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Okay last week we read verses 1-5 which say
Galatians 1.6-12
Milk
February 17th 2019
Ga 1:1 ¶ Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)
2 And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia:
3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,
4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
5 To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Then he adds
6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Okay, let’s go back to verse 6 where Paul presents the thesis statement of the Epistle, if you will, or “the crux behind the general purpose of his letter” he has written as he says:
6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
When Paul writes, “I marvel” (or I wonder) Martin Luther noted in his translation of the Bible that Paul uses a very mild word here. In other words, though he is being critical of their general direction in the faith his approach is gentle as he expresses astonishment that this thing has occurred.
What thing?
That they would be “so soon removed from him that called them into the grace of Christ unto another gospel.”
Obviously they had at one time embraced the gospel – the only gospel that there is – and in so doing manifested an attachment to the one that called them into the grace of Christ.
But Paul says he is surprise that they “have been so soon removed . . .”
Which proved that the epistle was written shortly after their conversions.
The general idea among scholars is that is was between two and five years. Apparently this is based on travel records put together but I think that this is a limited view and could have been a far shorter period of time.
The Greek term for “So soon removed” is meta-ith-aimee and it too is a gentle word that means to be transposed to another place.
In their minds and hearts they were one place in the reception of the good news, but were transferred to an all together different place.
Since we are not talking about a literal tranfer then we know it has to do with a mindset.
The full line is:
6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
This passage is a little troubling to me – I had to really think on it for a while – because what Paul seems to actually be surprised by is that the Galatians were “so soon removed from HIM”
What Him?
The Him that called them into the Grace of Christ to another gospel.
Who was that him that they were so soon removed from? There are three general opinions:
One group says the Him was Paul, others say it was Christ, and other say the him was God. “I marvel that you are so soon removed from . . .
PAUL/CHRIST or God
There are some really sound scholars who believe this speaks of Paul, because his apostleship was being called into question.
But, was it Paul who actually called them into the grace of Christ? I don’t think so. He presented the message but the one who called is God.
Similarly, I don’t think this speaks of Christ because the construction would be
“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Christ that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:”
Not real good. But all things considered when we read
6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from God that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
We have some sense, and we have some contextual support in that the work of calling men is typically attributed to God in scripture
1st Thessalonians 2:12 That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.
1st Thessalonians 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
2nd Thessalonians 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2nd Timothy 1:8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
So, I teach that Paul is saying:
6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from God that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
The implications of this view are far reaching and important because what they have Paul saying is that the people of Galatia were “soon removed from God.”
The interesting thing is Paul makes this judgment NOT on the fact that they were sinful or promoting sin, but because they were attempting, in their flesh, to be MORE HOLY.
They have removed themselves from God by attempting to be MORE HOLY in their lives toward him . . . and not less.
This is significant and we will get into discussion the reasons in the weeks to come.
But right now let deal with the fact that Paul is surprised at how quickly they have “removed themselves from God” . . . who . . . called them
“into the grace of Christ by embracing another gospel.”
Turning to the immortal words of Jesus in his parable of the sower, he explains three causes for people removing themselves from “the God who called them into the grace of Christ.”
We tend to want to find a single reason for the reason some people walk from the simplicity of the Gospel and decide more (and sometime less) is needed in their lives.
I like to appeal to the words of Jesus for reasons as I think they are satisfactory in getting to root of issues.
So thinking of the Galatians who were so soon removed from God who called them into the GRACE of Christ, lets turn to the words of the Masters teachers and assess some possibilities as to what caused the Galatian saints to embrace another false Gospel.
Let’s quickly go to the board and do a little game of investigation:
WE will call this game, which Ground best describes the Churches at Galatia?
Ground 1
Ground 2
Ground 3
Ground 4
Jesus words
Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
Mt 13:5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
Mt 13:7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
Mt 13:8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
Heart-Soil
Wayside soil
Stony places
Not much earth
Thorns
Good Ground
Growth
No root
Sprung up
Thorns Sprung up
Enemy
Birds
Sun scorched
Choked by
Result
Gobbled up
Roots withered
Lots of Fruit
Jesus words
Mt 13:19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
Mt 13:20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
Mt 13:22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
Mt 13:23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
In the end, I vote for either ground 1 or 2, which most of my money betting on 2.
It seems that the believers actually received the Gospel message with joy, but when they got engaged with the Word (the Old Testament for them, remember) and persecution that arose from it (relative to the Law and the importance of Keeping it) they quickly found themselves embracing another false Gospel . . . and in and through embracing it, actually removed themselves from God who gave the world His Son.
When Paul calls what they embraced here, he changes his mind and corrects that in the next verse.
The reasons for this is subtle but significant – there is only ONE GOSPEL.
ONE GOOD NEWS.
There is not another good news. Which is why he says right after verse 6 (in verse 7)
Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
In other words, what they had received from some source that were pushing elements of the law on them was an approach that destroys the grace of Christ.
This message will be overly clear to us as we get into chapters 2-5, but the point is clear – there is one Gospel, one – it is THE GOOD NEWS.
What is it?
Interestingly, there are a number of answers to this question too, depending on who you speak with.
I read this definition online, and while the source seemed secular, I think it is a really good summary:
It said:
In Christianity, the gospel, or the Good News, is the news of the coming of the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:14-15, which says:
Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”
So the online definition reads
In Christianity, the gospel, or the Good News is the news of the coming of the Kingdom of God and of Jesus’s birth, life, and death on the cross and then His resurrection to restore people’s relationship with God. It may also include the descent of the Holy Spirit upon believers and the second coming of Jesus.”
I like this definition. And I think this was the central message Paul took to the people of Galatia – AGAIN – listen, that:
In Christianity, the gospel, or the Good News is the news of
the coming of the Kingdom of God
and of Jesus’s birth,
life,
and death on the cross
and then His resurrection to restore people’s relationship with God.
It may also include the descent of the Holy Spirit upon believers
and the second coming of Jesus.”
Now, I am going to make a giant step here and I pray that God approves. The Good News came to those people then.
As Jesus Himself said in Mark
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”
This message was couched in a place and time and from John the Baptist, and Jesus, and the 11 Apostles and then Paul, there was great expediency tied to the message, with an exclamation point added to all that they said with the Book of Revelation.
The Good New came and had the most direct immediate application to them/then.
And it remains Good News today to all who do not know God and His Son, who have not been born from above, and who have yet to understand the eternal immeasurable value in His birth, life, death, resurrection . . . AND return.
I propose to you that the Good News to them – and us – has wrapped up and become the Great News today.
Without the Good News there would be no Great News. It, as described, is the foundation in the salvation of human kind and the total reconciliation of all things to God by and through the Victory of Christ.
To them then, His own, as John called them, came the Good News – the Messiah had come to save them from the Law, sin and death. He came to save them from coming destruction and from the grip of sheol.
And in and through His coming and doing as He promised, the Good News become great as religion, Satan, Hell have been destroyed and the Spirit of loving reconciliation, and God’s laws written on our hearts is offered to all to receive and then live by.
But Paul’s point is about the Good News, the foundation of everything God has accomplished through His Son, and on this we will primarily remain.
The churches at Galatia had apparently in some degree or another received the Good news, but as people frequently do even today, they Good News is just not enough for them.
They want – they need more. And as a result we have the birth of religion. I know this is a popular topic today, but the reality is there, and its an important one.
In verse 7 Paul calls the purveyors of such systems
“Perverters of the Gospel of Christ.”
That word in verse seven is meta-strepho, corrupters of the Gospel.
We have noted what is included in the Good News, right?
the coming of the Kingdom of God
of Jesus’s birth,
life,
and death on the cross
and then His resurrection to restore people’s relationship with God.
It may also include the descent of the Holy Spirit upon believers
and the second coming of Jesus.”
In these points we see that all of them have to do with the actions and events surrounding Jesus:
the coming of the Kingdom of God (by the arrival of Jesus)
of Jesus’s birth,
Jesus perfect life,
Jesus death on the cross
Jesus resurrection
Even the descent of the Holy Spirit was possible because of Jesus
and of course, the second coming of Jesus.”
The Good News therefore can be summarized in one Word: Jesus.
Receive Him by faith in total and you have received the Good News.
We also note, must note if we are brave enough, that the Gospel does not include:
anything about water baptism
nothing to do with belonging to a church
nothing about ancillary doctrines and dogma
Nothing about Calvinism, Trinitarianism, Creeds
Nothing about lifestyles, sins, choices, dietary laws.
Nothing about communion, sacraments, temple attendances, sabbath days, personal holiness, missional activities, tithes, reforming the world, fighting evil.
The Good News is Jesus – who He is, what He did, and trusting that it was accomplished.
Done. Over.
The believers had moved from the simplicity of the Gospel and embraced a different system – one which taught an entirely different method of justification before God other than faith in Jesus.
It taught faith plus.
This is the slant of religions and especially religious cults.
With such it is always “Jesus Plus.”
Jesus plus attending church.
Jesus plus attending the temple.
Jesus plus giving money.
Jesus plus keeping the Sabbath day holy.
Jesus plus lighting incense, praying to Mary, serving in a ministry, street preaching, Jesus plus works of righteousness, Jesus plus holy living, sanctified rituals, marrying a believer – you name it, religion takes JESUS and adds a plus sign
The MORE religious, the bigger the plus sign.
Simultaneously, there are the groups who preaching salvation and Godliness, add a minus sign to the Gospel and/or Jesus.
They assume because Jesus has finished the work and had the victory there is no need for him, no need for faith in Him, no need to even seek knowing Him.
After all, if or since He has accomplished it all, what’s the point.
These believe, somehow, that as long as they live “good lives” they will be fine with God and His offering on our behalf.
They suppose that all roads lead to heaven, that access to God is an open door, and all this Jesus Gospel stuff is wholly unnecessary.
Both extremes miss the mark, the point, and the essence of God giving “the world” His only human Son.
But most importantly, both extremes fully miss the mark of being children of God, of being Christians, and of allowing Christ, by His Spirit, to walk us through this earthly state.
What God does with those who add to the Gospel and what He does to those who take away from the Gospel is not our concern.
Our job is to try and patiently love them and allow God to do His Work. But those who seek to know God AND His Son, those who are Sons and Daughters and want to walk in the truth, are aware of those who will readily pervert or twist the Gospel, in one direction or another.
In the case of Galatians, Paul is going to focus on those religionists that ADD the plus sign to the Good News.
And so to them Paul says something really powerful (verse 8):
8 But though we (the apostles and perhaps those traveling with the apostles), though we or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
I’m not sure that an angel from heaven would ever preach another gospel and perhaps Paul hopes to put the strongest possible case in front of them by saying this.
I certainly think an angel from hell could or would but when he says from heaven I tend to think Paul is appealing to hyperbole to make a point.
Of course, some might suggest that Satan was once an angel from heaven and that if, or since angels have free will that there is the change that an angel from heaven COULD potentially appear and teach a false gospel to others.
Perhaps.
As a result this passage is huge for apologists to use against the founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith Jr. and his claim of having had an angel of light visit him (on numerous occasions) and revealing to his a truly false gospel.
Could have been.
But I tend to put less value on what he says happened and suggest that it was all a fiction, and therefore no angel of any kind appeared to the guy but the narrative was created in reverse in order to tell a tale – which he was really good at doing.
In any case, Paul distinctly names the angel as an angel from heaven, and to me this muddies the apologists use of this passage against Smiths claims.
The point is, there is nothing under the guise of God that possesses another form of a Gospel that could or should ever be embraced as a replacement of what they had already received.
Paul’s punishment on these angels or other apostles (the “we” in the passage) is to let them be accursed, with the Greek, being anathema, which pretty much means, let them be banned, excommunicated, and even in some cases, let them “undergo destruction.”
The point is Paul expressed some really powerful words here to show his utter revulsion for what has happened to the Saints at Galatia.
Luther said of this passage that Paul, ” casteth out very flames of fire; and his zeal is so fervent, that he beginneth almost to curse the angels.”
So important was this message to them them that Paul repeats it essentially, saying
9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
I have to admit it is difficult for me to grasp the magnitude of Paul’s earnestness and to take it super seriously in my heart.
I am not suggesting that I am right in my somewhat cavalier response to the emphatic words of Paul.
I personally cannot fathom the seriousness of someone adding a rite or ritual to the Good News with the best of intentions of honoring God and having God excommunicate them from His presence.
To me, again in my feeble brain, anyone who gets what Jesus has done but gets messed up in approach it seems God would understand, but this is NOT what Paul suggests in this epistle.
He says that for those believers to embrace any form that is NOT the Gospel removes them from God!
And no matter what my wretched heart feels about God and his mercy, I do intellectually understand his emphasis.
I also suggest that those who are truly His, by faith, and have Him in them (the Spirit of Christ) naturally get Paul’s point, and would never personally embrace or endorse a false system over the truth.
And while I am sympathetic to those who get beguiled with the trappings of religion, I am simultaneously repulsed by those who push the trappings out for others to embrace.
I suppose that it is on the import of Christ and Christ alone that I am most dogmatic in my walk. And while I remain unaware on how God will respond to this, I adamantly maintain that the truest Sons and Daughters are sold out unquestionably to the core of the Gospel of Christ.
At this point Paul steps into a segment where he establishes himself as a true apostle, and so we will wrap today up quickly covering verses 10-12, where Paul writes:
10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Of course, the points in verses 11-12 have already been established by Paul in the first verses which we covered last week.
But let address his meaning of verse 10 as he asks a fantastic question to set the stage and says:
10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
.
The RSV says Am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ.
Ga 1:10 (WEB) For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? For if I were still pleasing men, I wouldn’t be a servant of Christ.
Paul’s use of the word “now” (arti) seems to be an attempt to contrast his present life as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ with his former life as a man-pleaser.
Before his conversion to Christianity, Paul admits indirectly that his objective was to gain the favor of men.
He did this by acting against Christians and then seeking letters of approval from the Sanhedrim that would introduce and support further efforts.
But not he says if this was his objective in life as a Christian Apostle then he would fail to be a true bondservant of Christ.
In other words He honestly desired the favor of God over the favor of man.
1Th 2:4 But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, (colossians 3:23)
Peter also said in Acts 5:29 “We must obey God rather than men.”
When we think about this, it seems that more often than not, those caught up in external rights and ritual, of attendances and professions of denominational allegiance, seek and desire, in some sense or fashion, the praise, or at least the eyes of man upon them.
They often want to be seen as dutiful, and at times may even seek to impress others looking on at their devotions.
This was at the heart of the law in the lives of the Jews in Jesus day. And his descriptions of them confirms this as they would make broad their phylacteries, and the hems of their garments, and would appear to fast before men, and would give to the temple coffers ostentatiously.
All of this is contrary to the humility, the secret works, the closet praying, and the other essentials that come with having Christ and Christ alone on the throne of our lives.
I am not saying that this is the case with all religionists, but it is one element of the Law that works in opposition to what the Gospel of Grace bestows on people, that of total allegiance and focus on Him and what HE has done, not what we do.
And we will stop there.
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