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· What is the gospel?
· Might seem like a “borderline – silly” question to ask in THIS setting…
· YET – no doubt – this QUESTION - is one of the most important questions one can ask in this life
· If you were with us last week – you know that we began making our way through the book of Galatians..
o Paul’s letter to the churches of Galatia…
· And what we found out was that Paul WROTE this letter – BECAUSE false teachers (or JUDAIZERS as Paul would call them) had come…And were SWAYING people to a new way of thinking…
· And this NEW WAY of thinking was having a major impact on the Galatians…
· And the IMPACT – pertained to our Question….What is the gospel…
· And so - Let’s get to our text for today…
· If you remember, last week Paul started out by GREETING the Galatians, and in doing so – he focused on 1 main aspect of Christianity…
o The Authority of Jesus Christ
· The first thing Paul did was DEFEND his own Apostleship…
o He pointed to the reality that he was - SENT BY GOD…
o And so in doing so – he elevated the Authority of Christ in UPHOLDING his message…
And part of our text today will give us a window into WHAT was being said about Paul at this time…
· To see this, we’re gonna have to look RIGHT HERE - in our last verse for today… v10.
What does Paul say?
(read verse)
10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God?
Or am I trying to please man?
If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
· Paul here – is ATTACKING the idea that Paul’s MESSAGE is merely an attempt to PLEASE MAN…
· NOW – outside of the context of this book, our understanding of this verse would REMAIN surface level…
· But knowing the context – we can decipher WHY Paul would say this…
· The Galatian church was – 95% - if not higher – Gentile…
· Mostly Gentile in demographic…
· And so – think about this verse in light of that truth!
What would be a way that Paul’s MESSAGE – could be viewed as – PLEASING to MAN….?
Well – to help us with that…let’s jump ahead a bit in this book…
· This verse here points to the ISSUE within the Galatian churches…
· False Teachers (the Judaizers) had come in…
· And started TEACHING…
One must be CIRCUMCISED in order to be – a Christian – Saved!
That one must ADHERE to (or CONFORM) to the Mosaic law.
And so WHO would this claim had been DIRECTED towards?
The GENTILES in the church....right?
The uncircumcised!
And we ALREADY KNOW - how the Gentiles were responding to this claim....
They were EMBRACING the claim!
That’s WHY Paul wrote this book!
Back to verse 6...
NOW WE CAN SEE - what was being said ABOUT PAUL!
The FALSE Teachers had come in and DECLARED - that Paul’s message...
that Gentiles DIDN’T HAVE to be circumcised...
was just Paul’s way of - PLEASING the Gentiles...
APPEASING them...
The false teachers had come in and said - PAUL just didn’t want to UPSET you…and SO...
HE TOLD YOU that you didn’t need to be circumcised!
But that’s NOT TRUE!
The False Teachers tried to claim that PAUL was simply - trying to PLEASE MAN - instead of God!
And they USED circumcision to do it!
NOW - Let’s look at how Circumcision fits in with the Gospel… (the Good News of Jesus)
AND SEE maybe why circumcision wouldn’t have been such a HARD sell to the Gentiles...
PAUL was astonished that the Gentiles were EMBRACING circumcision - - FOR salvation...
Paul had ALREADY preached the Gospel TO the Galatians...
In establishing the churches there...
So WHAT could the False Teachers had pointed to - to so easily persuade the Gentiles that they needed to be circumcised?
NOW - I have NO DOUBT that the false teachers would have brought the Gentile Galatians to this passage...
This here is God - COMMANDING that every Jewish male - be CIRCUMCISED...
And it would be a SIGN of the COVENANT!!
NOW - WE read this and think - Ok, we know ENOUGH of biblical Christianity to KNOW that circumcision isn’t a MEANS of salvation....
OR PART of our justification!!
BUT - 1st century Gentile believers?
No New Testament...
They had Paul’s words....in their memories...
And they had the Torah!
this passage...
Think about it - there are groups of people - TODAY - labeled “Christians” - who believe that water baptism is NECESSARY for salvation!
2000 years later…27 New Testament books....
25,000 manuscripts OF those New Testament books - and we....
STILL miss the mark...
The TRUTH of the Gospel - was BEING attacked!!
The Galatians were EMBRACING the enemy....
And the apostle PAUL - was ...
This word ASTONISHED here - is the same greek word used to describe -
…WHAT people felt when they SAW the MIRACLES of Jesus!
Paul was THAT surprised!
And how does Paul describe what’s happening here?
“I’m astonished that you are SO QUICKLY - - DESERTING Him”… who called you...
Couple things...
This HIM - here - the one here being DESERTED - is NOT Paul...
We know based on a later verse....
This HIM here is - GOD...
So Paul here - EQUATES - turning from the TRUE GOSPEL - to a FALSE gospel....AS...
TURNING from God...
Deserting God...
LEAVING God...
*R.C.
Sproul:
The great theologian R.C. Sproul - died on December 14, 2017 at the age of 78.
And at his funeral service…John MacArthur spoke.
And in part of that talk - MacArthur explains that in 1995, he, James Kennedy, and R.C. Sproul would find themselves in a private room in Florida…DEFENDING the gospel...
Against 3 other men
Evangelicals and Catholics Together - had come out the year before...
And R.C. Sproul was profoundly disappointed because the man who was BEHIND that had said that R.C. Sproul was his mentor...
And so James Kennedy, John MacArthur, and R.C. Sproul were there, locked in a private room… for 7 hours...
Defending the true gospel....
Against - Bill Bright, Charles Colson, and J.I. Packer...
…Who wanted to ACCOMMODATE Romes Gospel… Catholicism...
And John MacArthur explains that - the POWER in the room for those 7 hours...
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