Growing in Grace and Knowledge

Every morning I read Spurgeon’s “Morning by Morning” devotional. All of them are great, but some are exceptional. Today was one of those, in which case I do not want to withold it from you.

“Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” – 2 Peter 3:18

Grow in grace – not in one grace only, but in all grace. Grow in that root-grace, faith. Believe the promises more firmly than you have done. Let faith increase in fullness, constancy, simplicity. Grow also in love. Ask that your love may become extended, more intense, more practical, influencing every thought, word, and deed. Grow likewise in humility. Seek to lie very low and know more of your own nothingness. As you grow downward in humility, seek also to grow upward - having nearer approaches to God in prayer and more intimate fellowship with Jesus. May God the Holy Spirit enable you to “grow in … the knowledge of our Lord and Savior.” He who grows not in the knowledge of Jesus, refuses to be blessed. To know Him is “life eternal,” and to advance in the knowledge of Him is to increase in happiness. He who does not long to know more of Christ, knows nothing of Him yet. Whoever has sipped this wine will thirst for more, for although Christ does satisfy, yet it is such a satisfaction that the appetite is not choked, but whetted. If you know the love of Jesus as the hart pants for the water-brooks, so will you pant after deeper draughts of His love. If you do not desire to know Him better, then you love Him not, for love always cries, “Nearer, nearer.” Absence from Christ is hell; but the presence of Jesus is heaven. Do not rest content without an increasing acquaintance with Jesus. Seek to know more of Him in His divine nature, in His human relationship, in His finished work, in His death, in His resurrection, in His present glorious intercession, and in His future royal advent. Live close to the Cross, and search the mystery of His wounds. An increase of love to Jesus and a more perfect apprehension of His love to us is one of the best tests of growth in grace.

Gifts of Grace #1 – An Introduction

Last weekend we went on a retreat with our church to beautiful Groesbeek in the east of Holland. Next to it being a great refreshing and fun time, the theme of the retreat was “Unique Design” and one of the things we did was take a spiritual gifts questionnaire together to get better inside into how God has uniquely made us and for what purpose. At the beginning of the retreat I took the opportunity to say a couple of things about spiritual gifts in general (sort of a high-level overview of what the Bible has to say about this) as often the topic of spiritual gifts can be seen as vague and controversial, and so a little bit of a framework can always help to give some guidance. I am planning to do a much larger series on the individual gifts, of which this serves as an introduction. I call the series “Gifts of Grace” because the Greek word used for spiritual gifts (charismata) means grace-gift.

Its Definition
If I would have to give you a definition of what a spiritual gift is, I would go with this one: “A spiritual gift is any ability that is empowered by the Holy Spirit and used in ministry of the church.” (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, p. 1016).

Now this holds a couple of elements. First, it’s any ability. This means it can include natural abilities (for instance: teaching, showing mercy, hospitality, administration, etc) as well as more miraculous abilities (for instance: prophecy, healing, distinguishing between spirits). Second, it’s empowered by the Holy Spirit. In the opening chapter of the book of Acts, right before Jesus’ ascension back into heaven and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the whole church, Jesus told the disciples, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,…” (Acts 1:8). And Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians, “All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” (1 Cor. 12:11). In other words, any gift (or ability) only becomes a spiritual gift when it is empowered by the Holy Spirit. And third, it’s used in ministry of the church. Spiritual gifts are given to equip the church to carry out its ministry as the church until Christ returns (1 Cor. 1:7). Paul is quite explicit in this on a number of occasions. Listen to what he says: “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” (1 Cor. 12:7) “What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.” (1 Cor. 14:26) “So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.” (1 Cor. 14:12). In other words, any gift (or ability) only becomes a spiritual gift when it is used to build up the church.

Its Number and Use
The Bible does not give us any definite number of spiritual gifts, but it does say that God gave the church an amazing variety of spiritual gifts, and they are all tokens of His varied (rich and diverse) grace, “in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet. 4:10-11). This means that no two people’s gifts are exactly alike. We are all unique, not only in our combination of spiritual gifts, but also in how God uses our spiritual gifts to build the church up.

The practical outcome is that we should be willing to recognize and appreciate people who have gifts that differ from ours and whose gifts may differ from our expectations of what certain gifts look like. There is often, not always – as God apportions as He wills – a great diversity of gifts, and this diversity should not lead to fragmentation but to greater unity among the believers in the church (1 Cor. 12:12-26) as through these differences we are to depend upon each other.

Unity rather than disunity is to be the outcome of using our spiritual gifts. Unfortunately churches are often imbalances in their view, ranging from totally ignoring spiritual gifts and never talk about them, to being completely obsessed about spiritual gifts and compare and contrast members’ gifts, rank-ordering them, and trying to outdo one another. Now, although Paul does say to “earnestly desire the higher gifts” (1 Cor. 12:31), which are those that build up the church more and bring more benefit to others, “especially that you may prophesy.” (1 Cor. 14:1), this should never lead to disunity (like saying that a person only has been filled with the Holy Spirit when he or she is able to speak in tongues – the Bible makes no such statements.

Within our church, we hope to strike a balance in which we neither ignore nor obsess about spiritual gifts, but rather meaningfully engage with these gifts, and use them in such a way that they build up the church, glorify God, and bring joy to you.

Paul and Peter are the ones who primarily talk about the different types of spiritual gifts, and you can read about them in:

• 1 Corinthians 12-14
• 1 Cor. 12:8-10 (word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, miracles, prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues)
• 1 Cor. 12:28 (apostle, prophet, teacher, miracles, kinds of healings, helps, administration, tongues)
• Ephesians 4:1-17 (apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor-teacher)
• Romans 12:1-8 (prophecy, serving, teaching, encouraging, contributing, leadership, mercy)
• 1 Corinthians 7:1-9 (marriage, celibacy)
• 1 Peter 4:7-11 (whoever speaks, whoever renders service)

A Call to Strengthen
Gifts are given to every believer (1 Cor. 12:7, 11; 1 Pet. 4:10). They are given to the new believer as well as to the mature believer. Hence, spiritual gifts in and of themselves are not a sign of spiritual maturity. Yet the Bible does exhort us to use them (Rom. 12:6), and to seek to grow in their use that church may receive more benefit from the gifts of which God has allowed us to be stewards. In Paul’s letters to Timothy he exhorts us to “do not neglect the gift you have” (1 Tim. 4:14) and is reminding us “to fan into flame the gift of God” (2 Tim. 1:6). Why? Because it’s only a spiritual gift when it is strong enough to function for the benefit of the church; to build up the church.

Discovering, Seeking, and Applying Spiritual Gifts
I think that regardless if you know or don’t know what your spiritual gifts are, it is good to pray and seek the LORD for wisdom with regards to spiritual gifts. And it could be for a variety of reasons:

• It could be to get more insight into what your spiritual gifts are;
• It could be to get more insight into how God wants you to use your unique gift combination;
• It could be to “earnestly desire the higher gifts” (1 Cor. 12:31), which are those that build up the church more and bring more benefit to others

It also could be to check if your motives are right. Paul says, “since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.” (1 Cor. 14:12). It’s good to be eager for manifestations of the Spirit, but remember they are given to you to build up the church; not to build up your self-esteem. And, conversely, be content if God chooses not to give more. It is the Spirit, “who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” (1 Cor. 12:11)

We should strive simply to excel in loving others, caring for their needs, building up the church, and living a life in conformity to the pattern of Christ’s life. If we do that, and if God chooses to give us spiritual gifts that equip us for those tasks, then we should thank Him for that, and pray that He would keep us from pride over gifts that have been freely and graciously given, and which we do not earn.

Christian Privilege and Necessity

I aim to read C.H. Spurgeon’s Morning by Morning devotional every morning; and Evening by Evening devotional every night. As I was reading this morning’s edition I felt I had to share this on my blog.

“because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever” (2 John 2)

Once the truth of God has obtained an entrance into the human heart and subdued the whole man to itself, no power, human or infernal, can dislodge it. We entertain it not as a guest but as the master of the house. This is a Christian necessity, and whoever does not believe this is not a Christian. Those who feel the vital power of the Gospel and know the strength of the Holy Spirit as He opens, applies, and seals the Lord’s Word would rather be torn to pieces than be torn away from the Gospel of their salvation. A thousand mercies are wrapped up in the assurance that the truth will be with us forever, will be our living support, our dying comfort, our rising song, our eternal glory. This is Christian privilege, and without it our faith is worth little. Some truths we outgrow and leave behind, for they are but rudiments and lessons for beginners, but this is not so with divine truth, for though it is sweet food for babies, it is in the highest sense strong meat for men. The painful truth that we are sinners is with us to humble us and make us watchful; the more blessed truth that whoever believes on the Lord Jesus will be saved remains with us as our hope and joy. Experience, far from loosening our hold on the doctrines of grace, has tied us to them more and more firmly; our grounds and motives for believing are now stronger and more numerous than ever, and we have reason to expect that it will remain this way until in death we clasp the Savior in our arms. Wherever this abiding love of truth can be discovered, we are bound to share in fellowship and to exercise our love. No narrow circle can contain our gracious sympathies; our communion of heart must be as wide as the ocean of grace. Error may be found mingled with truth received; let us go to war with the error but still love the brother for the measure of truth that we see in him. Above all let us love and spread the truth ourselves.

When I read this I was thinking: how much is Jesus the master of me (my house)? How much do I feel the vital power of the Gospel and know the strength of the Holy Spirit? I want to ponder on this more and it moves me to pray deeply and earnestly that Jesus is not just a guest, but master indeed, and that thus I allow the Holy Spirit to work mightily in me and through me.

End Time Warning for Christians

Paraphrase #3 – The Ten Commandments

#1. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of slavery of self-reliance, self-righteousness, and self-gratification. And now that you are freed from all these, rely fully and only on Me, and My righteousness, and live a self-sacrificing life for Me and other as I have sacrificed Myself for you and others.

#2. Don’t idolize anything or anyone but Me. Don’t turn any good thing into a god-thing where you find your self-worth or self-esteem from it. Don’t treasure anything else in your heart but Me. I, the LORD your God, want to be number one on a list of one.

#3. In everything you do, in word, thought, or deed, represent Me well. Be an ambassador of your King. Don’t do or say anything on your own account, but do only what I tell you to do. Don’t use My name in a superficial or hypocritical way.

#4. You are made to work, but you are also made to rest. Do both well. Do both for Me. Do both with Me. Do both in honor of Me. For in them and through I proclaim both My creation as well as My redemption.

#5. Start by honoring your parents, for it will teach you to outdo others in showing honor as well, which is foundational for living a humble life.

#6. Consider another person’s life more precious than your own. Remember that I gave you life, and that I will justly take it away.

#7. Do not contaminate or violate the covenant of marriage, to both your eternal spouse or your temporal spouse, by any act of sexual immorality in word, thought, or deed, for your body is Mine and is made to glorify Me.

#8. Work with your hands for what is good, so you can give to those in need, for you were bought with a prize.

#9. Let your tongue be set on fire by the Holy Spirit, and not by the fires of hell. Let your words be full of life and peace.

#10. Be content with what you have for life is not about what you have, but who you have.

Elihu’s Rebuke #6: Conclusion

Elihu succeeded in preparing Job for what is to come, as we will see next week. Because of Elihu’s words, Job’s heart is softened and ready to receive God’s words. You see, effectually all that Elihu was saying to Job: “Your God is too small, Job. Let me make it bigger for you.” We need a big God. We need to see our God as big as He really is, because we will suffer. Being declared right before God on the basis of Jesus’ work does not exempt us from suffering. Maybe even on the contrary! And when we do, how we view God is crucial. Our God is gracious, just, and great.

By His sovereign grace, God chose us from before the foundation of the world. By His sovereign grace, God justified us freely through the gift of saving faith. And by His sovereign grace, God is sanctifying us through suffering according to His infinite wisdom. We should not “… despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.” (Pro. 3:11-12). And, as John Piper beautifully says, “its aim is that our faith might be refined, our holiness might be enlarged, our soul might be saved, and our God might be glorified.”

Elihu’s Rebuke #1: An Introduction
Elihu’s Rebuke #2: God Is Gracious
Elihu’s Rebuke #3: God is Just
Elihu’s Rebuke #4: God is Great
Elihu’s Rebuke #5: Suffering as a Discipline
Elihu’s Rebuke #6: Conclusion

Elihu’s Rebuke #5: Suffering as a Discipline

Let’s take a step back and look at the situation from a wider angle. Like I said in the beginning, Elihu not so much addresses why Job suffers, but is more concerned with how Job suffers. Elihu is exhorting Job to suffer well. So then the question is: how do we suffer well?

Let me draw four principles out of these chapters which Elihu addresses:

We have to rightly assess our righteousness
Elihu talks about God’s righteousness for nearly three chapters (Job 34:1 – 36:23). Righteousness comes from God alone (Ps. 11:7). And Romans 10:3-4 says, “For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” On the cross, Jesus gifted His righteousness to us who are unrighteous. It is given to us by Jesus is we believe, or have faith, in Him and His work alone. (2 Cor. 5:21). Rightly assessing the source of our righteousness helps us to understand that when God brings about suffering it is not because of something we have done, nor does it change our standing before Him.

We have to rightly assess our treasure
What the three friends fail to see is that Job’s greatest agony came from the fact that he thought that God abandoned him. Job’s greatest treasure was God, and the thought of losing God brought greater agony than the loss of worldly possessions. You see, in one sense, suffering happens when our treasure is taken away (or threatened to be taken away) from you. We should not lay up for ourselves treasures on earth, but rather in heaven. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matt. 6:21) Rightly assessing where our treasure is helps us to understand that when God brings about suffering to hold on to everything else but God with loose hands.

We have to rightly assess our knowledge
Elihu says, “Do you know how God lays his command upon them and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine? Do you know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge, you whose garments are hot when the earth is still because of the south wind? Can you, like him, spread out the skies, hard as a cast metal mirror?” (Job 37:15-18) We have to come to the conclusion that God knows more than us. Rightly assessing our knowledge helps us to understand that when God brings about suffering we do not have to question God about the reason, but remember and trust in God’s words: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” (Pro. 3:5)

We have to rightly assess our words
Elihu says as his closing words, “The Almighty—we cannot find him; he is great in power; justice and abundant righteousness he will not violate. Therefore men fear him; he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit.” (Job 37:23-24). Elihu confronted what he believed to be Job’s arrogance in saying that man deserved an audience or a justification from God. Rightly assessing our words helps us to understand that when God brings about suffering we do not need to engage in an argument or debate with God, but we should simply fear Him “Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.” (Pro. 3:7-8).

Suffering will come, and it won’t be easy when it does. But I pray these four principles may help.

Elihu’s Rebuke #1: An Introduction
Elihu’s Rebuke #2: God Is Gracious
Elihu’s Rebuke #3: God is Just
Elihu’s Rebuke #4: God is Great
Elihu’s Rebuke #5: Suffering as a Discipline
Elihu’s Rebuke #6: Conclusion

Elihu’s Rebuke #4: God is Great

In his final speech, Elihu seeks to persuade Job to focus on God’s character in two ways, preparing him to fully open his heart for when God speaks:

He first proclaims God’s greatness in His dealings with humans: “Behold, God is mighty, and does not despise any; he is mighty in strength of understanding. He does not keep the wicked alive, but gives the afflicted their right. He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous, but with kings on the throne he sets them forever, and they are exalted. And if they are bound in chains and caught in the cords of affliction, then he declares to them their work and their transgressions, that they are behaving arrogantly. He opens their ears to instruction and commands that they return from iniquity. If they listen and serve him, they complete their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasantness. But if they do not listen, they perish by the sword and die without knowledge.” (Job 36:5-12)

Elihu felt that Job needed a better theology on how compassionately God treats the righteous, never withdrawing His eyes from them but continually protecting and blessing them, and that if they do stray that He does everything to draw them back to faithfully serve him. The implication was that the unrepentant Job should welcome God’s discipline for He loves those He reproves and disciplines.

He then proclaims God’s greatness in His dealings with nature: “Behold, God is great, and we know him not; the number of his years is unsearchable. For he draws up the drops of water; they distill his mist in rain, which the skies pour down and drop on mankind abundantly. Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds, the thunderings of his pavilion?” (Job 36:26-29) “God thunders wondrously with his voice; he does great things that we cannot comprehend. Hear this, O Job; stop and consider the wondrous works of God. For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth,’ likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour. He seals up the hand of every man, that all men whom he made may know it. Then the beasts go into their lairs, and remain in their dens. From its chamber comes the whirlwind, and cold from the scattering winds. By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast.” (Job 37:5-10)

Elihu wanted Job to not only appreciate the greatness of God, but also the submission of creation. The implication was that unrepentant Job should submit to God the way His creation does.

Elihu’s Rebuke #1: An Introduction
Elihu’s Rebuke #2: God Is Gracious
Elihu’s Rebuke #3: God is Just
Elihu’s Rebuke #4: God is Great
Elihu’s Rebuke #5: Suffering as a Discipline
Elihu’s Rebuke #6: Conclusion

Elihu’s Rebuke #3: God is Just

Well, after filling Job with hope, Elihu in his second and third speech really starts rebuking Job “for Job has said, ‘I am in the right, and God has taken away my right’” (Job 34:5) and “he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing that he should take delight in God.’” (Job 34:9). Part of Job’s problem is that he sees God as unjust, unfair, and unwilling to explain what is going on.

And, again, don’t we do the same? Don’t we often demand an answer from God about why we suffer? And that we think it’s unfair and unjust of God not to answer us? Don’t we think that if we would just know why we suffer, it would make the suffering bearable? But you know what: explanation is a poor substitute for faith. Are we not commanded to “walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Cor. 5:7)?

Let’s hear what Elihu has to say: “Therefore, hear me, you men of understanding: far be it from God that he should do wickedness, and from the Almighty that he should do wrong. For according to the work of a man he will repay him, and according to his ways he will make it befall him. Of a truth, God will not do wickedly, and the Almighty will not pervert justice. Who gave him charge over the earth, and who laid on him the whole world? If he should set his heart to it and gather to himself his spirit and his breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust. […] In a moment they die; at midnight the people are shaken and pass away, and the mighty are taken away by no human hand. For his eyes are on the ways of a man, and he sees all his steps. There is no gloom or deep darkness where evildoers may hide themselves. […] Thus, knowing their works, he overturns them in the night, and they are crushed.” (Job 34:10-15, 20-22, 25)

Elihu defend God’s character saying that God is righteous and just in all His dealings with man. God is the just and sovereign ruler, rewarder and judge. In other words, nothing man does is hidden from the eyes of God, and thus man gets exactly what he deserves according to his works. We are to trust in God in knowing what is best for us.

Elihu continues: “Look at the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds, which are higher than you. If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him? And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him? If you are righteous, what do you give to him? Or what does he receive from your hand? […] Because of the multitude of oppressions people cry out; they call for help because of the arm of the mighty. […] There they cry out, but he does not answer, because of the pride of evil men. Surely God does not hear an empty cry, nor does the Almighty regard it. How much less when you say that you do not see him, that the case is before him, and you are waiting for him!” (Job 35:5-7, 9, 12-14)

Elihu tells Job that God is not under any obligation to answer man, or to give any reason for His actions. God is greater than man and so far beyond man that there is nothing man could do to God’s benefit. God is infinitely holy. Man is full of pride. God is righteous. Man is unrighteous. Thus since God is not dependent on human beings for anything, a person has no leverage with God. No amount of our good works benefits God or puts Him under obligation to anybody. Isaiah 64:6 says that “all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.” It is only by our dependence on the gift righteousness in the person and work of Jesus Christ that we will ever be acceptable to Him.

Elihu counsels Job to be patient and wait for God’s justice, for Job has been speaking prematurely and foolishly.

Elihu’s Rebuke #1: An Introduction
Elihu’s Rebuke #2: God Is Gracious
Elihu’s Rebuke #3: God is Just
Elihu’s Rebuke #4: God is Great
Elihu’s Rebuke #5: Suffering as a Discipline
Elihu’s Rebuke #6: Conclusion

Elihu’s Rebuke #2: God is Gracious

Yesterday I introduced Elihu by looking at his introductory words in Job 32:2 – 33:7. Today we will look at the first of the four speeches in the remainder of Job 33 (verses 8 to 33). Elihu begins addressing Job’s point that because God has been silent so far in all of his suffering, that this must mean that God is his enemy (that God is angry at him). Elihu says: “Surely you have spoken in my ears, and I have heard the sound of your words. You say, ‘I am pure, without transgression; I am clean, and there is no iniquity in me. Behold, he finds occasions against me, he counts me as his enemy, he puts my feet in the stocks and watches all my paths.’ Behold, in this you are not right. I will answer you, for God is greater than man.” (Job 33:8-12)

Now this is interesting, because I think we often do the same, don’t we? When we suffer, we tend to cry out to God: why?! Expecting, maybe even demanding an answer from Him, preferably straightaway. And oftentimes He doesn’t. God remains silent. And we feel that God is angry at us in some way. That we have done something wrong to piss Him off, and now it is payback time, and that we need to work our way back into His love. I mean that’s how I often feel when I suffer. I cry out to God for an answer, for an explanation. And when He doesn’t give it, my thoughts go like: But I thought you loved me, God. Am I not your child? Doesn’t Your Word say, “Ask, and it will be given to you; […] For everyone who asks receives, […] Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? […] how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matt. 7:7-11)?

But Elihu is saying here to Job, “Why do you contend against him, saying, ‘He will answer none of man’ words’? For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it.” (Job 33:13-14). God does speak, but He does so in ways you may not not expect. He describes two ways God speaks to man: by his word and by suffering. “In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds, then he opens the ears of men and terrifies them with warnings, that he may turn man aside from his deed and conceal pride from a man; he keeps back his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword. Man is also rebuked with pain on his bed and with continual strife in his bones” (Job 33:15-19). “Behold, God does all these things, twice, three times, with a man, 30to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be lighted with the light of life.” (Job 33:29-30).

In other words, God’s purpose in suffering is not to punish but to save. Our God is a gracious God who loves us and wants us to turn from our prideful ways of life (which leads to death), and to “be lighted with the light of life.” In other words, He want us to see Jesus as our ultimate treasure. Jesus, who said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12). Same wording. Elihu does not picture God as an angry silent judge but as a Redeemer, a Savior. You could say that Elihu is delivering to Job a message of hope, because he wants Job to find full restoration with God.

Elihu’s Rebuke #1: An Introduction
Elihu’s Rebuke #2: God Is Gracious
Elihu’s Rebuke #3: God is Just
Elihu’s Rebuke #4: God is Great
Elihu’s Rebuke #5: Suffering as a Discipline
Elihu’s Rebuke #6: Conclusion

Elihu’s Rebuke #1: An Introduction

Have you ever been in a situation where you have either been part of (or witnessed) a heated discussion, and after a while there is just this awkward silence because there is nothing more to say although there is no resolution? And that in that silence, all of a sudden, someone starts speaking. Someone who is usually quiet. But as that person speaks you are absolutely stunned by the wisdom with which that person speaks? Have you ever been in a situation like that?

Job and his three friends will experience such a situation. We have seen in the dialogues that his friends’ speeches became increasingly repetitive, hostile, and shorter. We have seen that Job’s friends continually argued that suffering is basically a punishment for sin and that prosperity is a reward for righteousness, and thus because Job suffers he must have sinned. We have seen Job defending himself against all their accusations, saying that based on his experience they are wrong. The righteous, the innocent, suffer too, and also the wicked prosper. And the more the friends persisted in saying that Job must have sinned to bring about all this calamity, the more Job persisted in claiming his innocence say that God was not punishing him for some committed sin. And after three rounds of brutal dialogues between Job and his three friends Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, it is Job who delivers such a powerful closing statement, declaring himself innocent, that there is just silence. After Job’s final speech, the friends are all out of words, and also Job stops speaking to await an answer from God.

Job had won the argument, but has still found no answer for his suffering. And that’s how most of us go through life. Like Job we believe that God is good, that God is sovereign, that God is just, and that since His ways are not our ways, we simply cannot know the reason for our suffering. And that is not a bad way to live. But the writer doesn’t leave it at that. The writer wants us to know that God reveals more of His purpose in suffering than we might think.

Well, in this silence, there is a young man by the name of Elihu who starts to speak. And in Job 32:2 – 33:7 he introduces himself. We read that Elihu is compelled to defend God’s honor. He is angry at Job because he justified himself rather than God, and he is angry at the three friends because they provided no real answer to his suffering yet condemned Job. He had witnessed all of the dialogues, he had listened well, and he had not spoken because of his youth. But now, since it is clear to him that being older doesn’t necessarily means being wiser, he will declare his opinion. Compelled by their silence, a desire to be objective, and the spirit within him, he speaks, believing that he can help Job, even though the others have failed, because he says to speaks pure knowledge from an upright heart.

Is he just an arrogant foolish young man, who just wants to speak his mind? Or will Elihu actually make a difference? I think the latter. I think Elihu is a key figure in this whole story. Look at it from this perspective: We just went through 28 chapters of dialogues on why Job suffered, without a conclusion. And now Elihu will give a six chapter monologue to basically say the same? I don’t think so! No, Elihu is not just an arrogant foolish young man who just wants to speak his mind. The next two weeks we will hear what God has to say about all of this, and it is interesting to note that God does not rebuke Elihu as he does the three friends. This implies that his words are true.

OK, so Elihu is different. But how? Well, Elihu disagrees with both sides of the argument, and has no intention of trying to settle the matter the way the three friends did, but focuses more on how Job is responding to his current suffering rather than on any sins that may have led to his suffering. Elihu addresses the issue that Job is so stubbornly resisting God’s discipline and that if he does not repent of his pride more suffering will come. And through that Elihu really does offer a new understanding of the suffering of the righteous that Job and his three friends had not perceived. Overall, we could say that Elihu’s goal is to prepare Job for what’s to come, namely God will speak to Job soon. He perceives that Job in his current state will not be able to receive the words of God, and so he wants to soften Job’s heart to receive what God has to say to him, and so be restored.

Next time we will look at Elihu’s first speech in the remainder of Job 33.

Elihu’s Rebuke #1: An Introduction
Elihu’s Rebuke #2: God is Gracious
Elihu’s Rebuke #3: God is Just
Elihu’s Rebuke #4: God is Great
Elihu’s Rebuke #5: Suffering as a Discipline
Elihu’s Rebuke #6: Conclusion

Three Aspects in the Life of a Preacher

“For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.” (1 Thessalonians 1:4-8)

In 1 Thessalonians 1:5 a beautiful sequence of events is started when then gospel came to Thessalonica. We see in verse 6 that they responded by becoming followers of Jesus and imitators of Paul (and thus Jesus). Then, in verse 7, the Thessalonians responded by becoming (local) examples to others around them. And lastly, in verse 8, they responded by becoming (global) examples to others who heard about them. Paul confidently grounds the election of the Thessalonians, first, on their reception of the preached gospel and, second, on their subsequent obedience. The result is a beautiful sequence of events, which I believe is much desired. It portrays discipleship of four generations. And thus it invites us to take a closer look at the starting point, which gives us more insight I think in the role of a preacher

Let’s read verse 5 again: “because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.“

What does Paul about the gospel that came to the Thessalonians? First, Paul says that the gospel was characterized by word. I take that to mean that the preacher is giving a verbal proclamation and explanation of the good news of Jesus. Second, Paul says that the gospel was characterized by power. This could mean that preaching was combined with miraculous healing (like in Luke 10:8-9 for instance), but I would say that in any case there was a manifestation of power, in either preaching or healing or both, that was able to change minds, hearts, and lives. Third, Paul says the gospel was characterized by the Holy Spirit. I think there is a strong linkage here with his previous point that the gospel came in power, but I would say that there was some manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s approving presence. And, lastly, Paul says the gospel was characterized by full conviction, which I read as a transparent sincerity and integrity, bringing certainty to the hearer’s minds. The last part of the verse tops it off when Paul is saying that the Thessalonians knew what kind of men they proved to be among them for their sake. The coming of the gospel was reinforced by the evident of its preachers.

So, what can we say about the life of the preacher and the manner of his preaching, looking at these verses? I believe there are three aspects the preacher needs to be aware of and work into his life.

1. Be faithful students and servants of the Word
It is clear that the gospel comes by word, His Word, which is both verbally proclaimed, like a herald proclaims good news from the king, as well as explained so that everyone who hears understands the good news that has come to them. This means that as preachers we need to be able to both proclaim (herald) this good news as well as explain it. And we have to be able to do this from any passage from His Word because the whole of Scripture bears witness of Jesus (John 5:39). This takes serious study of His Word, and an understanding of hermeneutics, exegesis, and homiletics.

2. Be fully dependent on the Holy Spirit
In order to preach with full conviction and passion, a preacher has to be fully depending on the miraculous manifestation of the Holy Spirit. I would say there a threefold aspect here. First, he needs to be living by the power of the Holy Spirit. Second, he needs to be praying by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is in line with Haddon W. Robinson’s definition of preaching, which says, “the communication of a biblical concept, derived from and transmitted through a historical-grammatical and literary study of a passage in its context, which the Holy Spirit first applies to the personality and experience of the preacher, and then through him to his hearers.” For the Holy Spirit to first apply the text to the personality and experience of the preacher it requires the preacher to be living and praying by the power of the Holy Spirit. A third aspect then is that it is then applied through the preacher by the Holy Spirit to his hearers, which means that the preacher is preaching by the power of the Holy Spirit, so hearts and minds are changed.

3. Be disciplining yourself for holiness
This is obviously an aspect which applies to every follower of Jesus, who calls us to train ourselves for godliness (1 Timothy 4:7; 2 Peter 1:3). But I believe it is particularly important for a preacher. Again, Paul says, “You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.” As preachers, our walk with Christ needs to be in like manner of our talking about Christ. This way our “full conviction” makes sense. This way we give the hearers examples to imitate and follow as we will be worthy to be imitated (1 Corinthians 11:1; 2 Thessalonians 3:7-9; 2 Timothy 3:10-11)

I believe these are admirable and honorable aspects to work into my life, and spend a lifetime on.

It Wasn’t The Nails

Traditionally, Good Friday is the day when we stop and consider the crucifixion; consider what we have done to Jesus; consider our sin in light of His perfect sinlessness. And it is right to look at it this way. It is right to mourn and deeply contemplate that it is our sin that led to the crucifixion and His death. Simply said, we killed Jesus. But, don’t overlook the fact that His death was an achievement beyond all measure. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ was not a tragedy; it was an achievement! The culmination of an eternal plan established before the foundation of the world, and which was repeatedly prophesied and explained in the Scriptures. We see this in so many different places in the Bible. Maybe most familiar to all of you is in Paul’s succinct description of the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:3 where he says, “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures“. We see it also in Paul’s opening statements in his letter to the Galatians where he says that Jesus “gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father” (Galatians 1:4).

But, to me two of the clearest verses on the crucifixion being a plan of God the Father and in complete agreement with His sovereignty are, first, in Acts 2:23, where Peter in his first sermon on the day of Pentecost in addressing the crowd says, “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” And then two chapters later, when Peter and John came back from the Sanhedrin, having been told that they are to no longer spread the gospel, they return to the rest of the disciples and in their prayer for more boldness to proclaim the gospel they say, “for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.” (Acts 4:27-28).

I don’t think it can get any clearer than this. Jesus’ crucifixion was not some tragedy. God wasn’t taken off guard by these horrific deeds against His Son. No, the crucifixion was an achievement, a plan made in the eternal counsels of God, executed exactly according to His eternal design. Every detail meticulously planned and orchestrated. And through this, God is saying “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose” (Isaiah 49:10-11)

No, the crucifixion was an achievement, and it is God’s ultimate display of love for us. “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). God didn’t wait until we got our act together, but He sent us Jesus to die for us while we were yet sinners, because He loved us. Therefore, to genuinely say “Jesus died for me” you must also say “I have no strength to save myself. I am ungodly. I am a sinner.” Jesus died to save and transform these. It is love given to the undeserving, to those without strength, to the ungodly, to sinners, to us. This emphasizes the fact that the reasons for God’s love are found in Him, not in us. It would be easy to see the cross as demonstrating the indifference of God, a God who let the innocent Jesus be taken by wicked men, tortured, and crucified while He did nothing… Unless there is a sense in which the Father and Christ are one, it is not the love of God that the cross shows. But the Father and Christ are one, and it is the love of God. The work of Jesus on the cross for us is God’s ultimate proof of His love for you. The demonstration of God’s love isn’t so much in that Jesus died, but in whom Jesus died for – undeserving sinners and rebels against Him. Sinners and rebels like you and me. “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us” (1 John 3:16a)

No, it wasn’t the nails that held Jesus to that cross. It was His love for us! When Jesus cried out: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34), when He had taken upon Himself all the sins of the whole world, past, present, and future (including yours and mine) and was no longer one with the Father or Spirit, it was out of love for us! And even in that moment of utter pain, condemnation, and separation, He expresses His love for us by praying for us to the Father, saying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 22:34)

No, it wasn’t the nails that held Jesus to that cross. It was His love for you and me! The cross is an invitation of love. An invitation that says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28). An invitation that says, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” (John 7:37).

So, let us say “Yes” to this beautiful invitation of love. Oh, Lord, “Let your mercy come to me, that I may live” (Psalm 119:77), “Let your steadfast love come to me, O Lord, your salvation according to your promise” (Psalm 119:41). “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!” (Psalm 95:6) “Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool!” (Psalm 132:7)

Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health

Don S. Whitney asks “Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health“, and boy, they are good questions. Now, I haven’t read the book, but even without that, these questions will provoke quite a discussion I am sure. So, I thought to just list them here and let you think about these yourself.

1. Do you thirst for God?
2. Are you governed increasingly by God’s Word?
3. Are you more loving?
4. Are you more sensitive to God’s presence?
5. Do you have a growing concern for the spiritual and temporal needs of others?
6. Do you delight in the bride of Christ?
7. Are the spiritual disciplines increasingly important to you?
8. Do you still grieve over sin?
9. Are you a quicker forgiver?
10. Do you yearn for heaven and to be with Jesus?

How to Talk a Lot and Not Give an Answer

No, I am by no means joining in the debate on universalism or whether or not Rob Bell is a universalist. There are enough people, much smarter than I am, that have joined in the discussion already. No, the only thing I want to do is to point you to this MSNBC interview with Rob Bell, and invite you to pay attention to the fact that Rob Bell does not answer a single question the host asks (well, he says ‘yes’ or ‘no’ a couple of times, but after that goes straight into a rabbit trail). I find this so interesting as in that way he keeps the odds against him rather than explain himself. I guess it’s a good way to sell books, but I doubt whether it’s a good way to keep your credibility.

Anyways, have a look for yourself.

Abiding in Christ

To be abiding in Christ is acknowledging that the cross is the safest place to be. It’s at the Lord’s feet that we can listen to His teaching and have His Words influence and direct our steps. “And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.” (Luke 10:39). In this section with Mary and Martha, we can extract that not being at the cross equals to being/becoming anxious and troubled. “One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4). If you come to the cross it’s because the Holy Spirit led you there. This is comforting because that means that He is at work in your life. “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6). If you come to the cross it is because you understand what Jesus has accomplished and how that applies to your life, which means that you understand the gospel, which means that God has shone in your heart “to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

The closest you are to God, the further you are from harm. “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” (Psalm 91:1). Jesus is our shield. “This God—his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true;he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.” (Psalm 18:30)

I abide in Christ by desperately seeking His face. 2 Corinthians 3:18 which says: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” This abiding in Him, this fixing our gaze on Him, this looking to and thinking about Him, this putting Him before us again and again, basically this living together with Him, will mean that you see Him for who He really is, will result in becoming like Him, as you become like what you constantly behold. This work of transformation is a process. We are becoming like Christ. We are growing in our capacity to show Christ by being like Christ. That is God’s will for us. That we be progressively be conformed to the image of Christ. To me, this means being transformed to His image as a suffering servant on mission while we are here on the earth: showing His kind of character, which produces hope (Romans 5:3-4), showing His kind of love, which means laying your life down for your friends (John 13:34-35; 15:12-13), showing His kind of servant heart, which means through love serve another (Galatians 5:13-14), showing His kind of influence, which means be like salt and light to the world (Matthew 5:13-16), and this ultimately means being transformed to His glorious body (Phillipians 3:20-21) when we shall be like Him and see Him as He is (1 John 3:2) for that is what we inwardly groan for (Romans 8:23).

How Much Do YOU Hate Sin?

The question of how much I hate sin is on my mind more and more often. For as far as I can tell it is a question that comes from within, from the Holy Spirit prompting me to think about this. Yes, in last week’s sermon the famous verse of Hebrews 12:4 was used. And, no, in my struggle against sin I have not yet resisted to the point of shedding my blood. But this question of much I hate sin has been lingering a lot longer. I can only hope that it comes from an increasing desire to be more like Jesus, who is of course the embodiment of hating sin, and did resist it, regardless of all the struggles, to the point of shedding his blood. In the Garden of Gethsemane, “being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” (Luke 22:44).

It is a confronting question. And to be honest, I too often lose the fight. The workplace is such a place where I spend 40 hours a week with all non-believers and so my biggest exposure to “the world” in my daily life. And it’s a challenge. And it’s in the little things. There is a difference between not laughing about a improper joke, and still think in your heart that it is funny.

What sin do you think God hates the most? Pride. “The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.” (Proverbs 8:13). It is pride that’s the root of not acknowledging God: “In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, ‘There is no God.’” (Psalm 10:4).

So, maybe the question should be: How much do you hate pride? A way of measuring this is to look at what the fruit of pride is in your life. When I look to the Bible for an answer, I come to the following six fruits, although I am sure there are more.

Six Fruits of Pride

• Retaliation
  • “Love the LORD, all you his saints!The LORD preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.” (Psalm 31:23)
• Disgrace
  • “When pride comes, then comes disgrace,but with the humble is wisdom.” (Proverbs 11:2)
• Destruction
  • “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)
• Lowliness
  • “One’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.” (Proverbs 29:23)
  • “The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled,and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.” (Isaiah 2:11)
• Deception
  • “The pride of your heart has deceived you,you who live in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’” (Obadiah 1:3)
• Works of the Flesh
  • “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.” (Galatians 5:19-20a)

Two questions come out of this: How much do you see yourself in these? And, what are man’s enemies that tempt us to fall into sin leading to these? I will leave the first question for you to answer, but here is at least one answer to the second question.

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” (Ephesians 2:1-3).

If we look at these three verses from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, we can see three enemies:

1. The world (“following the course of this world“)
2. The devil (“following the prince of the power of the air“)
3. The flesh (“lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind“)

This echoes “The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” from 1 John 2:16. The character of the world expresses itself through the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. These lusts seek to draw our own flesh away into sin and worldliness. The idea behind the pride of life is someone who lives for superiority over others, mostly by impressing others through outward appearances – even if by deception.

In listing these aspects of the world, John may have in mind the first pursuit of worldliness, that of Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:6). Of Eve in the Garden of Eden, it is said that she took of the forbidden fruit when she saw that the tree was good for food. She thought about how good the fruit would taste, how it would satisfy her flesh. She went after the lust of the flesh. Of Eve in the Garden of Eden, it is said that she took of the forbidden fruit when she saw that the fruit was pleasant to the eyes. She saw how pretty and desirable it was, and it pleased her artistic sense. She went after the lust of the eyes. Of Eve in the Garden of Eden, it is said that she took of the forbidden fruit when she believed that it was desirable to make one wise. How smart the fruit would make her! How her husband would admire her! She went after the pride of life. God knows we have a fleshly, bodily nature, and physical needs that feel good when satisfied. Yet it is not in God’s nature to influence us through the lust of the flesh. God knows we have eyes, and that appearance means a lot to us. He made a beautiful world to please us! But God always looks beyond the outward appearance, and it is not in God’s nature to influence us through the lust of the eyes.

God knows we have emotional and psychological needs to be wanted and to accomplish things. He made us this way! But it is not in God’s nature to influence us through the pride of life. We often rarely appreciate how much the world dominates our thinking and how often our thoughts are more of the world than of the Father. We usually believe that we think much more biblically than we really do. We should rigorously measure our habits of thinking and see if they follow more the world or God our Father. Think of your standard for success: is it worldly or godly? Would you consider the apostle Paul a failure or a success? Think of your standard for what makes a person of the opposite sex appealing. Is it a worldly standard or a godly standard? Think of your standard for spirituality: is it worldly or godly? There is a worldly spirituality out there, and many people buy into it. There are many ways to measure our habits of thinking. And like Psalm 1 tells us, some are considered the way of the righteous, and some are considered the way of the wicked.

So, how much do YOU hate sin?

Galatians, Part 16 – The Gospel Is Our Only Boast

THE TEXT
“See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.” (Galatians 6:11-18)

In these final verses history, theology, and ethics are interwoven in a convincing summary of the key points Paul had been trying to make in all that went before.

PAUL AUTOGRAPH (v.11)
It was common convention of Hellenistic writing that a secretary or amanuensis would prepare the main body of the letter while the sender would append his signature and perhaps a few closing words of benediction as a way of attesting the contents of the letter and assuring the reader of his full endorsement. Assuming that Paul did employ a secretary to do the actual writing of the bulk of Galatians, we have no idea who that person may have been, but it is reasonable conjecture that the scribe of Galatians was one of the unnamed brothers to whom Paul alludes to in the opening of the letter. But why did Paul write is such big letters? Was it Paul’s poor eye sight (Galatians 4:15)? Or was his hand twisted or defective as the result of some harsh persecution he had received? Of was Paul simply reflecting the fact that he wrote not as a professional scribe but as a workman whose hands were more accustomed to shaping leather and making tents than to cultivating the kind of precise penmanship many of his readers would perhaps expect from a religious teacher? All of these are intriguing possibilities, but none of them can be set forth with certainty.

BOASTING IN THE CROSS (v.12-16)
Throughout Galatians Paul waged a steady war against the Judaizers, who had sown great confusion among the apostle’s recent converts by teaching that becoming Jewish was necessary for salvation. As Paul said before and would reiterate again in this passage, the issue at stake was not circumcision per se rather the salvific significance the false teachers attached to this ceremony. Paul again revisits this debate and issues a final attack. Paul is claiming that their basic motive was to make a good spiritual impression outwardly. They wanted the Galatians to be circumcised that they may boast about their flesh. Paul did not deny that there was a sincere conviction among his opponents, but he did claim that there sinister and self-serving motivation at work as well. They wanted to boast and brag about how many Gentile Christians they had converted into Jewish proselytes. Paul suggests one additional motivation for the insistence of his Jewish Christian opponents, namely to avoid being persecuted for the cause of Christ. In other words, he was saying: Sure, I could have avoided persecution too had I been willing to compromise the message of salvation by grace alone.

In contrast to the false teachers, who boasted and bragged about their own accomplishments and who were especially proud of their success in winning over Gentile believers to the requirement of circumcision, Paul declared in the strongest possible terms that the only possible ground and object of his own boasting was the cross of Jesus Christ. There was a kind of boasting that not only was permitted but held up to the Galatians as desirable and worthy of imitation: it was boasting in the cross, it was boasting in the Lord. In this and in this alone he would make his boast, in life and death, for all time and eternity. The false teachers Paul confronted in Galatia found the cross a matter of severe embarrassment. They could not deny that the Messiah had in fact been impaled on a Roman cross. That was too palpable and public an event for anyone to try to hide. But if they could not deny the cross, they would certainly de-emphasize it. They would conceal the full meaning of atonement by arrogating unto sinful human beings a share in their own salvation.

Not only is the world crucified to believers through their identification with Jesus’ once-for-all victory on the cross, but through the ongoing process of mortification and self-denial, believers are also crucified to the world (meaning the world system that in its basic values and orientation is alienated from God. To be crucified to the world, then, means to walk in the light, to bear the fruit of the Spirit, and to live in the freedom with which Christ has set us free. The new creation, then, involves the whole process of conversion: the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit leading to repentance and faith, the daily process of mortification and vivification, continual growth in holiness leading to eventual conformity to the image of Christ. The new creation implies a new nature with a new system of desires, affections, and habits, all wrought through the supernatural ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.

Who were the “Israel of God” for whom Paul also invoked divine mercy? This expression is found only here in the New Testament. It is tempting to follow the majority of commentators in interpreting this as a general appellation for the Christian church. But we cannot simply equate Israel and the church. First, while the grammatical structure of the verse is not entirely clear, the best translation would be, “May God give peace to all who walk according to this criterion, and mercy also to his faithful people Israel.” Second, it is strange that if Paul intended simply to equate the Gentile believers with the people of Israel that he would make this crucial identification here at the end of the letter and not in the main body where he developed at length his argument for justification by faith. Stranger still, Paul did not put his potent expression to use in his magisterial exposition on the role of Israel in salvation history in Romans 9-11. Third, although the New Testament elsewhere (1 Peter 2:9-10) refers to the Christian church as a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a people belonging to God, there is no explicit identification of the church as the “New Israel” anywhere in early Christian literature until AD 160. It is best, then, to see the “Israel of God” as an eschatological reference to the whole people of God, who will find mercy through the Messiah, including both converted Gentiles (the wild olive shoots who have been grafted in) and completed Jews (the natural branches God will yet redeem).

BRAND MARKS OF JESUS (v.17)
The Greek word for brand marks is ‘stigmata.’ Some have interpreted this word to mean that Paul actually bore in his hands, feet, and side the imprinted marks of Jesus’ passion and death. When Paul said he carried around in his body the death of Jesus (2 Corinthians 4:10) and that he constantly bore the Lord’s brand marks, he was referring to the actual scars of persecution and marks of physical suffering he received throughout his apostolic ministry because of his witness for the gospel. He is no fair-weather Christian but one who has come to know his Lord in the fellowship of His sufferings as well as the power of His resurrection. From a different angle, we can see that the Judaizers had their distinctive marks of circumcision of which they boasted in the flesh, while Paul had his distinctive marks for boasting in the cross. In this sense his marks are a seal and sure evidence of true doctrine and faith. Finally, the brand marks of Jesus recall the fact of Christian baptism to which Paul referred to in the heart of the letter. We cannot and should not try to duplicate Paul’s sufferings, for they were unique to his own apostolic mission. But every believer who has been baptized into the death of Christ has become identified with Jesus in the ‘koinonia’ of His sufferings no less than in the triumph of His resurrection. Baptism signifies a breach with the world, a passage from the realm of Satan into the ownership of Christ.

BENEDICTION (v.18)
Paul already provided a benediction of peace in verse 16. Here he concludes his letter with a second benediction, which is a prayer for the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ to be with the Galatians, whom he called again his brothers. Paul closes his letter pointing to the central theme that had been his primary concern throughout the epistle.

THE QUESTIONS

1. What thoughts seem to be heaviest on Paul’s heart as he makes his final comments?
2. Do any of your words or actions imply boasting in something other than the cross? If so, how? What can you do to resist this temptation?
3. How can you live as one who is crucified to the world, and only have the new creation count for anything?
4. Are there any ways in which you feel persecuted right now?

Galatians, Part 15 – The Gospel Leads Us To Do Good

THE TEXT
“One who is taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Galatians 6:6-10)

SHARING WITH TEACHERS (v.6)
In this context of caring for one another, Paul instructs those who are taught to support (share in all good things) those who teach them. What does Paul mean by share in all good things? The idea is focused on financial support, but not limited to it. The right relationship between teacher and taught, or minister and congregation, is one of koinonia, ‘fellowship’ or ‘partnership’. It isn’t payment; it is sharing. This is a basic, though sometimes neglected spiritual principle. Those who feed and bless you spiritually should be supported by you financially. Paul repeated this principle in several other places (1 Corinthians 9:11; 14; 1 Timothy 5:17; Luke 16:11).

It is interesting to speculate about why Paul felt it necessary to impart this particular word of instruction to the Galatian churches. We know that after the initial wave of evangelization in this region, Paul and Barnabas had appointed elders in every church, some of whom were perhaps singled out as the first pastors and teachers in these congregations. It could be that the Judaizing agitators had attacked the ministry of these men, who were far less able than Paul to defend the truth of the gospel against such interlopers. In turn, many of the Galatians may well have withdrawn material support from these church leaders in their infatuation with the new theology advanced by Paul’s opponents. In any event, Paul reminded them here of the importance of sustaining a faithful gospel ministry through generous financial support. Paul was not merely concerned to maintain the principle of paying the preacher. His burden was for the furtherance of the gospel, and he knew that the God-ordained means for accomplishing this was the steady proclamation of the Word of God by faithful men of God.

SOWING AND REAPING (v.7-8)
For those who are hesitant to share in all good things with those who teach them, Paul reminds them of God’s principle of sowing and reaping. Their giving isn’t like throwing away money; it is like planting seeds, and whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. In verse 7 the deception into which the Galatians had fallen, or were in danger of falling, was even worse. Make no mistake, Paul pleaded, for God is not about to be mocked. There will be a payment someday because a man reaps what he sows. You cannot outwit God; the crop you plant in the soil in the spring will inevitably sprout forth into the harvest of the fall. To regard sharing in all good things with him who teaches as a waste is to mock God. It is selfishness that mocks God’s generosity towards those who give to Him. Paul point is that God’s people should not share in all good things with him who teaches because it is good for the teacher. They should do it because it is good for the one who is taught and shares, and the principle of reaping and sowing demonstrates this.

If we continue to indulge in the works of the flesh, moving deeper and deeper into the pit of depravity, then we can be certain of the harvest we will receive – corruption. If we want to reap to the Spirit, we should not hesitate to sow to the Spirit with whatever resources God has given us. A farmer reaps the same as he has sown. If he plants wheat, wheat comes up. In the same way, if we sow to the flesh, the flesh will increase in size and strength. The farmer reaps the same as he has sown, but not exactly. The apple seed doesn’t just grow more apple seeds, but more apples with seeds. Even so, when we sow to the Spirit – even with material things – what we reap is not necessarily material things, but something better: of the Spirit we reap everlasting life. So we don’t give as a crude “investment” or money-making scheme, though we are completely confident we will never be the loser for giving. The farmer also reaps more if he has sown more, and the relationship between what he sows and what he reaps is exponential. A farmer can plant one apple seed and receive hundreds of apples over time. The principle of whatever a man sows, that he will also reap has application beyond giving and supporting teachers and ministers. It has a general application in life; what we get out is often what we put in. Yet, Paul is not promoting some law of spiritual “karma” that ensures we will get good when we do good, or always get bad when we do bad. If there were such an absolute spiritual law, it would surely damn us all. Instead, Paul simply relates the principle of sowing and reaping to the way we manage our resources before the Lord.

DON’T QUIT! (v.9-10)
Still trading on the agricultural imagery of seedtime and harvest, Paul here admonished his readers to persevere in the faith, knowing that at the proper time God will fulfill His promise and bring to pass the consummation of all things in accordance with the good pleasure of His own divine will. Throughout Galatians 5-6 Paul had instructed the Christians of Galatia to do a number of specific things: expel the agitators, love your neighbor as yourself, keep in step with the Spirit by manifesting the fruit of the Spirit in your lives, practice church discipline by restoring those who have fallen, bear one another’s burdens, examine yourself in light of the judgment seat of Christ, and provide material support for those who instruct you in the faith. In verse 9, Paul summarized all these duties under the generic rubric of doing good. Doing good is in this sense the same as fulfilling the law of Christ. Paul’s message to the Galatians was simply, “don’t quit!” Faced with the temptation of legalism on the one hand and libertinism on the other hand, many of Paul’s converts in Galatia were in danger of losing their first love, being diverted from witness and being diverted from witness and service into petty bickering and greedy self-concern.

As we wisely manage our resources before God under the principle of sowing and reaping, we need patience. This is because the harvest does not come immediately after you sow the seeds. It is easy, but dangerous, to lose heart. It describes a time when the work is hard and painful, but also unfinished and unrewarded. It’s easy to lose heart when we feel like that, but that is exactly when we must hang on and not grow weary while doing good. Paul could not let go of the fact that there is coming a day in which all persons will be brought to see themselves as God sees them, a time when God’s perfect love and perfect justice will prevail in heaven, on earth, and even under the earth. This is the blessed hope of the believer and the greatest motivating force for Christian ethics and Christian missions in the church today.

Not losing heart, we seek to do good with our resources, and to do good to all – but especially to those who are of God’s family. When Paul writes as we have opportunity and let us do good, he clearly includes himself in what he writes. He speaks to himself here as much as to the Galatians. Because of the danger brought in by the legalists, Paul’s work among them had not yet really been rewarded, so he needed to remember not to lose heart either. As summarized in verse 10, Christian ethics has a dual focus: one is universal and all-embracing (let us do good to everyone), and the other is particular and specific (especially to those who are of the household of faith). Paul’s universalistic appeal was based on the fact that all persons everywhere are created in the image of God and thus infinitely precious in His sight. However, in addition to this unrestricted ethical imperative, there is a further, particular obligation for the Christian to do good specifically to those who are of the household of faith. The emphasis is on the fact that Christians are believers. What distinguished Christians from other people was their faith. They were people who had put their trust in Jesus as their Savior and this was the most important thing about them.

THE QUESTIONS

1. Describe one situation in your life where you have reaped what you sown?
2. What opportunities do you have right now to do good?
3. Are you losing heart (growing weary) of doing good? How can we pray for you?
4. It says to do good especially to fellow believers. Do you know of a fellow believer in need who could need your help?

Galatians, Part 14 – The Gospel Is The Law Of Christ

THE TEXT
“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load.” (Galatians 6:1-5)

The Christian life in this present evil world is inevitably one of conflict and tension, but by no means does this necessarily mean defeat. The God’s grace every believer has been transferred from the realm of slavery and alienation into the position of freedom and sonship. However, these benefits of Christ are not gifts to be taken for granted, but are realities to be owned in the daily spheres of obedience and testing. For this reason, Paul now turns to apply the principles he had outlined in the preceding chapter to specific cases in the life of the Galatian churches.

BEARING ONE ANOTHER’S BURDENS (v.1-3)
Paul recognizes that there may be those among the Christians in Galatia who have been caught in any transgression. It connotes the idea of surprise: someone suddenly entrapped or discovered in an unseemly situation or heinous act. Paul’s wording here speaks of not a determined, hardened, sinner. Instead, the idea is of someone who has fallen into sin, finding themselves trapped in a place they never thought they would be. It is not the deliberate, the planned, aspect of sin that is stressed here, but rather the unwitting element. Mistake rather than misdeed is the force of the word, though without absolution of responsibility. Clearly Paul was responding to a real life situation in which concrete acts of wrongdoing such as those he had just listed among the works of the flesh were disrupting both the Galatians’ relationship to God and their fellowship with one another.

What were the believers to do in such a situation? The overtaken ones need to be restored. They are not to be ignored. They are not to be excused. They are not to be destroyed. The goal is always restoration. And Paul addressed this advice to those who are spiritual, which are those Christians who walk in the Spirit, are led by the Spirit, and keep in step with the Spirit. Those who are spiritually minded, that is, those whole lives give evidence of the fruit of the Spirit, have special responsibility to take the initiative in seeking restoration and reconciliation with those who have been caught in such an error. But how is this to be done? “Kataritzo” means to “put in order” and so to “restore to its former condition.” It was used in secular Greek as a medical term for setting a fractured or dislocated bone. The verb is instructive. This job of restoration is often neglected in the church. We have a tendency to either pretend the sin never happened, or we tend to react too harshly towards the one who has sinned. The balance between these two extremes can only be negotiated by the spiritual. It should be normal to do what God says here, but it isn’t. It is all too easy to respond to someone’s sin with gossip, harsh judgment, or undiscerning approval. Restoration must always be done in a spirit of gentleness, with full understanding of our own weakness and corruption. Those doing the restoring must guard against the temptation of pride, as well as the same temptation the overtaken one struggled with. Thus while Paul was deeply grieved over the loose living and immoral behavior of the Galatian believers, he was equally anxious that the process of corrective church discipline would be conducting based on the fruit of the Spirit and the law of love.

The church of Jesus Christ is a family of born-again brothers and sisters supernaturally knit together by the Holy Spirit in a common fellowship of mutual edification and love. In this context Paul admonished his readers to bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. When Paul brings up the idea of the one overtaken in any trespass, it paints the picture of a person sagging under a heavy load. Now, he expands the idea to encourage every Christian to bear one another’s burdens. The focus isn’t on “expect others to bear your burdens.” That is self-focused, and always leads to pride, frustration, discouragement, and depression. Instead, God always directs us to be others-focused, and says, “bear one another’s burdens.” This is a simple command to obey. Look for a brother or a sister with a burden, and help them with it. It isn’t complicated, and it doesn’t take a huge program or infrastructure to do it. Just look for a burden to bear and bear it!

We may gather four important truths about practical Christian living from Paul’s injunction to bear one another’s burdens:

1. The Reality of Burdens. All Christians have burdens. Our burdens may differ in size and shape and will vary in kind, but no Christian is exempt from burdens. Creation itself is broken and groaning, and believers groan with it, waiting for the final deliverance that will come only with the return of our Redeemer in glory.
2. The Myth of Self-sufficiency. We all have burdens, and God does not intend for us to carry them by ourselves in isolation from our brothers and sisters.
3. The Imperative of Mutuality. Because all Christians have burdens and since none are sufficient unto themselves to bear their burdens alone, God has so tempered the body of Christ that its members are to be priests to one another, bearing each other’s burdens and so fulfilling the law of Christ. “But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” (1 Corinthians 12:24ff-26). The command to bear one another’s burdens in no way mitigates against the other New Testament imperative to cast all our cares on Christ, since He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). The duty of bearing one another’s burdens is stated in the imperative mood; it’s not an option but a command.
4. Living By the Law of Christ. Bear one another’s burdens, Paul said, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Nowhere else did Paul use the expression “the law of Christ.” This to Paul means the whole tradition of Jesus’ ethical teaching, confirmed by His character and conduct and reproduced within His people by the power of the Spirit.

What will keep us from bearing one another’s burdens and fulfilling the law of Christ? Pride, which is when anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing. It is often pride that keeps us from ministering to one another as we should. As much as anything, pride is self-focus. Pride doesn’t necessarily say, “I’m better than you are.” Pride simply says “I’m more important than you are, so I deserve more of my own attention and love than you do.” Instead, Biblical humility tells us, “I’m nothing but you are something. Let me care about your burdens and needs.” When anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, it also stifles ministry in another way. People, out of pride, will refuse to receive help when someone else reaches out to help bear their burden. It is important to understand that Paul writes to every Christian when he says, “when he is nothing.” In the sense Paul uses the idea here, it isn’t that some Christians are something, and others are nothing, and the problem is that the nothings think they are one of the somethings. Instead, Paul writes with the same idea behind Philippians 2:3b-4: “in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” If I esteem you above me, and you esteem me above you, a marvelous thing happens: we have a community where everyone is looked up to, and no one is looked down on! There are few things more self-deceptive than pride. To be proud is to be blind – blind to the freely given favor and gifts of God, blind to our sin and depravity, blind to the good in other, and blind to the foolishness of self-centeredness.

CARRYING ONE’S OWN LOAD (v.4-5)
Verses 4 and 5 need to be read in tandem, for they represent two diverse aspects of the Christian’s scrutiny and examination for God. The first, the serious self-examination Paul enjoined upon all believers regarding their Christian walk in this present life. The second, the evaluation that will be disclosed by Christ Himself when every believer appears before His Judgment Seat to give an account of the stewardship of his life. Instead of deceiving ourselves, we must take a careful and a sober examination of our works before God. If we don’t, and if we carry on under our self-deception, then we may think our works are approved before God, when really they aren’t. We want to have our work approved before God, so that our rejoicing on the day of reward can be for our own work (himself alone), and not in the work of another. There is another aspect to rejoicing in himself. It means having joy at your own walk with the Lord, instead of feeling spiritual because some around you perhaps are overtaken in any trespass.

1. The Difference Between Introspection and Self-examination. The former can easily devolve into a kind of narcissistic, spiritual navel-gazing that has more in common with types of Eastern mysticism than with classic models of the devotional life in historic Christianity. True self-examination is not merely taking one’s spiritual beat on a regular basis but rather submitting one’s thoughts, attitudes, and actions to the will of God and the mind of Christ revealed in Scripture. To test something implies there is some external standard by which the quality of purity of the object can be measured with accuracy. An important part of bearing one another’s burdens is to offer spiritual guidance and friendship to one another, holding each other accountable to the high calling of God in our lives.
2. Competition and Boasting in the Christian Life. God will not hold you accountable for the gifts he gave to someone else, so don’t compare yourself to someone else. God wants to bring your own life before the open pages of Scripture. Are you more loving and patient than you were this time last year? How do you gauge your gentleness and self-control, your kindness and faithfulness? No one who honestly brings his of her life before God in this kind of way is going to have any interest in comparing himself to someone else. This kind of scrutiny will issue in confession, not competition, in humility, not in vainglory.

It seems that Paul is contradicting himself within the space of three verses. In 6:2 he instructed the Galatians to carry each other’s burdens. Now in 6:5 he said that each one should carry each own load. There is no contradiction between bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2) and each one shall bear his own load (Galatians 6:5). In Galatians 6:5, Paul speaks of our final accountability before God. In Galatians 6:2, he speaks of our need to care for others in the body of Christ. There is also a difference in the wording Paul uses. The word for load in Galatians 6:5 is a common term for a man’s backpack. The word for burdens in Galatians 6:2 is a different word meaning “heavy burdens” – those that are more than a man should carry. In the end, we will are all responsible for our own work, but we can help bear the burdens of others.

THE QUESTIONS

1. Is anyone caught in transgression at the moment? Has someone fallen into sin and feels trapped in a place you never thought you would be?
2. What do you think Paul means by “you who are spiritual”?
3. What would you practically consider to be a “spirit of gentleness”?
4. Are there any burdens that we can bear for one another?
5. Do you ever take a careful and a sober examination of your works before God?

Galatians, Part 13 – The Gospel Exhorts Us To Be Led By The Spirit

My study notes of the thirteenth part of our study of the book of Galatians with our community group.

THE TEXT
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:16-26)

CONFLICT AND VICTORY (v.16-18)
Paul’s diagnosis of the conflict that confronts every Christian begins with a command: walk by the Spirit, and a promise: you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Both the command and the promise are conditioned upon the freedom which Paul talked about earlier, which is always under attack as it can be subverted by for instance legalism. True Christian liberty avoids these dangerous extremes by expressing itself in loving service to the neighbor and joyful fulfillment of the law of God. But where does the believer acquire the resources for this kind of victorious Christian living? Paul’s answer: the Holy Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit of God who made us free from sin and given us new life in regeneration can keep us truly free as we experience through walking in him the power of sanctification. In chapter 5, Paul uses four distinct verbs to designate the Spirit-controlled life of the believer, all of which are roughly equivalent in meaning; each suggests a relationship of dynamic interaction, direction, and purpose:

1. To walk in the Spirit (v.16)
2. To be led by the Spirit (v.18)
3. To live by the Spirit (v.25a)
4. To keep in step with the Spirit (v.25b)

Paul continues to set forth in the starkest terms possible the ethical dualism that rages in the world at large and from which no believer who must live in that real world can be exempt. In verse 17, flesh and Spirit are portrayed as two warring forces locked in mortal conflict within the life of the believer. So long as we remain in this present life, we never outgrow or transcend the spiritual conflict Paul was describing in this passage. The conflict between flesh and Spirit, and not only with reference to sexual temptations, is intense and unrelenting. One of the greatest dangers in the Christian life is complacency, the temptation to imagine oneself invulnerable to the allurement of the flesh. In closure, Paul reiterates what he just said in a conditional sentence that also brought back into view the central theological issue he had wrestled with throughout the letter. Life in the Spirit stands in irreconcilable conflict with the existence under the law. Believers are now energized to fulfill the true intention of the law precisely because they have been set free from the law by the possession of the Spirit.

VIRTUES AND VICES (v.19-26)
In verses 19-26 Paul developed further the antithesis between flesh and Spirit in terms of two distinctive listings of ethical qualities: the works of the flesh, and the fruit of the Spirit. These two lists bring to concrete expression Paul’s earlier admonition that the Galatians should not use their Christian liberty for indulgence of the flesh, as well as exhorting them to serve one another in love by walking and being led by the Spirit. At the conclusion of the two lists Paul appended two corresponding conclusions: first, the statement that belonging to Jesus Christ involves crucifixion of the flesh and, second, the reminder that living by the Spirit means keeping in step with the Spirit so that the freedom for which Christ has set us free becomes neither a pretext for libertinism nor a step backward into legalism. In contrasting the flesh and the Spirit, Paul was not spinning out a general theory of ethics but rather addressing particular problems related to practical Christian living in the Galatian congregations. For Paul flesh and Spirit were two powers locked in conflict on the battlefield of every individual Christian. We have not properly understood the eschatological tension that characterizes the church of Jesus Christ in this present evil world until we have placed Paul’s antithesis between flesh and Spirit in its broader cosmic context.

We do well to notice two important differences in the way the two lists were formulated:

1. Paul did not contrast the works of the flesh with opposing works of the Spirit. The works of the flesh are the products of fallen human beings in their devising, conniving, and manufacturing efforts of self-actualization. The works of the flesh have littered the human landscape with misery, violence, and death. When Paul proceeded to describe the modality of the Spirit-led life, however, he deliberately shifted from the language of technology to that of nature. That which the Holy Spirit effects in the lives of the believers is the result of his indwelling presence and the spiritual metamorphosis that dynamic reality brings about, just like the product yielded by a fruit tree is a gift.
2. Paul’s list of heinous sins is deliberately defined as plural in number, while the fruit of the Spirit is noticeably singular. There is one fruit of the Spirit that manifests itself in nine Christian graces nicely grouped in three well-balanced triplets: (1) love, joy, peace; (2) patience, kindness, goodness; (3) faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. By contrast, the works of the flesh are a seemingly random assortment of terms with no inherent consistency or logical sequence.

THE WORKS OF THE FLESH: A CATALOG OF EVIL (v.19-21)
Paul has just written about the battle between the flesh and the Spirit in every believer. Though it is an interior, invisible battle, the results are outwardly evident. We can’t see the flesh, but we can see what it does. It is important to understand that the Holy Spirit never leads anyone in any of these things.

Sensual Sins
It is significant that the first three acts in Paul’s list of sins have to do with loose sexual relations. It resonates Jesus’ own categorizing of unclean acts that comes out of the heart and defile the whole person (Mark 7:20-22). Why this prioritizing of sexual immorality? It is not because these sins are more intrinsically heinous than the others but rather because they display more graphically the self-centeredness and rebellion against God’s norm that mark all of the others as well. For believers to be caught up in sexual misconduct deeply grieves the Holy Spirit, whose presence within their lives has made of their bodies temples unto the Lord.

Sexual immorality (porneia)
The word ‘porneia’ originally meant “prostitution” although by the time of Paul it had gained the more general meaning of sexual immorality. It includes any unlawful sexual intercourse, including adultery and incest. Acts of sexual immorality, although often done in the name of love, are really the antithesis of love, which is the foremost fruit of the Spirit. Whenever a couple is afraid to follow through with a proper, legal marriage, it shows they don’t fully trust each other or don’t fully trust God – yet they want the benefits of marriage without the commitment of marriage. The Apostle Paul and the Bible has a word for that: fornication.

Impurity (akatharsia)
This word literally means “uncleanness” and has both a medical and ceremonial connotation. Even after Jesus had healed or cleansed a leper, he required him to complete the ritual of purification in accordance with the Old Testament provision. Uncleanness, then, speaks of the defilement of sexual sin and the separation from God that it brings. It should be thought of as the opposite of purity. If it isn’t pure before God, then it is impurity. Many today excuse themselves by saying, “Well, we did this and this and this, but we didn’t go all the way.” Others say, “My pornography habit isn’t wrong, because I’m not actually committing sexual sin with another person.” But the word for uncleanness here is general enough to let us know that all of these things are works of the flesh. Impurity also covers impure speech, or suggestive speaking filled with double meanings.

Sensuality (aselgeia)
A love of sin so reckless and so audacious that a man has ceased to care what God or man thinks of his actions. It speaks of the total loss of limits, the lack of restraint, decency, and self-respect. It speaks of someone who flaunts their immorality, throwing off all restraint and having no sense of shame, propriety, or embarrassment.

Religious Sins
Paul moved from deeds of impurity to consider two items associated with the heathen worship of false gods. They are sins of worship, and remind us that it isn’t only tragic to worship the wrong God, or seek the wrong spiritual power – it is sinful as well.

Idolatry (eidōlolatria)
Idolatry is the worship of any god except the Lord God revealed to us by the Bible and in the person of Jesus Christ. When people serve a god of their own opinion, of their own creation, they reject the true and living God – and that is sin. Someone might say, “Well, I can believe whatever I want!” and they certainly can. But they can also bear the consequences of their wrong belief.

Sorcery (pharmakeia)
At the root of this word is ‘pharmakon,’ literally “drug,” from which we derive our English word “pharmacy.” In classical Greek it referred to the use of drugs for medicinal or more sinister purposes, e.g. poisoning. In the New Testament it is invariably associated with the occult. Although it conveys the idea of black magic and demonic control, its main meaning is the use of drugs with occult properties for a variety of purposes.

Interpersonal Sins
The following set of eighth sins are “people” sins. They are sins that primarily express themselves in how we treat others. God cares about our sexual and moral purity, and He cares about the purity of our religion and worship. But He also passionately cares about how we treat one another. The fact that Paul uses more words to describe these interpersonal sins shows how important our treatment of each other is to God.

Enmity (echthrai)
This is the opposite of love. In Romans 8:7 Paul used this same word to describe hostility of the sinful mind to God. Here, however, its destructive force is played out on the plane of human relationships. It is an attitude of the heart which expresses itself in many different ways (which are described subsequently), but this word describes the inner motivation for the ill treatment of others.

Strife (eris)
Originally, this word had mainly to do with the rivalry for prizes. It means the rivalry which has found its outcome in quarrellings and wrangling. Most commonly it is translated as strife (as in Romans 13:13 and 1 Corinthians 3:3), and simply speaks of a combative and argumentative spirit. Paul was aware of some who even preached Christ “out of envy and rivalry” (Philippians 1:15). This shows that it is possible for the Lord to use even unworthy motives and selfish means to accomplish the greatest good.

Jealousy (zēlos)
Jealousy can be used in the Bible in a good sense to describe even God himself. But here a negative connotation is meant. A jealous person is someone who wants what other people have. At the root of jealousy is the basic posture of ingratitude to God, a failure to accept one’s life as a gift from God.

Fits of anger (thymoi)
It speaks of a sudden flash of anger, not a settled state of anger. It means to lose your temper, being unable to control your anger. Such fits of rage are a form of conduct unbecoming to a Christian. They drag us away from God and the promptings of his spirit and further enmesh us in the works of the flesh.

Rivalries (eritheiai)
This Greek word has an interesting history. It started out as a perfectly respectable word meaning “to work for pay.” Over time, it began to mean the kind of work that is done for money and for no other reason. Then it was used to describe politicians who campaign for election, not for what service they can give to the government and the people, but only for their own glory and benefit. It ended up meaning ‘selfish ambition’, the ambition which has no conception of service and whose only aims are profit and power. It is the heart of a person whose first question is always, “What’s in it for me?”

Dissensions (dichostasiai)
This word literally means “standing apart.” It carries political overtones suggesting the cultivation of a party spirit or exclusive elite within the church. Whenever this happens, the unity and fellowship of the body of Christ is fractured.

Divisions (haireseis)
This word originally simply meant “to choose.” Over time, it came to mean someone who divisively expressed their “choices” or opinions. We think today of heresies in terms of wrong ideas and teachings; but the emphasis in the word is actually the wrongful dividing over opinions. Divisions can be thought of as hardened dissensions. There is all the difference in the world between believing that we are right and believing that everyone is wrong. Unshakable conviction is a Christian virtue; unyielding intolerance is a sin.

Envy (phthonoi)
Envy doesn’t so much want what someone else has (as in jealousy), but it is bitter just because someone else has something and we don’t. The Greek word implies a plural, suggesting the multitude of expressions of envious desire.

Social Sins
The following can be thought of as social sins – sins that are often committed in the company of other people. The fact that Paul includes these two sins in his list shows that they were works of the flesh that the Galatian Christians had to be on guard against. They let us see that the early church was not made up of people whose pre-Christian lives were of the highest standard.

Drunkenness (methai)
While Christians may differ as to if a Christian can drink alcohol, the Scriptures precisely forbid drunkenness. We must not think that only being “falling down drunk” is a sin; but being impaired in any way by drink is sin, as well as drinking with the intention of becoming impaired.

Orgies (kōmos)
This word doesn’t mean simply having a party or a good time. It means unrestrained partying. In all of the cases where it’s used in the New Testament (Romans 13:13; 1 Peter 4:3) it is linked with the sin of drunkenness.

Throughout these verses Paul has led us down fifteen steps into the pit of depravity. He has shown us the ugly reality of the flesh. Only the interposition of divine grace made operative by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit can rescue one from the snare of such a loveless life. To walk in these works of the flesh is to be in plain rebellion against God, and those in plain rebellion against God will not inherit the kingdom of God. Paul knew that we are saved by God’s grace and Jesus’ work alone, not by what we have done, are doing, or promise to do. But he also knew that those who are saved by God’s grace have a high moral obligation to fulfill – not to earn salvation, but in gratitude for salvation, and in simple consistency with who we are in Jesus. When we come to Jesus to have our sins forgiven and our soul saved, He also changes our life. It doesn’t happen all at once, and the work will never be perfected on this side of eternity, but there will be a real change none the less (1 John 3:5-9). The idea isn’t that a Christian could never commit these sins, but that they could never stay in these sins.

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT: A CATALOG OF GRACE (v.22-23)
The works of the flesh seem overwhelming – both in us and around us. God is good enough, and big enough, to change everything with but the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit can always conquer the works of the flesh. Significantly, it is the fruit of the Spirit set across from the works of the flesh. Works are works, and fruit is fruit. Fruit has several important characteristics. Fruit isn’t achieved by working, but is birthed by abiding. Fruit is fragile. Fruit reproduces itself. Fruit is attractive. Fruit nourishes. Paul used the plural is describing life after the flesh (works of the flesh), but he uses the singular (fruit, not fruits, of the Spirit). In the big picture, the Spirit has one work to do in all of us. These aren’t the gifts of the Spirit, which are distributed on an individual basis by the will of the Spirit; this is something for every Christian. The fruit of the (Holy) Spirit is the work which His presence within us accomplishes. They are not individual fruits from which we pick and choose, but it is one nine-fold fruit that characterizes all who truly walk in the Holy Spirit. Each of the nine qualities flows into each other, mutually enriching and reinforcing the process of sanctification in the life of the believer. Here, then, are the evidences of a Spirit-filled life.

Dallas Willard writes in his book “The Great Omission” the following about the fruit of the Spirit with regards to Christian spiritual formation (the forming or maturing of the Spirit within us): “The fruit of the spirit is simply the inner character of Jesus Himself that is brought about in us through the process of Christian spiritual formation. It is the outcome of spiritual formation. It is “Christ formed in us.” It is called fruit because, like the fruit of trees or vines, it is an outgrowth of what we have become, not the result of a special effort to bear fruit. And we have become “fruitful” in this way because we have received the presence of Christ’s Spirit through the process of spiritual formation, and now that Spirit, interacting with us, fills us with love, joy, peace, … Clearly, as the fruit of the Spirit increases within us it becomes a dynamic element in its own right, in the ongoing process of spiritual formation. To be possessed of love, joy, peace … is to have rich resources for sustaining and enhancing a faith-full life and for growth in all dimensions of inward and outward grace. The fruit of the Spirit and spiritual formation become mutually supportive as spiritual formation progresses in the individual.”

Believer’s Attitude to God

Love (agape)
Agape is a love more of decision than of the spontaneous heart; as much a matter of the mind than the heart, because it chooses to love the undeserving. Agape has to do with the mind: it is not simply an emotion which rises unbidden in our hearts; it is a principle by which we deliberately live. It means unconquerable benevolence. It means that no matter what a man may do to us by way of insult or injury or humiliation we will never seek anything else but his highest good. We could say that this is a love of the Spirit, because it is a fruit of the Spirit. It is also helpful to understand the works of the flesh in the light of this love of the Spirit. Sensual sins are counterfeits of love among people. Religious sins are counterfeits of love to God. Interpersonal sins are all opposites of love. Social sins are sad attempts to fill the void only love can fill.

Joy (chara)
We could say that this is joy of the Spirit, because it is a higher joy than just the thrill of an exciting experience or a wonderful set of circumstances. It is a joy that can abide and remain, even when circumstances seem terrible. It is not the joy that comes from earthly things, still less from triumphing over someone else in competition. It is a joy whose foundation is God.

Peace (eirēnē)
This peace is peace with God, peace with people, and it is a positive peace, filled with blessing and goodness – not simply the absence of fighting. We could say that this peace is a peace of the Spirit, because it is a higher peace than just what comes when everything is calm and settled. This is a peace of God, which surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7). It means not just freedom from trouble but everything that makes for a man’s highest good. Here it means that tranquility of heart which derives from the all-pervading consciousness that our times are in the hands of God.

Believer’s Attitude to Other People

Patience (makrothymia)
Patience means that you can have love, joy, and peace even over a period of time when people and events annoy you. God is not quickly irritated with us (Romans 2:4, 9:22), so we should not be quickly irritated with others.

Kindness (chrēstotēs)
Like patience, kindness is a characteristic of God intended to be reproduced by the Spirit in God’s people. God is forbearing and kind toward sinners in his wooing of them to salvation. Kindness is an expression of relationship. Each one of the qualities talked about in passages like Ephesians 4:32 and Colossians 3:12, express themselves in relationship. A significant measure of the Christian life is found simply in how we treat people and the quality of our relationship with them. This doesn’t just happen; we have to be diligent (constant in our effort).

Goodness (agathōsynē)
Goodness means uprightness of heart and life. It’s the quality or moral excellence of the good person. It’s a kindly disposition towards others. God is the final standard of good, and that all that God is and does is worthy of approval (Luke 18:19). Only God is good, none other.

Believer’s Attitude to Self

Faithfulness (pistis)
The idea is that the Spirit of God works in us faithfulness both to God and to people. Our God is a faithful God. He is “The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He” (Deuteronomy 32:4). If we understand how much it hurts God is we are unfaithful to Him (read about the prophet Hosea for instance) then we can and should only respond by being faithful to Him. It’s an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit, a form of love, to be faithful (not only towards God but also towards others). And like all other aspects of the fruit of the Spirit, it’s not achieved by working, but it birthed by abiding in Him. And so there is an interaction: He is always faithful to us (covenant), but the more we are faithful to Him, the more we abide in Him, the more we are faithful to Him.

Gentleness (praotēs)
The word has the idea of being teachable, not having a superior attitude, not demanding one’s rights. It isn’t timidity or passiveness; It is the quality of the man who is always angry at the right time and never at the wrong time. It means moral goodness or integrity. It signifies not merely goodness as a quality; rather it is goodness in action, goodness expressing itself in deeds. It’s a kindly activity on their behalf. We have a gentle God, who says to “take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29), who “like a shepherd will tend His flock, in His arm He will gather the lambs and carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes” (Isaiah 40:11)

Self-control (egkrateia)
It is the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions, especially his sensual appetites. This type of self-control is also spoken of in 2 Peter 1:5-7, which talks about growing in Christian virtue. Evident here is that you need knowledge (understanding) in order to practice self-control; and that self-control leads to perseverance which ultimately leads to godliness and (agapē) love. Self-control goes hand-in-hand with putting up a good fight, working hard. Self-control, then, is being in control of one’s self; in the context of the Scriptures, the control of self so as to be in harmony with the will of God. You say no by faith in the superior power and pleasure of Christ. The self-control that is the fruit of the Spirit is actually Christ-control.

DEAD OR ALIVE (v.24-26)
Verse 24-25 serve as a dual conclusion to Paul’s two catalogues of vices and virtues. In these verses Paul asserts the sufficiency of the Spirit to deal with the flesh by pointing the way to Christian victory. That way is the path of sanctification Paul describes here in terms of the dual process of mortification (daily dying to the flesh) and vivification (continuous growth in grace through the new life of the Spirit). In verse 24 crucifixion of the flesh is described not as something done to us but rather something done by us. Believers themselves are the agents of this crucifixion. Paul was here describing the process of mortification through the disciplines of prayer, fasting, repentance, and self-control. Verse 24 tells us that there is no shortcut to spiritual victory in the life of a Christian. No second blessing, or rededication, or spiritual quick-fix can take the place of consistent, obedient, vigilant, renunciation of the world.

Paul continues by giving us an exhortation to obedience. Having been engrafted into his body of faith, we are to walk in the Spirit, be led by the Spirit, and keep in step with the Spirit every day of our lives. It suggests the basic idea of discipleship: conformity to Christ under the leadership of the Spirit. Paul concludes this section of walking in the Spirit with this warning, knowing that some will become conceited in their own walk in the Spirit. What a masterful stroke of Satan this can be! Finally, a child of God is walking in the Spirit – then he tempts them to be conceited about it. Soon, they are sure they almost always sure they are right and everyone else is wrong. When we are conceited – always sure we are right, always confident in our opinions and perceptions – it definitely provokes other people. When we are conceited, we also are open to the sin of envy. If we know someone is more right, or more successful than we are, we resent it and envy them.

This whole chapter lends itself to a searching examination of ourselves. We often think that our problems and difficulties are all outside of ourselves. We think that we would be fine if everyone just treated us right and if circumstances just got better. But that ignores the tenor of this who chapter: the problems are in us, and need to be dealt with by the Spirit of God. With that kind of reality check, we can see a new world, and a new life – and not one other person, one other circumstance has to change! All we must do is yield to the Spirit of God, and begin to truly walk in the Spirit.

THE QUESTIONS

1. How does the Spirit express His desires to us? How do you know if an internal prompting is from the Spirit of God or just our own thoughts?
2. What part does human thought and effort play in producing the fruit of the Spirit?
3. What can a person do to counteract all the stimulation and attention the sinful nature gets?

Galatians, Part 12 – The Gospel Gives Us Freedom in Jesus Christ

My study notes of the twelfth part of our study of the book of Galatians with our community group.

THE TEXT
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view than mine, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves! For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.” (Galatians 5:1-15)

INTRODUCTION
Today we are going to talk about what I would consider the greatest paradox in the Bible. And if by the end of our time you understand this paradox that would be great… because then you can explain to it me. I’ve been thinking a lot about this section of Scripture, the first half of Galatians 5, where Paul moves from doctrine to practice, from theology to ethics. And to be honest with you, the text bothers me quite a bit. Not because I don’t understand what it says, because I think I do. It bothers me because Paul contrasts legalism and love. Paul contrasts those who practice legalism with those who practice love. And both are very subtle. And I know for me it’s easy to think that I am not a legalist on the one hand, and that I love people on the other hand. But I’ve come to realize that’s a dangerous assumption to make, and one that actually could be quite self-righteous. It is self-righteous to think that when it comes to my love for God and my love for others, that although not perfect, most of the time I am doing well in this.

The reason why I am saying this is because I think that if I could sit in a café and have a cup of tea and apple pie with Jesus, and would ask Him to explain what it means to love Him and to love others in a non-legalistic way, that His answer would be so far removed from what I think it means that my reaction would be: “Really? Are you kidding me? Is this really what this means?” Now, you could say that I am hard on myself for thinking that I am a legalist, or that I am not loving God or loving people. But that’s not what I am saying. What I am saying is that I do not want to assume that I am not a legalist or that I am loving God or people. There is a difference. So, that’s why I am so bothered by this text. It affects me deeply on a practical level. But it also affects me on a theologically level, because, as you will come to see in a minute, there is a great paradox that Paul will tell us here. There are some difficult things in this passage, but I want to keep it simple and really try to get to the heart of the message, and what I want to do is contrast the legalism and the love.

In summary, the issue in Galatians is very simply this: the church had been started by the apostle Paul and he had left to go on his missionary journeys to plant other churches. In his absence the church had gotten off to a pretty good start, doing well, loving Jesus, obeying the commands of God out of love for Jesus, following the leading of the Holy Spirit, and growing. However, what had happened was that false teachers had infiltrated the church to spy on their freedom in Christ. They had come in to fix this church and to fix these people. And what they were not doing was pointing toward Jesus, but they were pointing toward themselves. They had brought legalism and division into the church that was threatening the very existence of the church.

Now the goal of the church is to glorify God, who is our Father, by loving, serving, obeying, and following Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit. So it’s about living by the power of the Holy Spirit in such a way as to glorify and to follow Jesus as we honor the Father together with Him. That’s the Christian life. What had happened is that these false teachers had come in and told them that it was all good and well to follow Jesus, but that they also needed them; their teaching, their rules, their regulations. And that by adding these things they would become even better followers of Jesus.

So Paul starts off by telling us what Jesus Christ has accomplished for us.

IT’S ABOUT FREEDOM IN CHRIST (v.1)
What the Bible teaches is the opposite of how we perceive the world works. We believe that we are free people, born in a free country, who are free to do or become whatever it is that we desire. We think of “the power to exercise choice and make decisions without constraint from within or without; a license to do as one wants” (as dictionary.com beautifully says). The Bible tells us the complete opposite. It says that we are born enslaved to sin and death. That we are literally in slavery to those two things. Jesus said in John 8:34 that “everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.” James 1:14-15 says that “each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” 1 John 5:17 says that “all wrongdoing is sin”, James 4:17 says that “whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” And Romans 6:23 says that “the wages of sin is death”. We are enslaved to sin. We cannot help ourselves. And it leads to death. We all die. No matter how much we try to fight it by whatever means you can think of, we cannot stop sinning or not die. But here’s the thing: God knows that we are in this predicament, and what He has done is give us Jesus, who has come to us in ultimate humility and he has lived without sin and He has died for our sin. Our sins were literally placed upon Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says it best: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus has taken our sin and Jesus has taken our death. And He resurrected, conquering sin and death, and so no longer must we be enslaved to sin and enslaved to death. But by God’s grace we are liberated, we are freed so we no longer have to die, but have eternal life. We are freed so we don’t have to be enslaved to our sin. We are free to love God and walk away from our sin. Jesus and sin cannot coexist. So the closer you are to Jesus the further you wander from your sin. Paul is saying that we shouldn’t focus on being moral, or being religious, or being spiritual, or being good. Focus on Jesus, and you will find that you will become spiritual, and you become moral. You become a different person. And it’s not to improve you, it is to honor Him. The focus goes off of self and it goes toward loving Jesus. And that is the mark of Christian freedom: it’s no longer about me, it’s about Jesus. It’s not about me being good, it’s about Him being good. It’s not about what I can do, but about what I can do through His power in me. And then all of the glory and all of the joy goes to Jesus. It’s worship. When you first received the Holy Spirit, you also received the gift of freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17 says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Paul is exhorting us to make full use of our precious birthright as a believer, our freedom. And we have to remember it’s Christ who made us free. We don’t make ourselves free. Freedom is a gift of Jesus, given to us and received by faith. If we live in bondage to a legal relationship with God, it isn’t because God wills it. God pleads with us to take His strength and walk in that freedom, and to not be entangled again with a yoke of slavery. It’s a freedom from the penalty and power of sin right now, and it’s a freedom from the very presence of sin in the future.

Paul then goes on by telling the consequences of forgetting this simple truth, because we are prone to forget, and forget about Jesus, and we get into doing all sorts of things. But as we walk further away from Jesus, we walk further away from freedom into slavery.

CONSEQUENCE #1: IF YOU DON’T ACCEPT JESUS, YOU HAVE TO BE PERFECT (v.2-4)
Here is what Paul is saying; there are two ways to get saved. You accept Jesus. You accept what He has done. You accept that He died, that He was buried, and that He rose again, and through that you accept the gift of His righteousness, which gives you a right standing before God; or, you have to be perfect. You don’t accept Jesus and try to attain your own righteousness. You try to get a right standing before God by what you do instead of what Jesus has done for you. But, if we come to God on the basis of our own law-keeping, then our law-keeping must be perfect, because God is perfect. Remember what James said? “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.” (James 2:10). No amount of obedience makes up for one act of disobedience. If you are pulled over for speeding, it will do not good to protest that you are a faithful husband, a good taxpayer, and have obeyed the speed limit many times, because all that is irrelevant. You have still broken the speeding law and are guilty under it. Paul warns us that it’s an all or nothing deal when it comes to your standing before God: You either say that you need Jesus, and accept His righteousness (and thus live in it!), or you say you don’t need Jesus, and try to do it on your own (but then realize that you’ve already failed, because you are not perfect!) Now the thing is that you might be saying: “Well, that’s simple. I believe Jesus. I choose Jesus”. And Paul is saying: “Great! But then why are you still trying to do it on your own?!” And the truth is that we believe we need a more obvious indicator. Well, I got baptized, I spoke in tongues, I memorized these verses, I read the Bible every day, I go to church every week, I volunteer a lot, or I do this or that every day. And Paul says, no, it has to be just Jesus. You don’t need to add any human effort to the gospel to make it work, to show that you are a Christian. The only way to show that you are a Christian is that you love Jesus and the Spirit of God indwells you. If you don’t love Jesus it’s all pointless. But what ends up happening is that Jesus transforms us and then we do certain things out of that new life. We get baptized, we memorize verses, we read the Bible, we pray, we go to church. But some people swap cause and effect, and think, well, if I do those then it will have this cause. It will cause me to be a Christian. And Paul says you are a Christian by Jesus and then the effects are these things. But these things are not the goal. The goal is always love Jesus. That’s why Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15, see also John 14:21; 15:10; 1 John 5:2-3; 2 John 1:6). You will obey Jesus. The issue is not obedience, it’s loving Jesus. It can’t be about works, it has to be about grace. It can’t be about us, it has to be about Jesus. It’s trusting in Jesus and what He has done already. He said “It is finished!” (John 19:30). And it is.

CONSEQUENCE #2: A SLIGHT DEVIATION IS A FULL DEVIATION (v.7-12)
Here Paul gives us a second consequence. He says that a little leaven leavens the whole lump. A little yeast puffs up the whole dough. A slight deviation is a full deviation. Paul’s opponents had not overturned the whole system of Christian teaching but were only making a seemingly minor adjustment to it. But even a seemingly minor adjustment or deviation on such a fundamental matter of the faith can bring total ruin. He says they were running hard after Jesus, but something got in their way which caused a slight deviation and took them off course. And so my question, in all humility, is, you may be running (hard), but are you running in the right direction? Are you still running after Jesus? We (as a church) may be running (hard), but are we running in the right direction? Are we still running after Jesus? Because God does not persuade you, or us, to run in a direction that isn’t directly toward Jesus. A little yeast, and all the dough rises. As Paul says here, the truth of the gospel is not only something to be believed but also something to be obeyed and the cross is tremendously offensive. I know for me, my yeast is books and knowledge. Anyone who knows me knows I love theology and reading difficult theological books, and I probably have an opinion about everything regarding the Bible. And I have come to realize that what matters most is trusting and loving Jesus. And it’s really hard for me because I suffer from intellectual pride, and I need to repent of that. I need to repent of thinking that all that knowledge about Jesus equals knowing Jesus, because it doesn’t. And I am now trying to get back to also simply trusting and loving Jesus. And it’s a challenge. Now I am not saying that knowing theology or reading difficult theological books aren’t good things; they have their place, but there is a simplicity about loving Jesus that’s the most important thing. Paul closes off this section with both the funniest and the harshest statement in the Bible. He wishes that those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves! Now I could tell you that Paul isn’t joking here at all but is very serious and sarcastic, and that he is referring to Deuteronomy 23:1, which says that, “No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord”, and that he is saying that just as the false teachers were urging the Galatian believers to have themselves circumcised in order to become part of the true church or people of God, so Paul may have suggested that his opponents get themselves castrated and so be once and for all excluded from the church. But, truth be told, it’s just plain funny! What he means is that if you are saying you need to get baptized to go to heaven, and if it’s good to get them wet, then just keep ‘m under permanently. That will be really good. It’s funny! But, Paul is also incredibly serious. Legalism is no little thing, but a serious offense. It takes away our liberty and puts us into bondage. It makes Jesus and His work of no profit to us. It puts us under obligation to the whole law. It violates the work of the Spirit of God. It makes us focus on things that are irrelevant; it keeps us from running the race Jesus set before us. It isn’t from Jesus. A little bit will infect the entire church. And, most importantly, it takes away the glory of the cross.

But, there is another way, Paul says. You may have noticed that I skipped verses 5 and 6. And that’s because here is Paul’s answer to our legalism, to our own efforts of either get a right standing before God, or improve on our standing before God.

THE ANSWER: FAITH WORKING THROUGH LOVE (v.5-6)
Righteousness, a good standing before God, does not come by obeying a list of commands. It comes by the Spirit of God indwelling us so that we might trust Jesus, and then His righteousness is given to us, and our sin is given to Him. And it is through faith in Christ and the Spirit of God. You have faith? Wonderful; but it must be faith working through love. If your faith doesn’t work, it isn’t real faith. As James says, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? […] So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:15,17). The word here for ‘working’ in the Greek is ‘energeō’ from which we get the word ‘energy’, so it actually says that it’s about faith which gets energized (or is made active) by love (agapē). Wow! Also, if it doesn’t work through love, it isn’t real faith. Your love alone isn’t enough. Your love must also have faith. An abiding trust in who Jesus is and what He did for us. Faith must work through love. Real faith, saving faith, will work through love. And the faith that operates through love is nothing other than the faith by which we are justified before God. We are justified by grace through faith, a faith that indeed is active in love leading to holiness.

Within the space of two verses Paul brings together the basic triad of Christian virtues: faith, hope, and love. None of these are self-generating qualities or mere human possibilities. They are gifts from God actualized in our lives by the presence of His Spirit in our hearts. So, if our freedom in Christ should lead to by faith working through love, on the basis of hope, then how do we exercise this freedom in such a way that it is by faith through love? Paul answers this in verses 13-15.

THE LAW OF LOVE (v.13-15)
We live by the Holy Spirit, we live by Jesus’ grace, we live to the Father’s glory. That’s freedom. That’s worship. But here’s the problem: people become Christians. You tell them: “Look. Jesus has forgiven all your sins. Anything you’ll ever do, He’ll forgive you.” Is that true? That’s totally true. Married people, if you commit adultery, will God forgive you? He will. Single people, if you fornicate, will God forgive you? He will. So then the legalists come in and they say “You know what? People are gonna sin if we tell them that they are free, so what do we need? Rules. Lots of rules. And we’ll write down all the rules and we’ll tell ‘m not to do that and then they won’t do it. If we write down all the rules will they still break the rules? Of course. Why? Because there’s an internal problem. We’ve got a seed of rebellion from Adam that naturally just wants to disobey. And so rules will not make us holy. What makes us holy is loving Jesus. If you love Jesus, will you be faithful to your spouse? You will. If you love Jesus, will you wait till you’re married? You will. If you love Jesus, will you not get drunk, will you not do drugs, will you not lie, will you not steal? You will. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15). Trying to obey Jesus without loving Him is absolutely impossible and foolish. Trying to love Jesus without obeying Him is absolutely impossible and foolish. And Paul says, don’t use your freedom to sin. Use your freedom to serve others. What happens is we hear we’re free and think: “Great, now I can do whatever I want.” Biblical freedom is this: “Great, now I can do whatever you need. Now I can do whatever God declares.” All of our sin, all of our legalism, all of our rules is where we go to hide from Jesus. And the only way you’ll truly be transformed is through God’s love and loving Him back. If you have an alcohol problem, you don’t have an alcohol problem, you have a Jesus problem. If you have a sexual problem, you don’t have a sexual problem, you have a Jesus problem. If you have an anger problem, you don’t have an anger problem, you have a Jesus problem. You must understand His love for you and you must dwell in that so that that love transforms you to be more like Him. And as you more like Him, alcohol, sex, anger, whatever it might be, will fall away, because Jesus and sin do not coexist. The closer you draw to Jesus, the further you get from sin. But if your focus is to get away from sin, and you don’t go to Jesus, you will get away from one sin and you will go to another sin. You will go from alcohol to pride. You will go from pride to gossip, and from gossip to lust, but you will never get to Jesus. But when you get to Jesus, now you are free because you’re sins are further away as you draw nearer to Him. And that’s what Paul is telling them. The freedom is not freedom to go from one sin to another sin. The freedom is that Jesus died for our sins so that we could draw near to God. And the more intimate we become with God, the more that sin ceases to be delicious to our taste, and righteousness becomes what we thirst for.

How do you use your freedom? Through love serve one another. Now, the English word “serve” doesn’t do it justice as the Greek word is rooted in the word “doulos”, the Greek word for slave. This is in my opinion the greatest paradox. Paul introduces us to the concept of freedom and love, and what links these two together? Slavery! The very thing Paul earlier said that Christ delivered us from! Through love, we should make ourselves slaves to one another. True freedom is realized only in the slavery of love. What a paradox! Paul’s admonition to mutual service is thus not a restriction on freedom, but rather the very of its actualization. More than anywhere else the freedom that results in the slavery of love is exemplified in the passion and death of Jesus Christ. This echoes Paul’s words in Romans 6, where he says, “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” (Romans 6:16-18). True freedom is realized only in the slavery of love. What a paradox! We are slaves of righteousness. Now, don’t turn this into another legalism. It is not a slavery of “now I have to love God and others”, but “now I get to love God and others”. I don’t have to, like a duty. I get to, like a privilege.

Truth is I feel really challenged lately on what it means to love God and to love others. I am not saying I am not doing it, but I have come to a point were I don’t want to assume that I do very well in this. I just think that God’s love is radically, radically different than our human concepts of love. In the world today, God’s type of love is impossible. Even if we, Christians, don’t lay our will and our lives down, this kind of love is impossible. Only when we die to our self can this kind of love be manifested. It was only because Jesus died for us that His love was given to us and it’s only as we, by the Holy Spirit, can pass God’s love on to others. God demonstrated “his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8), and “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:5) And now we can love. We can love God. And we can love each other. Does that love transform us? YES! But what happens when don’t let His love transform us and love each other? Paul says in verse 15 we will go on biting and devouring one another, and we will destroy each other.

THE QUESTIONS

1. Could a person do the same activity with human effort as he could with the Spirit’s power? If not, why not? If so, what would be the difference?
2. Are you living daily on the same basis by which you were saved? How can you live by the Spirit this week?
3. Think about the kind of faith Abraham had to have to believe God would give him a son at the age of eighty. What does this tell you about the kind of faith in Christ that a person needs to have?

Galatians, Part 11 – The Gospel Moves Us From Law To Grace

My study notes of the eleventh part of our study of the book of Galatians with our community group.

THE TEXT
“Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written, ‘Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.’ Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. But what does the Scripture say? ‘Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.’ So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.” (Galatians 4:21-31)

PAUL WILL APPEAL TO THE LAW TO THOSE WHO CLAIM THE LAW (v.21)
Now Paul writes directly, both to those who promoted legalism and to those who succumbed to legalism. He writes to those who desire to be under the law, living under law keeping as the basis for their relationship with God. Who would ever desire to be under the law? Many people. There are many advantages to being under the law as your principle of relating to God:

1. First, you always have the outward certainty of a list of rules to keep;
2. Second, you can compliment yourself because you keep the rules better than others do;
3. Finally, you can take the credit for your own salvation, because you earned it by keeping the list of rules.

Under the law, it is what you do for God that makes you right before Him. Under the grace of God, it is what God has done for us in Jesus Christ that makes us right before Him. Under the law, the focus is on my performance. Under the grace of God, the focus is on who Jesus is and what He has done.
Under the law, we find fig leaves to cover our nakedness. Under the grace of God, we receive the covering, won through sacrifice that God provides.

Paul senses that he hasn’t made his point yet, so he will now approach the matter with another illustration from the Old Testament. Essentially, Paul says “Let’s have a Bible study. Open your Bibles to Genesis chapter 16.” It is important that Paul refer back to the Scriptures again and again. The legalists among the Galatians presented themselves as the “back to the Bible” bunch. Yet Paul will show that they are not handling the Old Testament Scriptures correctly, and he will show that a true understanding of the Law of Moses will support the true gospel he preaches.

THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE TWO SONS OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND ISHMAEL (v.22-23)
The legalists who troubled the Galatians protested that they were children of Abraham, and therefore blessed. Paul will admit they are children of Abraham, but they forget that Abraham had two sons! Ishmael was Abraham’s son, but he was the son according to the flesh and unbelief and trying to make your own way before God. It often doesn’t look like it, but legalism is living according to the flesh. It denies God’s promise and tries to make your own way to God through the law. This is living like a descendant of Abraham – but it is living like Ishmael. Abraham’s second son was named Isaac. He was born, miraculously, through Abraham’s wife Sarah (the freewoman). Isaac was Abraham’s son, and he was the son of God’s promise and faith and God’s miracle for Abraham.

THE CONTRAST BETWEEN MOUNT SINAI AND MOUNT ZION (v.24-27)
Paul wants it understood that he speaks using pictures from the Old Testament. His reference to Hagar and Ishmael were pictures, meant to illustrate his point. Now he will bring in another picture. In the Bible, a covenant is a “contract” that sets the rules for our relationship with God. Paul brings it right down to the issues confronting the Galatian Christians. The legalists wanted them to relate to God under one set of rules, and Paul wanted them to relate to God under the “rules” presented by the gospel.

It’s worth reminding ourselves of the extreme relevance of all this. Many people look at the issues Paul is passionate about here and they just yawn. They say, “Paul, you are dealing with theological speculation. I’ve got other problems. My marriage is in trouble. I can’t pay my bills. I’ve got a lot of personal problems. You would do me much more good by teaching me about those things than going on and on with your theology about being right with God.” But Paul would respond, “The most important thing in your life is being right with God. If that isn’t right, than nothing else really matters. If that is right, God will bless you and teach you about your marriage, your money, and your personal problems. Regarding the solutions to our day-to-day problems, Jesus said seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)

One covenant is associated with Mount Sinai, the place where Moses received the Law (Exodus 19-20). This covenant gives birth to bondage. Since it is all about what we must do for God to be accepted by Him, it doesn’t set us free. This covenant is associated with Hagar, the “surrogate mother” who gave birth to Ishmael. It is therefore, if used wrongly, a covenant according to the flesh (Galatians 4:23). This covenant corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, that is, earthly Jerusalem which was the capital of religious Judaism. This was the way most Jewish people in Paul’s day tried to be right with God – by trusting in their ability to please God by keeping the law.

The other covenant is associated with Jerusalem, with Mount Zion – but not the Mount Zion of this earth. Instead, it is associated with the Jerusalem above – God’s own New Jerusalem in heaven. Paul will now tell us more about the covenant represented by the heavenly Jerusalem. This covenant brings freedom – it is free. It is free because it recognizes that Jesus paid the price, and we don’t have to pay it ourselves. This covenant has many children; it is the mother of us all. Every Christian through the centuries belongs to this new covenant, the covenant of the heavenly Jerusalem. And every birth under this covenant is a miracle, like the fulfillment of the prophecy from Isaiah 54:1, Rejoice, O barren, you who do not bear! Every one is born because of a miracle by God.

THE APPLICATION OF THE TWO CONTRASTS (v.28-31)
As Christians, we don’t identify with Ishmael. We identify with Isaac, as children of a promise that was received by faith. Ishmael and his descendants persecuted Isaac and his descendants. So we should not be surprised that the modern day people who follow God in the flesh persecute those who follow God in faith through the promise.

The answer to this problem is clear, though not easy. We must cast out the bondwoman and her son. Law and grace cannot live together as principles for our Christian life. Hagar and Sarah could not live together in the same house (Genesis 21:8-14). We could argue all day long whose fault it was, but that isn’t the point. The point is that God told Abraham to send Hagar away. So also every Christian must send away the idea of relating to God on the principle of law, the principle of what we do for Him instead of what He has done for us in Jesus Christ. Significantly, Sarah could live with Hagar and Ishmael until the son of promise was born. But once Isaac was born, then Hagar and Ishmael had to go. In the same way, a person could relate to the law one way before the promise of the gospel was made clear in Jesus Christ. But now that it has been made clear, there is nothing to do but to cast out the bondwoman and her son. Ishmael was not necessarily a bad man, or a cursed man. But neither was he blessed with the promise of inheriting the glorious covenant of God given to Abraham and his descendants. That was the inheritance of one heir – Isaac, the son of the freewoman. For Paul, one of the great issues in this was freedom. He knew the bondage of trying to earn his own way before God, because he lived that way for decades. Now he knew the freedom of living as a son of God, free in Jesus Christ.

A SERIES OF CONTRASTS

1. The first contrast Paul draws between real Christianity and legalism is the contrast between freedom and slavery. One son of Abraham was born by a freewoman, and one was born by a bondwoman. Which son of Abraham illustrates your life with God?
2. The second contrast Paul draws between Christianity and legalism is the contrast between a work done by God’s promised miracle and a work done by the flesh. Is your relationship with God based on your own works, or the work of God’s promised miracle?
3. The third contrast Paul draws between Christianity and legalism is the contrast between heaven and earth. Is your relationship with God a matter of heaven coming down to earth, or is it like earth reaching up to heaven?
4. The fourth contrast Paul draws between Christianity and legalism is the contrast between many more and many. The abundance and glory of the New Covenant is shown by the fact that it would soon have more followers than the Old Covenant.
5. The fifth contrast Paul draws between Christianity and legalism is the contrast between persecuted and persecuting. The legalists – represented by Ishmael – have always persecuted true Christianity, represented by Isaac. As we walk in the glory, in the freedom, in the miraculous power of this New Covenant, we should expect to be mistreated by those who don’t.
6. The sixth contrast Paul draws between Christianity and legalism is the contrast between inheriting all and inheriting nothing. While the “Isaacs” of this world may be persecuted, they also have a glorious inheritance that the “Ishmaels” of this world will never know. We are heirs of God through the principle of grace, not works!

THE QUESTIONS

1. Which son of Abraham illustrates your life with God?
2. Is your relationship with God based on your own works, or the work of God’s promised miracle?
3. Is your relationship with God a matter of heaven coming down to earth, or is it like earth reaching up to heaven?
4. How do you experience the abundance and the glory of your many brothers and sisters in Christ?
5. Are you “persecuting” your brothers and sisters with your legalism, or you are being persecuted by your brothers and sisters for your freedom in Christ?
6. Are you aware of the glorious inheritance that you have?

Galatians, Part 10 – The Gospel Forms Christ In Us

My study notes of the tenth part of our study of the book of Galatians with our community group.

THE TEXT
“Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong. You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first, and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. What then has become of the blessing you felt? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you, my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you! I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.” (Galatians 4:12-20)

This passage provides a window into Paul’s pastoral heart, and they breathe Paul’s own tears. Although the language is compressed, we should not imagine that in these verses he had been so overcome with emotion that he had produced here an erratic train of thought, one totally disconnected from the preceding doctrinal discussion. What deeply agitated Paul in Galatians was not that certain people had misconstrued the doctrine of justification on a theoretical plane, but rather that men and women whom he loved dearly were in spiritual jeopardy because of this doctrinal deviation. This concern, more than anything else, prompted Paul to leave the lofty heights of theological argumentation and address himself to the Galatians in this deeply personal and emotional appeal.

PAUL APPEALS: BECOME LIKE ME (v.12)
For many of us today, these are strange words from Paul. How could he ever urge them to become like him? Should he only point them to Jesus? In what way should the Galatian Christians become like Paul? Paul knew well that he wasn’t sinlessly perfect. He wasn’t standing before the Galatian Christians, saying “Look at how perfect I am. Don’t worry about following Jesus, just follow me.” He simply wanted them to follow him as he followed Jesus. Instead, Paul knew the Galatian Christians should imitate his consistency. The Galatians started out with the right understanding of the gospel, because Paul led them into the right understanding. But some of them didn’t stay there like Paul did, and in that way, they should become like Paul. Paul knew the Galatian Christians should imitate his liberty. Paul was free in Jesus, and he wanted them to know the same freedom. In that way, they should become like Paul. Paul can say to the Galatian Christians, “When it comes to legalism, I know where you are at. I used to live my whole life trying to be accepted by God because of what I did. In that regard, I became like you and saw that it was a dead end. Take it from someone who knows where you are coming from.” Paul has used pretty strong words with the Galatians. It would be easy for them to think he spoke just out of a sense of personal hurt. Paul assures them that this wasn’t the case at all. Paul wants them to get this right, but for their own sakes, not for his.

PAUL APPEALS: REMEMBER HOW YOU USED TO RESPOND (v.13-16)
Apparently, Paul was compelled to travel into the region of Galatia because of some type of physical infirmity he suffered while on his first missionary journey. The book of Acts doesn’t tell us as much about this as we would like to know, but we can piece together a few facts. We know that when Paul was in the region of south Galatia, they tried to execute him by stoning in the city of Lystra (Acts 14:19-20). His attackers gave him up for dead, yet he miraculously survived. Some think that this was the cause of the physical infirmity he mentions. But Paul was already in the region of Galatia when that happened; his wording in Galatians 4 suggests that he came into the region because of a physical infirmity. What exactly was Paul’s physical infirmity? Some believe his problem was depression, or epilepsy, or that his illness was connected with the thorn in the flesh mentioned in 2 Corinthians 12. None of these can be established with certainty. Even though Paul was not a great example of strength and power because of his physical infirmity, the Galatians still received him, and they received him honorably. They embraced Paul so generously that they would have plucked out [their] own eyes and given them to Paul if that could somehow meet his need. This leads some to believe that Paul’s physical infirmity had something to do with his eyes. But the real point here is that despite whatever Paul’s infirmity was, the Galatians did not despise or reject him. Even though Paul seemed weak and afflicted, they embraced him and responded to his message of grace and God’s love. In light of the great love and honor the Galatians had shown towards Paul, and in light of the great blessing they received from God when they showed such to him, the Galatians should not think that Paul has now become their adversary when he confronts them with the truth. They needed the truth more than they needed to feel good about where they were at.

PAUL APPEALS: BEWARE THE AFFECTION THE LEGALISTS SHOW YOU (v.17-18)
Paul will admit that the legalists zealously court the Galatians; and legalism often comes wrapped in a cloak of “love.” But the end result is for no good. Paul’s legalistic opponents wanted to draw the Galatian Christians away into their own divisive group. They actually wanted to exclude the Galatians from other Christians, and to bring them into the “super-spiritual” group of the legalists. The zeal cultivated by legalism is often more a zeal for the group itself than for Jesus Christ. Though they name the name of Jesus, in practice the group itself is exalted as the main focus, and usually exalted as the last refuge of the true “super-Christians.” Paul certainly isn’t against zeal. He wants Christians to be zealous in a good thing always. But it is important to make sure that our zeal is in a good thing, because zeal in a bad thing is dangerous. The Galatian Christians were no doubt impressed by the zeal of the legalists. They were so sincere, so passionate about their beliefs. Zeal in the service of a lie is a dangerous thing! Paul knew this well, because before he became a Christian, he had plenty of zeal, even persecuting the church (Acts 7:58-8:4). Later, Paul looked back at that time of great zeal in the service of a lie and deeply regretted it (1 Corinthians 15:9, 1 Timothy 1:15). Paul wanted the Galatians to be zealous for what is good when he was absent, not only when he was present among them.

PAUL APPEALS: I LOVE YOU LIKE A FATHER, PLEASE LISTEN TO ME (v.19-20)
In the two preceding verses Paul’s tone had been sharp as he brought within his sights the false teachers who dishonorable wooing of the Galatians had led them so far astray. Now, however there was a sudden change of mood as Paul turned to address himself with great tenderness to his misled flock. Throughout the letter Paul had admonished the Galatians to move beyond such infantile behavior and to claim the full inheritance that was theirs as the children of God through Jesus Christ. In the present context he showed how deeply invested he himself was in their spiritual struggles. Paul rightly considers himself to be a father to the Galatians. Yet this challenge has made him feel as if he must bring them to Jesus all over again. Paul knew that his work of forming Christ in them was not complete until they stayed in a place of trusting Jesus. The idea of Christ is formed in you is similar to the idea of Romans 8:29. Paul wished two things. First, that he could be present with the Galatians. But he also wished that he did not need to speak to them in such strong words, that he could change his tone. But their danger of leaving the true gospel has made such strong words necessary, and has made Paul’s doubts necessary to address.

THE QUESTIONS

1. What do you think Paul means by saying “Become as I am, for I also have become as you are”?
2. Is there a difference between how you responded to the gospel when you first heard it, and now? If so, how is it different?
3. Are there people (or maybe things) in your life right now that make much of you, but for no good purpose?
4. If Paul would be present with you/us right now, would he be perplexed about you/us too? If so, about what?

Galatians, Part 9 – The Gospel Makes Us Sons And Heirs

My study notes of the ninth part of our study of the book of Galatians with our community group.

THE TEXT
“I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? You observe days and months and seasons and years! I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.” (Galatians 4:1-11)

OUR PAST CONDITION (v.1-3)
The word child has the idea of a minor. It doesn’t suggest a specific age, but someone who is not yet legally recognized as an adult. In both Jewish and Greek cultures, there were definite “coming of age” ceremonies, where a boy stopped being a child and started being a man, with legal rights as an heir. In the Roman custom, there was no specific age when the son became a man. It happened when the father thought the boy was ready, when he thought the time was right. When Paul uses the phrase until the time appointed by the father, he shows that he has the Roman “coming of age” custom more in mind than the Jewish custom. Before a minor comes of age, he has no legal rights at all. He is an infant. To be in this condition is no different from being a slave. The guardians and managers who supervise the estate of the child during the time of his minority are comparable to the ‘paidagogos’ we have seen earlier, although here their function is different in the life of their client. The ‘paidagogos’ was a harsh disciplinarian charged with supervising daily activities; the guardians and managers referred to here control the property and finances of the minor depriving him of all independent action so that in reality his liberty is reduced to that of a slave.

Paul applies to the Galatian Christians the legal illustration of the minor deprived of his inheritance until the time appointed by his father. The radical character of this bondage Paul now expressed in terms of a universal subjection to a sinister coalition of evil powers “elementary principles of the world”. This expression is found four times in Paul’s writings (Galatians 4:3, 9; Colossians 2:8, 20). There are different interpretations of what this expression means, but it most likely refers to a whole host of spiritual beings headed by Satan himself, including the fallen angels who rebelled along with Satan and thus were expelled from heaven from before the creation of the world. They are locked in a fierce cosmic conflict with the people of God in every age. Their goal is to separate believers from the love of Christ. To this end they will use trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, sword, destruction, hatred, and death. We have to remember though that these spiritual powers also belong to God’s creation (Romans 8:39). There is no independent realm of devilish darkness existing apart from God’s creative act and permissive will. Yet, while Jesus has dethroned the powers of darkness through His triumphant death and resurrection so that true believers are no longer subjected to their tyrannical dominion, Christians are nonetheless engaged in continual, lifelong struggle against the evil designs of these elemental spirits. False teaching is according to these elemental principles, and not according to Jesus (Colossians 2:8). In Jesus, we die to the elemental principles of the world (Colossians 2:20).

THE COMING OF CHRIST (v.4-5)
These verses contain one of the most compressed and highly charged passages in the entire letter because they represent the objective basis, the Christological and soteriological foundation, for the doctrine of justification by faith. When we analyze these verses in terms of their structure, we find four central ideas brought together:

1. A Temporal Introduction. “But when the fullness of time had come…”
2. The Announcement of God’s Supernatural Intervention in the Mission of Jesus Christ. “God sent forth his Son”
3. The Condition of the Status of the Incarnate Son. “born of woman, born under the law”
4. The Reason for the Coming of Christ and the Benefit for the Believers. “to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons”

In a remarkable way, Paul brought into focus here both the person and the work of Jesus Christ. Paul united these twin peaks of evangelical doctrine (Christology and soteriology) under the controlling rubric of God’s gracious initiative and divine purpose. In the analogy of the heir-in-waiting just developed by Paul, the time designated by the father for his son to enter into the inheritance corresponds to the time in human history fixed and appointed by God for sending forth his Son. What does Paul mean by the “fullness” of time? While on one hand it pointed to the lapse of a definite period of time (see Daniel 9:24) that had to occur before the occurrence of the Messiah, it is sufficient to say with Calvin that “the time which had been ordained by the providence of God was seasonable and fit… Therefore the right time for the Son of God to be revealed to the world was for God alone to judge and determine.” One could hardly find a more succinct summary of the Christian gospel than the expression “God sent his Son.” Implicit in these words are two ideas, both which are fundamental to a holistic Christological affirmation: divine intentionality and eternal deity. The coming of Jesus Christ into human history was not an accidental happening. Not only was the incarnation the fulfillment of myriads of Old Testament prophecies, but it was also the culmination of a plan devised within the eternal counsel of the triune God before the creation of the world. The confession “God sent his Son” can only mean that Jesus Christ is the eternally divine Son of God sent forth from heaven. Similarly, in the parable of the unworthy tenants (Mark 12:1-11) Jesus is the “beloved Son” who stands in a unique and unparalleled relationship to God on whose behalf he undertakes his dangerous mission. Christ did not begin to be the Son of God at Bethlehem, or the Jordan River, or at his resurrection or ascension. He is the only begotten God resident in the bosom of the Father from eternity (John 1:18; 17:1-10). In sending Jesus, God did not send a substitute or surrogate. He came himself.

Having asserted so boldly the eternal deity of Jesus Christ, Paul now affirmed his true humanity and representative as one “born of woman” and “born under the law.” The phrase “born of woman” is used elsewhere in Scripture as a common Jewish expression denoting simply one’s status as a human being (Job 14:1; Matthew 11:11). Paul was affirming that during his earthly life Jesus experienced all of the finitude and fears, trials and temptations that are the common lot of every human being. As Hebrews 4:15 expresses it, Jesus was put to the test in every conceivable way that we can be put to the test – yet without sin. Paul also asserts that Jesus was “born under the law.” Not only was he a man, but he was also a Jewish man, circumcised on the eighth day as all Jewish males were. He grew up in a Jewish home reading the Torah, praying to his Heavenly Father, attending synagogue, faithfully fulfilling, as no one before or after him has ever done, all the precepts and demands of the law. Yet he always acted in perfect freedom and filial obedience only to the Father. Jesus was not enslaved to the bondage of the elements but was victorious over them. Although Jesus was “under the law,” he was nevertheless not under sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). The Son of God became a human a being human and was put under the law in order to redeem those who were under the law and so that we might become God’s sons.

THE SPIRIT WITHIN (v.6-7)
Paul moves now from Christology and soteriology to pneumatology. Just as God sent his Son into the world, so also he sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts. We should not imagine, of course, that the Holy Spirit was ever absent from the Father or the Son in the divine accomplishment of salvation. The Holy Spirit is the sign and pledge of our adoption so that by his presence in our hearts we are truly convinced that God is for us, not against us, but indeed he is our Heavenly Father. The evidence Paul gave for this wonderful assurance is not that through the Spirit we are empowered to do miraculous works, receive ecstatic visions, speak in tongues, or any other kind of sensational phenomena. Rather, the first, most basic indication of our adoption is that we have a new form of address for God. The Spirit invites us to join in his invocation, crying ‘Abba, Father.’ I believe in God the Father, the God who planned from all eternity to redeem his people and who in the fullness of time sent his Son. I believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who became fully human and who suffered under Pontius Pilate the curse of the law. I believe in the Holy Spirit who effects the forgiveness of sins and a new relationship with the Father. Therefore, because all of this is true, you are no longer a slave, but a son. You are no longer under subjection to the elemental spirits. No longer a minor heir with no rights to the inheritance. No longer is your relationship to God determined by your race, rank, or role. No longer are you shut up in the prison house of sin. No longer are you under the curse of the law. The promise given to Abraham and fulfilled in the prophetic Seed, Jesus Christ, has now been extended to all of those who through faith in him have become sons, crying ‘Abba’ and heirs of the living God.

THE DANGER OF TURNING BACK (v.8-11)
The bondage is natural when we did not know God and when we served those things that are not gods. But why would someone who knows the true God, and has been set free, place themselves under bondage? This is what the Galatians are doing! Paul makes an important point when he says or rather are known by God; it is really more important that God knows us (in the sense of an intimate, accepting relationship) than it is that we know God. Remember the terrible words of judgment in Matthew 7:21-23: I never knew you. In turning to legalism, the Galatians were not turning to a new error, but coming back to an old one – the idea of a works relationship with God. As Christians, we can place ourselves under the bondage of a works based, “cause and effect” relationship with God – but this is moving backward, not forward. By writing turn again, Paul shows that the Galatians were not turning to a new error, but coming back to an old one – the idea of a works relationship with God. These elements of the world are weak because they offer no strength; they are beggarly because they bestow no riches. All they can do is bring us again into bondage. The false teachers among the Galatians demanded the observance of days and months and seasons and years and other such legalistic matters acted as if this would lead them into a higher plane of spirituality. But all these weak and beggarly elements of legalism did was bring them into bondage. Paul seems amazed that someone would turn from the liberty of Jesus to this kind of bondage. But legalism caters to and recognizes our flesh by putting the focus on what we achieve for God, not on what Jesus did for us. The liberty of Jesus gives us status as sons and a rich inheritance, but it won’t cater to our flesh. Paul’s fear is that this attraction to legalism will mean that his work among the Galatians will amount to nothing and end up being in vain. At the end of this section, Paul puts a choice before the Galatians, and before us. We can have a living, free, relationship with God as a loving Father based on what Jesus did for us and who we are in Him. Or we can try to please God by our best efforts of keeping the rules, living in bondage as slaves, not sons. Living that way makes the whole gospel in vain.

THE QUESTIONS

1. Could a person do the same activity with human effort as he could with the Spirit’s power? If not, why not? If so, what would be the difference?
2. Are you living daily on the same basis by which you were saved? How can you live by the Spirit this week?
3. Think about the kind of faith Abraham had to have to believe God would give him a son at the age of eighty. What does this tell you about the kind of faith in Christ that a person needs to have?

Galatians, Part 8 – The Gospel Baptizes Us In Christ Through Faith

My study notes of the eighth part of our study of the book of Galatians with our community group.

THE TEXT
“Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” (Galatians 3:19-29)

WHAT IS THEN THE PURPOSE OF THE LAW? (v.19-20)
Everyone who has been declared righteous before God, Jews and Gentiles alike has come into this relationship through faith in Jesus Christ and not by observing the law. Even you Galatians have to admit that you received the Holy Spirit witnessed his miraculous works through the hearing of faith and not by works of the law. You have to make a choice. It’s either law or promise, works or faith, grace or merit. This leads to the question in verse 19. If we are not justified by law, if our receiving the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with the law, if Christ was cursed because of the law, if our inheritance depends on grace and not on works and law, then what is the purpose of the law? Has Paul so totally dismissed the law that it no longer has any place within God’s overall redemptive scheme? Had Paul so fused Abraham and Christ that there was no room left for Moses?

So Paul had an answer to the question he had posed? It is an answer in four almost cryptic statements:

1. It was added because of our transgressions. As the context makes clear, the law in question is the law of Moses. It was added in order to accomplish some subordinate and supplementary purpose. Romans 5:20 says, “Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more”. It literally says that the law “came in by a side road”. The law has the character of something additional, designed not to lead to a separate destination, but to point its travelers back to the main road.
2. It was until the Seed had come. Paul here spoke of the temporal parameters and the limited duration of the law. Its point of origin was Mount Sinai, and its point of termination was Mount Calvary. Paul interpreted the law eschatological in terms of fulfillment and cancellation (Col. 2:14) in the messianic mission of Jesus. Paul everywhere in Galatians presupposed the decisiveness of Jesus’ death and resurrection on the one hand and the hope of his return in glory on the other. The entire letter is in fact bracketed by two powerful apocalyptic signals: the opening statement in 1:3 and the closing declaration of 6:15. Here is the very center of the book; we are reminded that the purpose of the law must be defined both christologically and eschatologically.
3. It was put into effect through angels. The last two statements show the inherent inferiority of the law in terms of the way it was given and administered. Paul is saying that it was not on the same par with the covenant of promise because it was chronologically limited and handed down by angels with a man acting as a go-between. The Hebrew text of Exodus 19 does not refer to angels, but it does describe Mount Sinai as surrounded by thunder, lightning, a thick cloud, and billows of fire (Exodus 19:16-19). Deuteronomy 33:2 and Psalm 68:18 interpret these natural phenomena to mean that a large number of angels, the fiery host of heaven accompanied God in his giving of the law. This is further confirmed in the New Testament (Acts 7:38; 53; Heb. 2:2). God ordained the law through angels by the hand of a mediator. God used angels to pass the law to Moses.
4. It was put into effect by a mediator. The only other place in Paul’s writings where he used the word ‘mediator’ is in 1 Timothy 2:5 (“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”), where it appears as a title of Jesus. But here the mediator is not Jesus, as here Jesus is the Seed of the Abrahamic covenant, not as the middle man of the Mosiac one. Here the mediator could only be Moses, who Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:2 portrays as a type of Christ. Paul did not intend to denigrate Moses but simply show the transitory and totally inadequate character of the law as a system of salvation. Paul’s point was that the promise of Abraham came directly from God, neither through angels, nor by means of a merely human mediator such as Moses, which means that the covenant of promise is unconditionally given and thus stands as steadfast and sure as the unity and sovereignty of God himself. For Christians the implications of this foundational truth are astounding. Through Jesus Christ we may approach the throne of grace with boldness. In the Holy Spirit we can know God with the same kind of immediacy that Abraham enjoyed. Because in Jesus Christ, God did not send a substitute, no angelic mediation, no merely human go-between. In Jesus Christ, God came himself.

WHAT ARE THE THREE FUNCTIONS OF THE LAW (v.21-25)
Is the law opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! (God forbid!) Paul had just confessed in the powerful words of the Shema, the oneness of God. He was now ready to give a more complete answer on why then the law was needed:

1. The law enters that it might fail (v.21). By no means can the law be against the promises of God, simply because no law can be found that is able to bestow the eternal life and blessing promised by grace alone. Paul’s comment raises the serious theological question of the function of the law both in the process of salvation and in the intention of God. (See Romans 7:10). Paul insisted that there was no defect in the law, rather it was holy, righteous, and good (Romans 7:12). The problem is not the law but our sinful disobedience that the law brings to light. Also, none of this has caught God off guard or taken him by surprise. God always intended to save by faith, apart from the law. God gave the law, but he gave it in order that it would condemn all and thus negatively prepare for redemption on the basis of faith.
2. The law condemns that it might save (v.22-23). Just as the law enters that it might fail, so too it condemns that it might save. How did the law perform this strange work? By so provoking transgressions, by so exposing human wickedness to the scrutiny of divine holiness, by so eliminating every avenue of self-justification that the sinner is drawn to the only place where authentic redemption and liberation can be found. Thus we cannot move from Abraham to Christ, from promise to fulfillment, without going through the law after all. However secondary and subordinate in God’s overall economy of salvation, the law nonetheless has a necessary and irreplaceable role to play. In the eternal design of God, the law entered that it might fail. It put to death so that there could be a resurrection. We were locked up in prison by the law until faith should be revealed. Paul paints a picture of imprisonment. The bars of the cell are sin, keeping us confined. The Scripture put us in the prison, because it pointed out our sinful condition. So we sit imprisoned by sin, and the law can not help us, because the law put us in the prison! Some protest, and say “I’m not a prisoner to sin.” There is a simple way to prove it: stop sinning. But if you can’t stop sinning, or ever have a record of sin, then you are imprisoned by the law of God. Only faith can break us out of our confinement to sin. The Law of Moses can show us clearly our problem and God’s standard, but it cannot give us the freedom that only Jesus can give. The freedom is given to those who believe. The bars of our sin are strong; we can’t saw through them ourselves. There is no chance of a jailbreak. Instead, an offer is made by the warden Himself to simply open the door and walk out – but you have to acknowledge you are confined, that you deserve to be in the cell, and ask Him to free you. When the prosecutor accuses the warden of not being just, the warden simply points out that the freed prisoner’s sentence was completely fulfilled – by Himself!
3. The law disciplines that it might set free (v.24-25). In ancient Greece and Rome wealthy parents often placed their newborn babies under the care of a wet-nurse who in turn would pass them on to an alder woman, a nanny who would care for their basic needs until about the age of six. At that time they came under the supervision of another household servant, the paidagogos, who remained in charge of their upbringing until late adolescence. The dominant image of a pedagogue was that of a harsh disciplinarian who frequently resorted to physical force and corporal punishment as a way of keeping children in line. The unfortunate translation of paidagogos as “schoolmaster” has misled many preachers to interpret this metaphor in terms of educational advance or moral improvement. However, that function is clearly not within the scope of Paul’s meaning here. In Galatians 3 the law is a stern disciplinarian, a harsh taskmaster. Yet in its very harshness there is a note of grace, for the function of discipline, as opposed to mere torture, is always remedial as it leads us to Christ. And this leading is not a kind of gradual moral or educational development. The law does lead to Christ not by weaning us from our sins but rather revealing them clearly and even causing them to be multiplied and increased to the point where we stand before God utterly void of any hope of self-reclamation. The law is the silent preparation for the revelation of faith.

OUR IDENTITY IS WITH JESUS CHRIST, BY FAITH (v.26-27)
Up to this point Paul has presented the grand sweep of redemptive history from Abraham to Christ, using the language of justification, covenant, and inheritance. Now the focus shifts from the historical to the personal, from the institutional to the individual. In Galatians 3:6-25 Paul traced the actual course of salvation history from Abraham through Moses to Jesus, from promise through law to faith. From Galatians 3:26 to 4:31, Paul would argue backwards from the realization of faith through the former bondage toward a final restatement of the promise. The reason for this method of argumentation is that the Galatian churches were primarily made up of Gentile converts, although there was also a mingling of Jewish believers among them as well. Also, the Judaizers who were attacking Paul’s apostolic authority and theology of grace were most likely Jewish Christian missionaries. With this in mind we can see clearly how Paul’s argument in 3:6-25 is developed with a primary focus on the Jewish Christian situation. In 3:26-4:31 Paul turned the spotlight on the Gentile Christian community. If Jews could only be justified by faith alone, how much more so the Gentiles. Compared to what was being taught among the Galatians, this was a revolutionary statement. In traditional Jewish thinking (carried into Christianity by Jewish Christians), your standing before God was measured by your obedience to the law. To truly be close to God – considered sons of God – you had to be extremely observant of the law, just as the Scribes and Pharisees were (Matthew 23).

Here, Paul says we can be considered sons of God a completely different way: through faith in Christ Jesus. The standing is impressive: to be among the sons of God means that we have a special relationship with God as a loving, caring Father. It is a place of closeness, a place of affection, a place of special care and attention. The method is impressive: to become a son of God through faith in Christ Jesus means much more than believing that He exists or did certain things. It is to put our trust in Him, both for now and eternity. Using the picture of baptism, Paul illustrates what it means to have faith in Christ Jesus. He doesn’t say we were baptized into water, but baptized into Christ. Just as in water baptism a person is immersed in water, so when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, we are immersed in Jesus. How many Christians seem content with just “dipping a bit” into Jesus! God wants us to be fully immersed in Jesus; not sprinkled, not just a part of us dipped. When a person is immersed in water, you don’t even see the person much anymore – you mostly see the water. When we live as baptized into Christ, you don’t see so much of “me” anymore; you mostly see Jesus. It should be stressed that this is the baptism that really saves us: our immersion into Jesus. If a person isn’t baptized into Christ, they could be dunked a thousand times into water, and it would make no eternal difference. If a person has been baptized into Christ, then they should follow through and do what Jesus told them to do: receive baptism as a demonstration of their commitment to Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20). Another way of expressing our immersion in Jesus is to say that we have put on Christ. How we dress has a real impact on how we think and act. How we dress has a real impact on how we appear to others. We also need to know how to dress appropriately for each occasion. People should see that you belong to Him by looking at your life. You should live with the awareness that you are adorned with Jesus. Some people might wonder if this is only play-acting, if it is really an illusion, like a child playing “dress-up.” It is only an illusion if there is no spiritual reality behind it. In this verse, Paul really speaks of the spiritual reality – those who were baptized into Christ really have put on Christ. Now they are called to live each day consistent with the spiritual reality. The stress here is on our identity in Jesus through faith. We aren’t simply associated with Jesus; we are identified in Him. We aren’t associated with Jesus; we are in Jesus.

OUR EQUAL STANDING WITH OTHERS WHO COME TO GOD THROUGH FAITH (v.28-29)
The whole problem among the Galatian Christians is that some wanted to still observe the dividing line between Jew and Greek. Now that Jesus is our identity, that is more important than any prior identity we possessed. This doesn’t mean that there are no differences. Paul knew that there was still a difference between Jew and Greek: There are still different roles for male and female in the home and in the church. There are differences in role and in function. When we say that Christ has abolished these distinctions, we mean not that they do not exist, but that they no longer create any barriers to fellowship. It is belonging to Jesus that sets us free from each place Paul said the law put us. This is a three-dimensional attachment which we gain when we are in Christ – in height, breadth and length. In its height, it connects us to God. In its breadth, it connects us with each other in Jesus. In its length in connects us with the long line of God’s people throughout all ages.

THE QUESTIONS

1. Knowing now the purpose and function of the law, how can we as Christians reap the benefits of this?
2. Can you share an experience when you really felt like a child (son/daughter) of God?
3. How much are you immersed in Jesus?

Galatians, Part 7 – The Gospel Is The Promise Through Faith

My study notes of the seventh part of our study of the book of Galatians with our community group.

THE TEXT
“For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.’ Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’ But the law is not of faith, rather ‘The one who does them shall live by them.’ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, ‘And to offsprings,’ referring to many, but referring to one, ‘And to your offspring,’ who is Christ. This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.” (Galatians 3:10-18)

In verses 6-9, Paul set forth a positive argument for justification by faith. In verses 10-14 he turned the tables and argued negatively against the possibility of justification by works. On one level the passage can be analyzed in terms of four major propositions, each is confirmed and explained in detail in the Old Testament, namely:

1. Those who rely on observing the law are under a curse. Deuteronomy 27:26 says, “Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.”
2. No one can be justified by means of the law anyway. Habakkuk 2:4 says, “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.”
3. Law and faith are not mutually compatible ways to God. Leviticus 18:5 says, “You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.”
4. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. Deuteronomy 21:23 says, “his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God.”

If you look at these four propositions you can see that (1) and (4) can be considered as problem and solution, while (2) and (3) are in apparent contradiction to each other. So this passage builds up from problem to solution, and then adds two purpose clauses in verses 15-18, namely in order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, and that by faith we might receive the promised Spirit.

THE CURSE OF THE LAW (v.10-12)
Verse 9 was talking about the blessing of “those of the faith,” while verse 10 talks about the curse of those who observe the law. For anyone familiar with the Torah, the juxtaposition of blessing and curse would immediately make you think about Deuteronomy 27-28. In this passage the twelve tribes of Israel were standing on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, six tribes on each, while the Levites were to recite the litany of the blessings of obedience and the catalog of curses for disobedience. If there were any doubt that Paul had this passage in mind, he quoted the concluding curse as a confirmation of his statement that those who relied on their performance of the law for acceptance with God were under a curse. Paul also may well have the words of the Deuteronomic curse painfully impressed upon his memory, not only from his rabbinical training but also from the five time he received the “forty lashes minus one” at the hands of certain synagogue authorities (2 Corinthians 11:24). The synagogal manual outlining detailed procedures for such lashings required that the curses of Deuteronomy be read intermittently while the punishment was being carried out.

The Bible says that those who do not perfectly obey the law are cursed, and in fact those who seek to be justified by works really are under such a curse because no one (except Jesus) ever has or indeed can fulfill the entire law. The epistle to the Hebrews explains in graphic details that cultic sacrifices of the Old Testament were never intended to expiate the guilt of sin from any transgressor. They were instituted as a way of announcing the gospel in advance to the chosen people who lived before the advent of the Messiah, the true Lamb of God, who took away the sin of the world (John 1:29). The repetition of the temple sacrifices was a daily reminder of their inadequacy. Only in the light of Jesus Christ can we understand either the true nature of humanity as God intended it to be or the radical character of human rebellion in this fallen world.

Before moving on to the remedy in verse 13, Paul sandwiched two verses both containing a quotation from the Old Testament, which seem on the surface to offer two alternative ways of salvation: the one who is righteous by faith versus the one who does the things of the law. No doubt there were some people in Paul’s day, as there are in ours, who held that justification by faith was a good idea so long as it was not taught to the exclusion of justification by works. “God helps those who help themselves” is a maxim of theology as well as economics. Paul, however, would tolerate no such theory because the law is not based on faith. Paul has already proven this point in the Scriptures by examining the life of Abraham (Galatians 3:5-9). Thus he brings in another passage from the Old Testament, Habakkuk 2:4, which reminds us that the just live by faith, not by law. The Jews themselves sensed that because none could keep it perfectly, salvation could not come through keeping the law. This is why they placed such emphasis on their descent from Abraham, essentially trusting in Abraham’s merits to save them because they sensed that their own merits could not. If you are found to be just – approved – before God, you have done it by a life of faith. If your life is all about living under the law, then God does not find you approved. Some might come back to Paul and say, “Look, I’ll do the best I can under the law and let faith cover the rest. God will look at my performance, my effort, and my good intentions and credit to me as righteousness. The important thing is that I am really trying.” Paul proves from the Old Testament itself that this simply isn’t good enough. No; the paths of approval by the law and faith don’t run together, because the law is not of faith. If you want to live by the law, you must do it. Not try to do it, not intend to do it, and not even want to do it. No, it is only the man who does them who shall live by them. It is very easy to comfort ourselves with our good intentions. We all mean very well; but if we want to find our place before God by our works under the law, good intentions are never enough. A good effort isn’t enough. Only actual performance will do. The effect of Paul’s use of Scripture in Galatians 3:10-12 is overwhelming. We understand that we don’t actually do the law. We understand that we don’t actually do all the law. And we understand that this put us under a curse. Galatians 3:10-12 is the bad news; now Paul begins to explain the good news.

REDEMPTION THROUGH THE CROSS (v.13-14)
Verses 10-12 painted a very grim picture of the human situation. The law requires a life of perfect obedience in order to be right with God. Yet no person can meet such a high standard. Consequently, everyone in the world has become a prisoner of sin, which leads us to ask the question, “who then can be saved?” If what Paul said about the gravity of sin and the certainty of judgment is true, then human beings can only despair of ever obtaining divine favor. Paul’s answer to the dilemma came in the form of a confessional statement. But in what sense could Christ become a curse for us? Although Jesus was born under the law (Galatians 4:4), he did not merit the curse of the law for any wrongdoing he had committed because he was as “a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:19). Yet both the fact and the manner of his death brought him inexorably under the curse of the law. To prove this point, Paul reached back to Deuteronomy 21:23; the implication being that by being impaled on a cross, becoming a gory spectacle for all to see, Jesus exposed himself to the curse of the law. The cross was neither an accident of history nor a divine emergency measure brought in to remedy an unforeseen situation. There was a cross in the heart of God from all eternity (1 Peter 1:20). This means that the only explanation could be that the Messiah had willingly taken upon himself the dreaded curse that rightfully belonged to others. This is the Christian doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement.

We can summarize Paul’s understanding of Christ’s death in this passage in three affirmations:

1. Christ was cursed. The curse in this context assumes an almost personified form, indicating the totality of God’s righteous judgment and wrath that finally will be displayed in the blazing fire and eternal punishment of those who don’t know God and reject the gospel of our Lord Jesus (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9)
2. Christ was cursed by God. Although Christ was put to death by wicked men, this happened in accordance with the eternal purpose and predetermined plan of God.
3. Christ was cursed by God for us. In effect the curse of Deuteronomy 27:26 has been cancelled by the counter curse of Deuteronomy 21:23. Paul was working here from the idea of an exchange curse by which the sin, guilt, and hell of lost men and women are placed upon Christ while his righteousness, blessing, and merit are imputed to those in whose place he stands. For us, the Son of God became a curse. For us, he shed his precious blood. For us, he who from all eternity knew only the intimacy of the Father’s bosom came to stand in that relation with God which normally is the result of sin, estranged from God and the object of his wrath. All this – for us! What response can we offer except that of wonder, devotion, and trust!

The argument concerning the curse and the cross can thus be stated in two purpose clauses that point to the benefits secured by Christ’s atoning death:

1. That the blessing of Abraham might be extended to the Gentiles through Christ;
2. That the promise of the Spirit might be bestowed by faith

Here, Paul had all Christians in mind, Jews and Gentiles alike, since all believers have been redeemed from the curse through the death of Christ, and all true Christians have also received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Another notable thing is the way Paul carefully intertwined the status of justification and the reception of the Holy Spirit. We can say that here Paul brought together three key soteriological concepts that will dominate the later discussions in Galatians: justification, redemption, and regeneration. Each represents a distinct dimension of the salvation effected by Christ. Through pardon and acquittal Christ has removed our condemnation (justification). He has also set us free from the power of sin and death (redemption) and bestowed upon us a new life in the Spirit (regeneration).

THE PRIORITY OF THE PROMISE (v.15-18)
Paul first establishes the principle that even with a covenant among men, the covenant stands firm once it is made – no one annuls or adds to it. Paul’s point isn’t really about covenants among men, but to say “how much more with a covenant God makes!” In Genesis 22:18, God promised Abraham that in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. Paul observes that the singular for seed is used, not the plural. Paul’s emphasis on the single seed brings together two ideas that serve as a unifying theme throughout Galatians 3 and 4, namely solidarity in Christ and unity in the church. Our solidarity in Christ implies unity in the church. The point is clear: “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. God is referring to one specific descendant of Abraham, not all his descendants in general. This covenant and promise was made not only to Abraham, but also to Jesus the Messiah. So we cannot think that it was over-ruled by the covenant God later established with Israel at Sinai. The unchanging nature of God’s covenant with Abraham is an important principle; it was a one-sided covenant (Genesis 12:1-3; Genesis 15) that was promised forever (Genesis 17:7-8). There is no if in Abraham’s covenant (Genesis 12:1-3; Genesis 15); but there are plenty of “ifs” in the covenant of Moses (Deuteronomy 28). The Mosaic covenant was a two-sided covenant, with two both parties obligated to uphold it, not a one-sided covenant (Exodus 24:3-8). This means that promise of a land (Genesis 12:1; 13:7; 15:18-21), a nation (Genesis 12:2; 13:16; 17:4-6; 22:17) and of a blessing (Genesis 12:2-3; 22:18) stands eternally to Abraham and his descendants, though spiritually the promise of a blessing comes to every nation through Jesus, by faith. By stressing the seniority of the Abrahamic covenant over the Mosaic Law, Paul was extolling the God who keeps his promises. Although Paul focused here on the great time span between the two divine disclosures as a way of stressing the fidelity of God, the contrast between the Abrahamic promise and the Mosaic Law is not only one of timing but also of character. In other words, for Paul the law was not merely a late addition in the history of salvation; rather it was a completely different kind of covenant than the one God had concluded with Abraham centuries before.

Finally, Paul brought together the three main points he made: the faithfulness of God, the lateness of the law, and the gratuity of the promise. At this point, Paul introduces for the first time the term “inheritance”. The inheritance is the blessing promised by God and ratified (established) to him and to his “seed” by means of an unconditional covenant. For Paul it was crucial that this original covenant of promise be distinguished from the law of Moses. If the inheritance offered to Abraham was on the basis of law, it might not be permanent – because it would depend, at least in part, on Abraham’s keeping of the law. But since the inheritance was offered on the basis of promise, God’s promise, it stands sure.

The word ‘gave’ here is the Greek word ‘kecharistai’, which is based on the Greek word ‘charis’ – grace. God’s giving to Abraham was the free giving of grace. The word is also in the perfect tense, showing that the gift is permanent. Through all this, Paul demonstrates again by the Scriptures that the approach to God on the ground of faith (not works or works plus faith) is thoroughly Biblical. In addition, the Law of Moses, even though it came after the covenant with Abraham, in not way overrules it. The approach to God on the ground of faith stands sure, right along with Abraham’s covenant.

THE QUESTIONS

1. What do you think Gal. 3:10-12 is trying is saying you would experience if you tried to win God’s blessing by rules and self-effort?
2. Why wouldn’t it be better if God made us work for His blessings? If God’s blessings come solely by faith, where does human effort come in?
3. Why did God give the Law instead of sending Christ sooner? Are there any parallels with our present wait for Christ’s return?

Galatians, Part 6 – The Gospel Is By Faith, Not Works

My study notes of the sixth part of our study of the book of Galatians with our community group.

THE TEXT
“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness’? Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’ So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” (Galatians 3:1-9)

In these verses in chapters 3 and 4, Paul stated what he now had to prove: that the only way for anyone, Jew or Gentile, to be declared righteous before God is through personal faith in Jesus Christ. In order to accomplish this task, Paul would set forth a series of arguments or proofs drawn primarily from Scripture and intended to show that the message of salvation he had proclaimed to the Galatians was no novel doctrine but one based firmly on the holy oracles and divine promises of God himself. One scholar characterized it as “a maze of labored exegesis, puzzling illustration, and cryptic theological shorthand.” As such a verdict would drive us towards an attitude of despair in studying this text, it is important to remember three basic principles. First, Paul regarded the Old Testament Scriptures as the divinely inspired error-free Word of God, a living dynamic reality in the present. Second, we must remember that Paul was not doing theology in abstraction but was writing to a particular context and setting of which we have only partial awareness. We are overhearing, as it were, one half of a conversation. Third, it is important to remember that the Holy Spirit has inspired every single word of Scripture, including the more obscure and difficult passages, for our benefit (Romans 15:4). For this reason we must study the Scriptures with both diligence and reverence every seeking to handle it correctly (2 Timothy 2:15)

A BEWITCHED CONGREGATION (v.1)
Paul here not only addresses the Galatians by name, he also characterized them in a very unflattering way as foolish, stupid, senseless, idiots, and silly. The bluntness of Paul’s language should not blind us to the fact that he had earlier referred to them as “brothers” (1:1) and that he would later call them “his children” (4:19). Paul’s language does not contradict his principle of restoring with gentleness those believers who have lapsed into error and sin. Paul loved the Galatians and he wanted them to be restored to spiritual and theological soundness. To accomplish this, however, something sterner than mushy sentimentality was required. Paul’s harsh rebuke is an example of tough love. The strong words are well deserved.

In calling the Galatians foolish or stupid, Paul is not saying they are morally or mentally deficient. The Galatians were not lacking in IQ, but in spiritual discernment. Paul uses the Greek word ‘anoetos,’ which has the idea of someone who can think but fails to use their power of perception. The Galatians were obviously enthralled by the supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit in their midst. At the same time their grasp on the fundamental truths of the gospel was woefully inadequate. One of the most dangerous dichotomies in the Christian life is for the spiritual to be divorced from the doctrinal, experience from theology. In the most explicitly charismatic passage in the New Testament, Paul insisted that we should sing and pray not only in the spirit, but also with our minds (1 Corinthians 14:15-19). Somehow the balance between sound doctrine and Spirit-filled living had gotten out of shape among the churches of Galatia. Not being firmly grounded in their faith, they had been led astray by undisciplined thinking and careless theology to the point where they were now on the verge of embracing dangerous doctrines.

‘Bewitched’ has the idea that the Galatians are under some type of spell. Literally the word means “to give someone the evil eye, to cast a spell over, to fascinate in the original sense of holding someone spellbound by an irresistible power.” Paul doesn’t mean this literally, but their thinking is so clouded – and so unbiblical – that it seems that some kind of spell has been cast over them. Someone had misled them. The “evil eye” was thought to work in the way a serpent could hypnotize its prey with its eyes. Once the victim looked into the “evil eye,” a spell could be cast. Therefore, the way to overcome the evil eye was simply not to look at it. In using this phrasing, and using the word picture of bewitched, Paul is encouraging the Galatians to keep their eyes always, steadfastly, upon Jesus. How easily the church can be bewitched today! It is wonderful to have a soft, tender heart before God. But some people have softer heads than hearts. Their minds are too accommodating to wrong, unbiblical ideas, and they don’t think things through to see if they really are true or not according to the Bible. This is a sign of spiritual immaturity, even as a baby will stick anything into its mouth.

The idea behind clearly portrayed is something like “billboarded,” to publicly display as in setting on a billboard. Paul wonders how the Galatians could have missed the message, because he certainly made it clear enough to them. Their vision of Jesus Christ and Him crucified has become cloudy. They no longer see Him and His work on the cross as the center of their Christian lives, now it is Jesus plus what they must do for Him. When they left the message of Jesus and Him crucified, they left the message Paul preached. Paul’s preaching was like setting up posters of Jesus all over town – if you saw anything, you saw Jesus. Paul doesn’t mean that they literally saw the crucifixion of Jesus, or even that they had a spiritual vision of it. He means that the truth of Jesus and Him crucified and the greatness of His work for them was clearly laid out for them, so clearly that they could see it. Actually watching the death of Jesus on the cross might mean nothing. Hundreds, if not thousands, saw Jesus dying on the cross, and most of them only mocked Him.

WHY THE SPIRIT? (v.2-5)
In these verses the term “Spirit” is introduced for the first time in Galatians. Here the Holy Spirit is introduced in the context of the doctrine of the Trinity. Paul had just spoken of his proclamation of the cross of Christ, and in verse 5 he would refer to the Father who gave his Spirit to the Galatians. In verses 1-5 Paul asks the Galatians a series of rapid-fire questions, all of which he expected them to answer on the basis of their Christian experience. Paul is here promoting the coherence of sound doctrine and holy living. To answer, the Galatians had to reflect theologically on the experience of the Spirit in their midst. Paul led them to this by posing three contrasts for them to consider:

1. Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing of faith? Paul here proposed the one question that could decisively settle the whole dispute. The implied answer to this question was undisputed for one reason: the Galatians had been saved and blessed with the Spirit as a result of Paul’s preaching of “Christ crucified” long before the Judaizers had appeared in their midst. And how did this marvelous outpouring of the divine Spirit came about? It happened through the hearing of faith. While the content of what is heard is crucial, Paul was rather thinking here of the process by which one comes within the orbit of God’s saving grace. The term “hearing” refers to the passive posture of the recipient. The focus is not merely on the physical faculty of hearing but on the awakening of faith that comes through the preaching of the gospel. Thus the contrast Paul was drawing was between doing works and believing in Christ. However, these are not merely two kinds of human activities but rather alternative ways of approaching God. The Galatians were deceived into thinking that spiritual growth or maturity could be achieved through the works of the flesh, instead of a continued simple faith and abiding in Jesus. This lays out one of the fundamental differences between the principle of law and the principle of grace. Under law, we are blessed and grow spiritually by earning and deserving. Under grace, we are blessed and grow spiritually by believing and receiving. God deals with you under the covenant of grace; are you trying to deal with Him on the principle of law? Do you believe God wants to bless you? Which is it: by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
2. Are you being made perfect in the Spirit or in the flesh? Paul now posed a question that went to the heart of their motivation for abandoning the gospel of free grace he had preached to them. There is a twofold contrast in this question: beginning/completing and spirit/flesh. By turning to a different gospel, they had not advanced forward in the life of the Spirit but, on the contrary, lapsed into the realm of the flesh. This is indeed foolishness. This deception is cultivated by Satan to set our Christian life off-track. If he cannot stop us from being saved by faith, then he will attempt to hinder our blessing and growth and maturity by faith. And, when the works of the flesh are substituted for faith, self-confidence and pride are the inevitable result.
3. Have you suffered for a purpose or in vain? While there is no positive evidence that the Galatian Christians actually suffered such persecutions, it is not unreasonable to suppose that they would have been subjected to the same kind of harassment and violent assaults that Paul and Barnabas experienced when they first brought the gospel into that region (Acts 13:14). We know that Paul did suffer persecution in this region. Acts 14 makes it clear that Paul and his companions were persecuted vigorously (Paul even being stoned and left for dead) by the Jews when they were among the cities of Galatia. According to Paul, avoidance of persecution was a major motive of the false teachers themselves (6:12). A better translation of the phrase “Did you suffer so many things in vain” may be “Have you had such wonderful spiritual experiences, all to no purpose?” This may fit the context better. Paul wonders if all the gifts of the Spirit they had received would amount to no lasting value because now they try to walk by law, not by faith. But, Paul also indicates that the situation in Galatia was not yet hopeless. Although the situation was desperately bad, it was not beyond the reach of divine rescue, because God is sovereign. His purpose cannot be thwarted nor His word return void.

THE CASE OF ABRAHAM (v.6-9)
Among the Galatian Christians, the push towards a works-based relationship with God came from certain Christians who were born as Jews, and who claimed Abraham as their spiritual ancestor. Therefore, Paul uses Abraham as an example of being right before God by faith, not by faith plus works. Galatians 3:5 ended with a question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit and see miracles among you by the work of the law, or by faith? Paul assumes the answer, being “Of course we received the Holy Spirit and have seen miracles through faith.” Now Paul will show that it is more than a matter of personal experience; God’s work revealed in His Word demonstrates the same truth. Paul quotes here from Genesis 15:6. It simply shows that righteousness was accounted to Abraham because he believed God. It was not because he performed some work, and certainly not because he was circumcised, because the covenant of circumcision had not yet been given. Genesis 15:1-6 shows that when Abraham put his trust in God, specifically in God’s promise to give him children that would eventually bring forth the Messiah, God credited this belief to Abraham’s account as righteousness. Abraham was not justified merely because he believed that God would multiply his seed, but because he embraced the grace of God, trusting to the promised Mediator.

There are essentially two types of righteousness: righteousness we accomplish by our own efforts, and righteousness accounted to us by the work of God when we believe. Since none of us can be good enough to accomplish perfect righteousness, we must have God’s righteousness accounted to us by doing just what Abram did: Abraham believed God. This quotation from Genesis 15:6 is one of the clearest expressions in the Bible of the truth of salvation by grace, through faith alone. It is the gospel in the Old Testament, quoted four times in the New Testament (Romans 4:3, Romans 4:9-10, Romans 4:22 and here in Galatians 3:6). Romans 4:9-10 makes much of the fact this righteousness was accounted to Abraham before he was circumcised (Genesis 17). No one could say Abraham was made righteous because of his obedience or fulfillment of religious law or ritual. It was faith and faith alone that caused God to account Abraham as righteous. We should be careful to say that Abraham’s faith did not make him righteous. Abraham’s God made him righteous, by accounting his faith to him for righteousness. Abraham’s experience shows that God accounts us as righteous, because of what Jesus did for us, as we receive what He did for us by faith. If God accounts Abraham as righteous, then that is how Abraham should account himself. That is his standing before God, and God’s accounting is not pretending. God does not account to us a pretended righteousness, but a real one in Jesus Christ. It wasn’t that Abraham believed in God (as we usually speak of believing in God). Instead, it was that Abraham believed God. Those who only believe in God, in the sense that they believe He exists, are only as spiritual as demons! (James 2:19). Believed, of course, means more than that he accepted what God said as true (though, of course, he did that); it means that he trusted God. Generally speaking, ancient Rabbis did not really admire Abraham’s faith. The believed he was so loved by God because he was thought to have kept the law hundreds of year before it was given. For these and other reasons, when Paul brought up Abraham, it would have been a complete surprise to his opponents, who believed that Abraham proved their point.

The emphasis is clear. Paul is making an important point, and he wants every one of his readers to understand it. Since Abraham was made righteous by faith, and not by works, Abraham is therefore the father of everyone who believes God and is accounted righteous. What a rebuke this was to the Jewish Christians who tried to bring Gentile Christians under the law! They believed they were superior, because they descended from Abraham, and observed the law. Paul says that the most important link to Abraham is not the link of genetics, not the link of works, but the link of faith. This would have been a shocking change of thinking for these particular opponents of Paul. They deeply believed that they had a standing before God because they were genetically descended from Abraham. At that time, some Jewish Rabbis taught that Abraham stood at the gates of Hell, just to make sure that none of his descendants accidentally slipped by. John the Baptist dealt with this same thinking when he said, “do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.” (Matthew 3:9). Paul is knocking down their blind reliance on genetic relation to Abraham, and showing that what really matters is faith in Jesus. It’s the same today when people believe God accepts them because they come from a Christian family. God is a Father, not a grandfather; everyone must have their own faith in God.

What a comfort this was to the Gentile Christians who were regarded as “second class Christians” by many! Now they could know that they had a real, important link to Abraham, and could consider themselves sons of Abraham. Sadly, Christians have taken this glorious truth and misapplied it through the centuries. This has been a verse that many claim in support of replacement theology – the idea that God is finished with the people of Israel as a nation or a distinct ethnic group, and that the Church spiritually inherits all the promises made to Israel. Replacement theology has done tremendous damage in the Church, providing the theological fuel for the fires of horrible persecution of the Jews. If Galatians 3:7 were the only verse in the Bible speaking to the issue, there might be a place for saying that the Church has completely replaced Israel. But you have to understand the Bible according to its entire message, and allow one passage to give light to others. For example, Romans 11:25 states clearly that God is not finished with Israel as a nation or a distinct ethnic group. Even though God has turned the focus of His saving mercies away from Israel on to the Gentiles, He will turn it back again. This simple passage refutes those who insist that God is forever done with Israel as Israel and that the Church is the New Israel and inherits every promise ever made to national and ethnic Israel of the Old Testament. We are reminded of the enduring character of the promises made to national and ethnic Israel (such as Genesis 13:15 and Genesis 17:7-8). God is not “finished” with Israel, and Israel is not “spiritualized” as the church. While we do see and rejoice in a continuity of God’s work throughout all His people through all generations, we still see a distinction between Israel and the Church – a distinction that Paul understands well. All who put their faith in Jesus Christ are sons of Abraham; but Abraham has his spiritual sons and his genetic sons, and God has a plan and a place for both. But no one can deny that it is far more important to be a spiritual son of Abraham than a genetic son.

Paul is speaking from the Scriptures. He has already spoken from his personal experience, and from the experience of the Galatian Christians themselves. But this passage in verses 8-9 is even more important, because it shows how Paul’s teaching is correct according to the Bible itself. Remarkably, Paul refers to the Scriptures virtually as a person, who foresees, preaches, and says. This shows just how strongly Paul regarded the Bible as God’s word. Paul believed that when the Scriptures speak, God speaks. Paul observes that even back in Abraham’s day it was clear that this blessing of righteousness by faith was intended for every nation, for Gentiles as well as Jews, because God pronounced that in you all the nations shall be blessed (Genesis 12:3). The intention is to destroy the idea that a Gentile must first become a Jew before they can become a Christian. If that were necessary, God would never have said this blessing would extend to every nation, because Gentiles would have had to become part of the Israelite nation to be saved. The idea is that the gospel goes out to the nations, not that the nations come and assimilate into Israel. The blessing we receive with believing Abraham is not the blessing of fantastic wealth and power, though Abraham was extremely wealthy and powerful. The blessing is something far more precious: the blessing of a right standing with God through faith.

The most important question to ask is, “Am I of faith?” Do I believe God even as Abraham did? When God says it, do I believe it? Do I live as if I really believe God is true? Can others see that I am trusting God?

THE QUESTIONS

1. Could a person do the same activity with human effort as he could with the Spirit’s power? If not, why not? If so, what would be the difference?
2. Are you living daily on the same basis by which you were saved? How can you live by the Spirit this week?
3. Think about the kind of faith Abraham had to have to believe God would give him a son at the age of eighty. What does this tell you about the kind of faith in Christ that a person needs to have?

Galatians, Part 5 – The Gospel Crucifies Us With Christ

My study notes of the fifth part of our study of the book of Galatians with our community group.

THE TEXT
“But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, ‘If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?’ We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. 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. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” (Galatians 2:1-10)

PAUL DEFENDED THE GOSPEL AGAINST PETER’S HESITANCY AT ANTIOCH (v.11-14)
Paul is completing his list of five historical proofs from his own life and ministry with his defense of the gospel against Peter’s hesitancy at Antioch. Peter came to spend time in Antioch, Paul’s home church, and the third largest city in the Roman Empire at that time, with a population of more than 500,000 people of which some 65,000 were Jews. During that time, Peter was eating with the Gentiles, but when certain Jewish believers from Jerusalem came he drew back and separated himself from them. What is happening here?

Peter had known that God did not require Gentiles to come under the Law of Moses for salvation. He learned this from the vision God gave him in Acts 10:23. He learned this from the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Gentiles who believed (apart from being circumcised!) in Acts 10:44-48. He learned this by the agreement of the other leaders of the church in Acts 11:1-18. He had approved of Paul’s gospel and ministry when Paul came to Jerusalem (Galatians 2:9). Now, Peter turns back from all that he had known about the place of Gentiles in the church, when these men, probably Christians of Jewish background, came from Jerusalem. Peter knew these men be “offended” at his fellowship with Gentiles who had not come under the Law of Moses. In their eyes, these uncircumcised Gentiles were not really Christians at all, so to please them and avoid a conflict, Peter treated these Gentile Christians as if they were not Christians at all. Peter withdrew and separated himself. This separation was probably at the church potluck dinner, which they called “the agape banquet” or the “love feast.” They would also remember the Lord’s death at this dinner, and take communion together.

But was the gospel really at stake here? Could not Peter have appealed to Paul’s own principle of accommodation (1 Corinthians 9:19-23), according to which Christians willingly forego the exercise of their liberty out of respect for their “weaker” brothers and sisters? By separating himself, Peter treated the Gentile Christians as if they were still sinners while they (the Jews), because of their ritual purity and obedience to the law, stood in a different, more favorable relationship to God. He was basically treating the Gentile Christians as if they were not Christians at all! Yet Jews and Gentiles alike had been redeemed by the same Christ, regenerated by the same Holy Spirit, and made partakers of the same fellowship. Who then could dare say they should not come to the same table to partake of the same Lord’s Supper?

Why did Peter do this, when he knew that God welcomed Gentiles into the church without placing them under the Law of Moses? Peter acted against what he knew was right out of fear. It is easy to criticize Peter; but every person knows what it means to do something you know is wrong. Everyone knows what it feels like to go against what you know very well is right. Everyone knows what it feels like when social pressure pushes you towards compromise in some way. This is the kind of behavior that dominated Peter’s life before he was transformed by the power of God. This is like Peter telling Jesus not to go to the cross, or Peter taking his eyes of Jesus and sinking, or like Peter cutting off the ear of the servant of the High Priest when they came to arrest Jesus. We see that the flesh is still present in Peter. Salvation and the filling of the Holy Spirit have not made Peter perfect; the old Peter is still there, just seen less often!

When Paul sees this happen, he decides to rebuke Peter in public as he believes that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel. What a scene this must have been! There they are, at the church of Antioch potluck. The Gentile Christians have just been asked to leave, or are told to sit in their own section away from the “real” Christians. They also wouldn’t be allowed to share the same food that the “real” Christians ate. Peter – the honored guest – goes along with all this. Barnabas – the man who led many of the Gentiles to Jesus! – goes along with all this. The rest of the Jews in the church at Antioch go along with all this. But Paul won’t stand for it. Because this is a public affront to the Gentile Christians, and because it is a public denial of the truth of the gospel, Paul confronts Peter in a public way. It must have been hard, knowing that Peter was the most prominent of all the disciples of Jesus, the spokesman for the apostles, and probably the most prominent Christian in the whole world at the time. It must have been hard, knowing that this was before any of Paul’s missionary journeys, and before he was an apostle of great prominence. At this time, Paul was far more famous for who he was before he was a Christian than he was for who he was as a Christian. It must have been hard, knowing that Paul had against him Peter, Barnabas, these certain from James, and the rest of the Jews. Paul was in the minority on this issue. It was him and all the Gentile Christians against all the Jewish Christians! As hard as this was, why did Paul do it? Because he knew what was at stake. This wasn’t a matter of personal conduct, or just personal sin on Peter’s part. If that were the case, it is unlikely that Paul would have first used such a public approach. This was a matter about the truth of the gospel, proclaiming, “This is how a man is right before God.” Paul exposes Peter’s hypocrisy in appearing to live under the law. Paul first reminded Peter that he himself did not live under strict obedience to the Law of Moses. In other words, Peter is not keeping a kosher diet by eating bacon and lobster, but now because of these visitors he is acting as if he keeps these dietary laws all the time. I am sure this amazed these certain men from James to hear this! What? Peter, the most prominent of all the apostles, Peter doesn’t live under the Law of Moses? Peter eats bacon and lobster? Peter eats with Gentiles? Paul gives his side of the story for three reasons: (1) To underscore the independence of his apostolic calling; (2) To highlight the truth of the gospel that even so great an apostle as Peter was pressured to compromise; (3) To warn the Galatians against giving into the same kind of legalistic appeal being pitched to them by the Judaizers.

THE PRINCIPLE: JUSTIFIED BY FAITH (v.15-21)
In the remainder of chapter 2 Paul brings to a conclusion the historical argument he has been pursuing and launching into the theological exposition that will preoccupy him in the next two chapters. It is difficult, if not impossible, to say where the history stops and theology begins, for the two are inextricably interwoven in Paul’s mind. In these seven verses Paul used some of the most compress language found anywhere in his epistles to set forth the central thesis he wanted to impress upon the Galatians: acceptance with God is effected through a simple act of trust in Jesus Christ and not through anything else. What did Paul mean by the terms “justification”, “works of the law”, and “faith”? In what sense could Paul have “died to the law” or been “crucified with Christ”? What is the relationship between acceptance with God and the life of faith that follows from it? These are all questions that Paul will unpack in the four concluding chapters of Galatians. He introduces them here to show that what is at stake for the Galatians is nothing less than the truth of the gospel. Paul’s defense of his apostolic authority has led him to this definitive declaration of doctrine. The central theme is justification by faith, the very principle posed by the problem of table fellowship at Antioch.

THE DOCTRINE DECLARED (v.15-16)
In its most basic meaning, justification is the declaration that somebody is in the right. Justification should not be confused with forgiveness, which is the fruit of justification, nor with atonement, which is the basis of justification. Rather it is the favorable verdict of God that one who stood formerly condemned has now been granted a new status at the bar of divine justice. Justification is by imputation, that is, the righteousness of Christ is counted or reckoned to the sinners so that their standing before God is “as if” they possessed the kind of standing before the Father that would allow Him to say to them, as He did of Christ, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”

It is equally important to grasp the eschatological character of justification in Paul’s thought. Deeply embedded in Jewish apocalyptic thinking was the idea of a future judgment at which God would finally vindicate his people, right all the wrongs of human history, and render his final and eternal verdict on the fate of all peoples. While Paul fully accepted the futurity of the final judgment, he believes that the ground of God’s final judgment has moved from the end of history to its center, that is from the Second Coming of Christ to the cross and resurrection. This means that the basis of our standing before God has shifted from the future (last judgment) and the present (our moral strivings) to the past (the finished work of Jesus on the cross). This was, of course, the very point that so irritated the Judaizers who wanted to make obedience to the law the prerequisite of a right standing with God. Verse 16 is a stylistically convoluted verse because within the scope of one sentence Paul says the same thing in three slightly different ways: (1) We (Jewish Christians) know that a person is not justified by observing the law; (2) For this reason even we have trusted in Christ in order that we should be justified by faith rather than by the works of the law; (3) Since no human being can be justified by the works of the law.

What does Paul mean by the “works of the law”? The word “law” is found 119 times in Paul’s letters where means variously the Old Testament Scriptures, the will of God, or a general principle. However, the law usually refers to “the sum of specific divine requirements given to Israel through Moses.” Paul’s argument was to show that the nature of the law is such that it cannot produce a right standing before God. Since this is true, it’s plain to see how foolish and wrong it was for Peter to separate from these Gentile Christians because they had not put themselves under the Law of Moses. Because by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified, then what difference does it make if a Gentile is circumcised according to the Law of Moses? What difference does it make if a Gentile keeps a kosher table? All that matters is their faith in Christ, because that is how we are made right before God. What does Paul mean by “faith in Christ”? Traditionally the faith in question is that of those who believe in Jesus Christ. However, more recently, scholars have argued that this expression is referring to the faith or faithfulness of Christ. In any case, when Paul spoke of faith as essential for justification, he was thinking of the necessary human response to what God had objectively accomplished in the cross of Christ. However, we must guard ourselves against the temptation to turn faith itself into one of the “works of the law”. Saving faith is a radical gift from God, never a mere human possibility. Faith is not an achievement that earns salvation, but rather the evidence of saving grace manifested in the renewal of the heart by the Holy Spirit.

ANSWERED OBJECTION #1: WE ARE MADE RIGHT BEFORE GOD BY FAITH IN JESUS AND NOT BY WORKS OF THE LAW (v.17-18)
Now, Paul deals with an objection that the certain men from James would raise. It’s important to remember that Paul made this statement publicly, with the concerned parties right in front of him. On one side of the room are the certain men from James, who believed that God would not accept the Gentiles unless they put themselves under the law of Moses. Peter is sitting with these men, and so is Barnabas, who is Paul’s best friend. In fact, all the Christians of Jewish background are sitting with these Christians from Jerusalem who don’t believe that the Gentiles in the church at Antioch are really saved at all. In a real-life setting like this, Paul can’t just speak his mind without answering the objections of those who disagree with him. As the men from Jerusalem saw it, the idea that we are made right before God by faith in Jesus alone wasn’t “real” enough. After all, Christians still struggled with sin. How could they have the “accepted by God” issue settled if they still battled sin? In their thinking, this made Christ a minister of sin, because Jesus’ work of making them right with God apparently didn’t make them right enough! Paul’s answer is brilliant! First, yes, we seek to be justified by Christ, and not by Jesus plus our own works. Second, yes, we ourselves also are found sinners, that is, we acknowledge that we still sin even though we stand justified by Christ. But no, this certainly does not make Jesus the author or approver of sin in our life. He is not a minister of sin. Why? Paul’s answer is subtle, but brilliant. Essentially, Paul says there is more sin in trying to find acceptance before God by our law-keeping than there is sin in everyday life as a Christian. What Paul shows is that by putting themselves under the law again, they (the Judaizers) are sinning worse than ever! How is it a sin to build again a way to God through the Law of Moses? In many ways, but perhaps the greatest is that it looks at Jesus, hanging on the cross, taking the punishment we deserved, bearing the wrath of God for us, and says to Him, “That’s all very nice, but it isn’t enough. Your work on the cross won’t be good enough before God until I’m circumcised and eat kosher.” Of course, this is the great tragedy of legalism. In trying to be more right with God, they end up being less right with God. This was exactly the situation of the Pharisees that opposed Jesus so much during His years of earthly ministry. Paul knew this thinking well, having been a Pharisee himself (Acts 23:6).

ANSWERED OBJECTION #2: YOU ARE DEAD TO THE LAW, SO IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE LAW TO BE THE WAY TO STAND ACCEPTED BY GOD (v.19-20)
Paul makes a bold statement, saying that he has died to the law. If he is dead to the law, then it is impossible for the law to be the way he stands accepted by God. Notice that it isn’t the law that is dead. The law reflects, in its context, the holy heart and character of God. There was nothing wrong with the law. It isn’t the law that died, but Paul died to the law. However, Paul was not saying that the law of God had lost all meaning or relevance for the Christian believer.

How did Paul die to the law? The law itself “killed” Paul. It showed him that he never could live up to the law, and fulfill its holy standard. He came to the point where he really understood the law – understanding it in the way Jesus explained it in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), realizing that the law made him guilty before God, not justified before God. The law itself, by revealing the inadequacy of human obedience and depth of human sinfulness, set the stage, as it were, for the drama of redemption effected by the promised Messiah who fulfilled the law by obeying it perfectly and suffering its curse emphatically. When Paul died to the law, then he could live to God. As long as he still tried to justify himself before God, by all his law-keeping, he was dead. Luther says the following about this, “When a person is a Christian he is above law and sin. When the Law accuses him, and sin wants to drive the wits out of him, a Christians looks to Christ. A Christian is free. He has no master except Christ. A Christian is greater than the whole world [...] We are not to think that the Law is wiped out. It stays. It continues to operate in the wicked. But a Christian is dead to the Law. For example, Christ by His resurrection became free from the grave, and yet the grave remains. Peter was delivered from prison, yet the prison remains. The Law is abolished as far as I am concerned, when it is has driven me into the arms of Christ. Yet the Law continues to exist and to function. But it no longer exists for me.”

What does it mean to be “crucified with Christ”? In one sense this is presumptuous language because the mystery of atonement requires that the death of Christ be unique, unrepeated, and isolated. On the cross Christ suffered alone forsaken by His friends, His followers, and finally even His Father. And yet Paul’s point is that the very benefits of Christ’s atoning death, including first of all justification, are without effect unless we are identified with Christ in His death and resurrection. Thus to be crucified with Christ is to know Him in the “fellowship of His sufferings” (Philippians 3:10). Paul’s flow of thought is saying that he died to the law in order that he might live for God having been crucified together with Christ. The new life Paul had received flowed from his identification with the passion and death of Christ. It is this experience of divine grace that makes the doctrine of justification a living reality rather than a legal fiction.

Since we died with Christ on the cross, we have a different life. Our old life, lived under the law, is dead. Now we are alive to Jesus Christ, and Jesus is alive in us. Paul realized that on the cross, a “great exchange” occurred. He gave Jesus his old, try-to-be-right-before-God-by-the-law life, and it was crucified on the cross. Then Jesus gave Paul His life to life – Christ came to live in him. So Paul’s life isn’t his own anymore, it belongs to Jesus Christ! Paul doesn’t own his own life (that life died); he is simply “managing” the new life Jesus gave him. Paul can only “manage” the new life Jesus gave him by faith. You can’t live the new life Jesus gives on the foundation of law-keeping. You can only live it by faith. When Paul says I now live in the flesh, he doesn’t mean that he lives a chronically sinful life. By ‘flesh’ Paul understands what Jesus meant in the third chapter of John, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6) ‘Flesh’ here means the whole nature of man, inclusive of reason and instincts. ‘This flesh,’ says Paul, ‘is not justified by the works of the law.’ The point of this verse isn’t the flesh, it is faith. Faith is not simply a topic about which Paul preached from time to time. Nor is it a virtue which he practiced occasionally. It is central in all that he does. Luther says the following, “Faith connects you so intimately with Christ, that He and you become as it were one person. As such you may boldly say: ‘I am now one with Christ. Therefore Christ’s righteousness, victory, and life are mine.’ On the other hand, Christ may say: ‘I am that big sinner. His sins and death are mine, because he is joined to me, and I to him.’”

The faith Paul lives by is not faith in himself, faith in the law, or faith in what he can earn or deserve before God. It is faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ – who loved me and gave Himself for me! Before, Paul’s relationship with God was founded on what he could do for God – his faith was in himself. Now, the foundation is what Jesus Christ has done for him – his faith is in Jesus. What confidence Paul can have in giving his life to, and living His life for, someone who loves him that much! When we realize the great love God has shown for us, it makes everything in the Christian life easier. Paul can confidently give himself to Jesus because of the love Jesus has demonstrated in the past. The past tense is important. It is this past tense gospel the devil hates. It is very important to realize that Jesus gave Himself for me. For me is very emphatic. It is not enough to regard Christ as having died for the salvation of the world; each man must claim the effect and possession of this grace for himself personally.

THE TERRIBLE ALTERNATIVE (v.21)
Grace is the operative word, and Paul is saying that if it were possible to obtain a right standing by God through works of the law, then Christ had no business dying. Everything is at stake! Was Christ a false messiah? Paul said that if we persist in building again the wall that Christ has torn down, if we try to climb up to heaven by some other way, if we add works of the law to the sacrifice of the cross, then indeed we make a mockery of Jesus’ death. And that’s a terrible alternative!

THE QUESTIONS

1. Do you think Paul was right to rebuke Peter publicly?
2. Can you think of church behavior today that deserves to be called “hypocrisy”?
3. What is the practical day-to-day significance of your crucifixion with Christ? How does having Christ’s life within you affect you in practical ways?
4. Who looks to you for standards of behavior (as some men looked to Peter)?
5. What can you do to see that your behavior communicates faith in God?

Galatians, Part 4 – The Gospel Is Also For Us

My study notes of the fourth part of our study of the book of Galatians with our community group.

THE TEXT
“Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.” (Galatians 2:1-10)

Paul is continuing his list of five historical proofs from his own life and ministry. In chapter one he listed three already, and this text describes the fourth proof, namely that Paul’s apostolic work was recognized by church leaders at Jerusalem.

This first half of chapter two is Paul’s defense of his apostleship. He tells of a private meeting he held on his second visit to Jerusalem with the church leaders there. The purpose of the meeting was to set before these leaders the gospel he had been proclaiming for some years among the Gentiles. Upon hearing his testimony they fully endorsed his message and him. From Paul’s perspective this meeting was a smashing success, because the false brothers were unsuccessful in their efforts to compel Titus to be circumcised, and Paul and the Jerusalem leaders arrived at a common missionary strategy for the spreading of the gospel. Paul eagerly agreed with the request that this practical division of labor might not result in a loss of love between Jewish and Gentile Christians.

PAUL’S TRIP TO JERUSALEM (v.1-2)
In Galatians 1:18-19, Paul described a trip he made to Jerusalem three years after Jesus met him on the road to Damascus. Now, he describes a second trip to Jerusalem, fourteen years later. Two visits to Jerusalem over 14 years shows that Paul did not sit at the feet of the disciples of Jesus to learn the gospel. This trip to Jerusalem is most likely the one mentioned in Acts 11:27-30, when Paul brought a gift from Christians in other cities to the Christians in Jerusalem, who suffered under famine. When Paul was in Jerusalem at this time, he assured the leaders in Jerusalem that he was obedient to God in his presentation of the gospel to the Gentiles. Knowing this contention of the Judaizers was present, the leaders of the church in Jerusalem wanted to know what Paul taught, and when he visited Jerusalem it was the perfect time to tell them, so Paul communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles. Paul knew he had the true gospel; but he didn’t know how everyone of reputation in Jerusalem would receive it. He did the best he could to not publicly embarrass those who were of reputation in Jerusalem. What love and sensitivity on Paul’s part! It would have been easy for him to say, “I’m right and anyone who disagrees with me is wrong, and I can’t wait to get in their face publicly.” But he didn’t. He knew that being right didn’t give you the privilege of being rude. What made Paul fear that he might run, or had run, in vain? Probably it was the fear that an unnecessary conflict with the leaders of the church in Jerusalem leaders might damage his reputation and ministry in some way. Also, the danger was that false teachers – if encouraged in some way by the leaders in Jerusalem – might undo Paul’s work in planting churches and raising disciples for Jesus, and would make his work in vain.

TITUS’ CIRCUMCISION (v.3-5)
Paul’s point is that the leadership in Jerusalem accepted Titus, a Gentile convert, even though he was not circumcised in accord with the Mosaic law. This shows that the Jerusalem leadership accepted Paul’s gospel of grace. Why would anyone compel someone like Titus to be circumcised? Why was it even an issue? Because circumcision was the sign of initiation into the Jewish faith and the Mosaic covenant. Yet, the lack of circumcision in Titus became an issue because of false brothers who attempted to bring Paul and other Christians into bondage. Paul realized that if the message of the gospel was compromised, it wasn’t just bondage for the Gentiles, but bondage for everyone who named the name of Jesus. In response, Paul remained steadfast: we did not yield submission even for an hour. Some might react this way out of pride or just plain stubbornness. But Paul did it so that the truth of the gospel might continue.

A SUMMARY (v.6)
Paul knew that in his day, there were leaders of high reputation – “famous” Christians, if you will. But they did not overly impress or intimidate Paul. Even though Paul met with influential and “famous” Christians a few times, they did not give him the gospel he preached. The leaders in Jerusalem added nothing to the gospel Paul preached or the apostolic authority he possessed. Paul didn’t wait for someone else to make him a great Christian. He knew that it came down to a personal relationship between himself and Jesus. This isn’t to say that Paul received nothing from others, or that no one else could ever bless him. But his Christian life was not built upon what other people did for him.

JERUSALEM’S APPROVAL OF PAUL’S GOSPEL (v.7-10)
The leaders of the Jerusalem church accepted Paul and his ministry to the Gentiles. They approved Paul’s ministry, knowing that Paul did not require the Gentiles to come under the Mosaic Law to find favor with God. Paul’s main ministry was to Gentiles, and Peter’s main ministry was to Jews. These distinctions were not absolute; each did minister to the other groups. Yet, the distinction is interesting, especially because Roman Catholics claim that the Pope is the successor of Peter – but where is his ministry to the Jews? John Calvin said this: “But if Peter’s apostleship pertained peculiarly to the Jews, let the Romanists ask by what right they derive from him their succession to the primacy. If the Pope of Rome claims the primacy because he is Peter’s successor, he ought to exercise it over the Jews. Paul is here declared to be the chief apostle of the Gentiles; yet they deny that he was the bishop of Rome. Therefore, if the Pope would enter into the possession of his primacy, let him assemble Churches from the Jews.” The only caution from the leaders in Jerusalem was that Paul should remember the poor. In this case, probably the poor saints in Jerusalem, whom Gentile believers should not forget.

The two key themes in this passage are: the truth of the gospel, and the unity of the church. In a moment of crisis Paul found it necessary to stand strongly against the heretical doctrine and improper demands of the false brothers. At the same time, Paul greatly valued the unity of the church and sought to strengthen it in every way possible. There are three great lessons I think in this section. First, a pattern of cooperation about the truth of the gospel. Paul could not work together with the false brothers (although they claimed to be fellow Christians), because their theological position was inconsistent to the gospel message itself. Paul was eager to work closely together with other Christian leaders who shared with him a common commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Secondly, the apostles found it necessary to distribute the work of evangelism by a practical division of labor. Thirdly, The word about caring for the poor point to the life and mission of the church. Paul steadfastly refused to divorce conversion from discipleship. His mission included both a social and an evangelistic responsibility, knowing that the gospel he preached addressed to living persons in all their broken humanity and need for wholeness.

THE QUESTIONS

1. In chapter 1, Paul affirmed that his message came clearly from God. Why, fourteen years later, would he fear that he had been wrong?
2. Consider how Paul handled the strife in 2:1-5. What aspects of this are worthy of imitation?
3. Are people today ever pressured to conform to an “acceptable” lifestyle in order to be Christian? Do you think Paul would find modern Christian rules more justifiable than the Jewish ones he opposed?

Galatians, Part 3 – The Gospel Is The Revelation Of Jesus Christ

My study notes of the third part of our study of the book of Galatians with our community group.

THE TEXT
“For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, ‘He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.’ And they glorified God because of me.” (Galatians 1:11-24)

NOT HUMANLY DEVISED, BUT DIVINELY GIVEN (v.11-12)
Paul’s language is really strong in verses 11 and 12. This is not a matter of secondary importance. While Paul is rebuking the Galatians he is still calling them brothers, appealing them as a loyal family member, all subjects to the divine grace, seeking to rescue his loved ones. There is a parallel here to verse 1, but here he is adding two extra negatives: ‘not receive it from any man’ and ‘nor was I taught it’. By that he is saying that he didn’t receive it (the initial reception of the gospel) through tradition, and that he wasn’t taught by anyone (refering to his growing understanding of its contents).

Paul was contrasting normal rabbinical Judaism, where there is an oral tradition that was handed through from one rabbi to the next. You can read more about that in posts on discipleship, starting with ‘Discipleship 101 #1 – Old School‘. Paul is saying that he received it independent from the other apostles. Paul wasn’t opposed to or ignorant of the developing Christian traditions, but simply said he was not dependent on them for his knowledge of Christ.

He continues to say in the last half of verse 12 that it was divinely given. After the two negatives, Paul closes this train of thought with a positive: the declaration of the revelation. Revelation (Greek: ‘apokalypsis‘) literally means “unveiling, a laying bare, the removal of that which conceals or obscures.” On the Damascus Road, Jesus Christ himself appeared to Paul as the revealing one; what he disclosed was the true nature of the gospel. Paul knew about Jesus’ earthly ministry, and had persecuted vigorously, but now Jesus revealed Himself to Paul. It reminds me of Peter in Matthew 16:15-17, where “He [Jesus] said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.’” Peter knew about Jesus’ earthly ministry, had heard Him teach and seen Him perform miracles, but none of this sufficed to bring Peter a true awareness of who Jesus really was. That revelation came from God!

From verse 13 until halfway chapter two, Paul is going through five historical proofs from his own life and ministry, to further build his case on the authenticity and authority of his apostleship. The first three proofs are listed in the remainder of this chapter. The five proofs are:

1. Nothing in Paul’s religious background could account for his acceptance of the gospel (1:13-17)
2. Paul was not commissioned by the Jerusalem Church (1:18-20)
3. Those Paul formerly persecuted glorified God because of the change made happen in him (1:21-24)
4. Paul’s apostolic work was recognized by church leaders at Jerusalem (2:1-10)
5. Paul defended the gospel against Peter’s hesitancy at Antioch (2:11-14)

Through these five proofs, Paul moves from Paul the persecutor to Paul the preacher.

NOTHING IN PAUL’S RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND COULD ACCOUNT FOR HIS ACCEPTANCE OF THE GOSPEL (v.13-17)
Paul starts off with proofing that he had a history of persecuting the Church. He didn’t do this to brag on his misdeeds of his pre-Christian life, but to hold high the sovereign initiative of God. He then continues talking about his zeal for religion. Why was Paul so zealous? In order to understand this we need to understand Pharisaic Judaism. This leads to two reasons for Paul’s zeal:

1. It was not solely the claim that Jesus was the Messiah, but also that He was crucified, buried, raised, and now exalted in heaven with the status of a deity, which demanded the kind of worship only properly given to God. This was considered blashemy.
2. The “stumbling block” of the cross was offensive in the highest degree: to be crucified was to come under the curse of God (Deuteronomy 21:22-23), an unthinkable condition for God’s anointed one from the perspective of strict Pharisaic Judaism

Paul contrasts his religious background with the initiative of God. Paul said he was set apart by God before he was born. This echoes Ephesians 1:3-6 which says, “Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” (Ephesians 1:3-6). Election is God’s gracious grace choice of certain individuals unto eternal life. After being set apart he was then called. This refers to the whole complex of events, including repentance and faith, by which a lost sinner is converted to Christ. This calling is beautifully displayed by Jesus when He raised Lazarus from death. John 11:43-44a records, “When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out.’ The man who had died came out.“

And in all this, Gos revealed His son through Paul. Paul literally saw Jesus, and confirms that in several verses, like “Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord?” (1 Corinthians 9:1) and “I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 12:1). Does God have a sense of humor? Yes! He selects a man before he is born for the job of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. And that man grows up hating Gentiles, and believing that the only reason God made Gentiles was so they would fuel the fires of hell.

After his conversion, Paul goes to Arabia. There is some debate on exactly where in Arabia. Some say Paul went all the way to Mount Sinai, but that’s not really important I think. Generally there are two reasons recognized for his trip to Arabia. Paul went there for an extended time of prayer, meditation, and reflection. Or Paul went there to continue the preaching ministry he had started in Damascus. Probably both are true.

PAUL WAS NOT COMMISSIONED BY THE JERUSALEM CHURCH (v.18-20)
He saying that only after three years he went to Jerusalem. Paul was not concerned with chronological precision here, but to refute the false charges against him. To do this it was only necessary to show that his trip to first Jerusalem was occurred after a considerable lapse of time from his conversion. His time with Peter was not to seek authorization of his message or validation of his ministry, but to seek close fellowship as well as a strategic partnership in their common apostolic mission. The idea is that Paul was not commanded to come to Jerusalem to give an account to Peter or the other disciples, but he came of his own accord, and visited as a “tourist.”

THOSE PAUL FORMERLY PERSECUTED GLORIFIED GOD BECAUSE OF THE CHANGE MADE HAPPEN IN HIM (v.21-24)
From 25 BC to 72 AD, Syria and Cilicia were united a single Roman province with a common governor based in Syrian Antioch. Tarsus, Paul’s home town was the capital of Cilicia (southeastern region of Asia Minor). If Paul did not learn the essential content of the gospel from any man, then it is also true that the early Christians were slow in learning just who Paul was in Jesus. All they really knew was that he had been dramatically converted – for which they glorified God. After his conversion, Paul was a “normal Christian” for many years. Paul’s status as unknown is certainly different from our own habit of puffing up any prominent convert as soon as they come to Jesus. Paul was happy and well served to spend many years in obscurity before God raised him up.

In this whole section, Paul shows there was enough contact between him and the other apostles to show that they were in perfect agreement, but not so much that it would show that Paul got his gospel from them instead of God.

THE QUESTIONS

1. Does your gospel (or Christian experience) come from God, or have you made it up yourself?
2. Do you think a Christian can be too dependent on others in his quest for spiritual understanding? What would be the evidence and problems of that condition?
3. What are the dangers of being completely independent of others for one’s beliefs? How can we strive for a sound balance between these two errors?
4. Do you think that those who do not have a dramatic change in their lives after conversion are at a disadvantage in testifying about Jesus or in growing more holy?