaching and the gospel of Jesus.

They had been spreading rumors that Paul was not truly an apostle of Christ and that he was only preaching what he was preaching for the approval of men

They were undermining his apostleship and his authority

Paul proves his apostleship in verse one by saying “I am sent by God and God alone.”

No man sent me

No man has shown me this

My revelation is not man made

The gospel I preach is not manufactured

He says I am an apostle because I am sent by Jesus

His apostleship is divinely given

So he proves His apostleship and his authority from Christ

Then Paul makes a statement that we need to understand

The gospel is not designed to please people

It’s purpose is to save people

The gospel of Jesus is offensive

It’s offensive because we hold great offense against God

The gospel exposes us for who we are and that’s not very pleasant.

But in the same endeavor it extends to us the freedom and life found through Christ that we can not get anywhere or anyway else

It is the hard truths of the gospel that sets us free

So, this is why it is of the utmost importance to know the fullness of the gospel and to preach the fullness of the gospel

when we shy away from the difficulties of it we are robbing ourselves and others the fullness of life found through it

The gospel of Jesus plus or minus anything is not the gospel of Jesus

The Galatians were being taught that the gospel wasn’t enough

They were being deceived into thinking that they need to add something else

They needed something else

One of the enemies greatest lie to us as believers is that Jesus isn’t enough

You need more money

More time

More friends

More fame

More attention

More toys

More self

The gospel’s reply is that you need more Jesus

There’s a man by the name of John the Baptist who had garnered quite a following and then Jesus steps on the scene and people begin to gravitate to Him

John’s boys come to him and say look at all of the people Jesus is taking away from you

Here is John’s response

John 3:30 NIV

30 He must become greater; I must become less.”

This is a direct result of the working power of the gospel

When we begin to understand the gospel of Jesus in it’s fullness it stirs inside of us a response like this

We don’t add to it, we don’t take away from it, we simply want more and more of it until it gets to the point where it consumes every area of our life

Because there’s a freedom, a peace, and a joy that is found when we do

When I ask the girls anything about church their answer is Jesus

When we understand the gospel we realize that every answer is Jesus

Want a better marriage....more Jesus, Jesus is the answer

Want a better job experience....Jesus is the answer

Want a better life…Jesus