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Galatians 5.2-6
June 9th 2019
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So, we left off last week with Paul saying in chapter 5:1:
1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Let’s read on beginning at verse 2:
2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
Let’s stop here and cover verses 2-6
2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
This passage grants us the opportunity to remember several things about the scripture.
It was written to them/then, by Apostles under authority from Jesus, and their purpose was to bring forth a pure bride to Christ whom he would come to save in that day.
These things – this context – cannot be forgotten when reading and passages like this reinforce this for us because otherwise we are forced to conclude that every word was written by inspiration to us and if this is the case, then we must take it literally, and therefore admit that
“if we be circumcised, Christ will profit us nothing or in no way.”
Of course, this does not mean that but in context Paul is telling these believers:
“If you think you must be circumcised in order to be saved or to be seen as a Christian the faith you claim to have in Christ is hollow and he will not benefit you in anyway.”
He either wholly saves or there is no saving through Him.
This topic was REALLY important in that day and age because the Messiah had come to His own and to ultimately save those who were worthy to be His bride.
The Judeaisers were infiltrating the body and corrupting it and it is in this context that Paul speaks to them then.
We might suggest that these words are harsh and legalistic – they were – and they were purposeful to the things at hand.
Similarly, when we consider the words of Jesus to the Seven Churches in Asia Minor the things he says sound pretty harsh and legalistic too.
To the Church at Ephesus he said:
Re 2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
To the church at Smyrna he said:
Revelation 2:9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
To the church at Pergamos he said:
Revelation 2:14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
To the Church at Thyatira he said:
Revelation 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.
22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.
23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
To The Church at Sardis he said:
Revelation 3:4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.
5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
His message to the Church at Philadelphia was good, but then we come to Laodicea where he says:
Revelation 3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
The times and events of that Age caused Jesus, and Paul and John and Peter and James to phrase things to them/then that do not have direct application to the modern reader.
And this is no more apparent than what Paul says here in this segment of Ephesians about circumcision.
“If you are circumcised with such a view as is maintained by the false teachers that have come among you; that is, with an idea that it is necessary in order to your justification, you’ve got problems with the efficacy of Christ in your life.
This, of course was not an indictment against the practice of circumcision in and of itself as we remember that Paul circumcised Timothy.
Context Context Context! All of this is centered on the reasons and intents of the heart for circumcision.
And isn’t that the way it is with everything? I think it is.
And he says (at verse 3)
3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
Of course, we are faced with the same questions and situation with this verse – are we to be literalists? If this is true every man that has been circumcised is a straight-up debtor to do the whole law.
Meaning if he has been circumcised because he is attempting to tie himself to the Mosaic way he binds himself up to obeying all the law of Moses because circumcision was the distinguishing badge of being a Jew. It was an outward indication of a people who had given their heart and allegiances to God.
Of course, we see a similarity in water baptism with Christians in that day – but with an identifier that was far less observable.
In Paul’s day, to get circumcised was to identify with Judaism, and to be a Jew was to obey the LAW or at least said to the watching world, I follow the Law of Moses.
Of course ,this was the problem with circumcision IF someone did it in association with their faith, their justification before God.
This is what Paul is speaking against, not circumcision itself – unless you are a biblical literalist.
So, he writes
3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
And adds
4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
The advantages of faith in Christ are such that they are bestowed by faith in Him, in His life, His works, His suffering, His death, and His resurrection – not our own – and not anything else – including the law of Moses.
The scripture makes justification plain and clear – it is either by works or it is by grace but it cannot be both, as Paul makes clear in Romans 11:6, saying:
And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
And as he also said in Romans 4:4-5
“Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”
The meaning of these passages are not suggesting that Christians don’t labor for the Lord – they are talking about a persons justification before God and that it comes by faith in His Son and God’s grace bestowed as a result.
Any other way, any other approach – any amalgamation of Grace and works will render His grace ineffectual.
This is one of the main reasons I spend my time reaching out to people groups like the Mormons who are under Law.
All of their works, as a means for justification, make their justification before God ineffectual – and I am personally convinced that many of them at the end of their lives will have a rude awakening as they stand outside the Gates of the New Jerusalem above.
Another interesting line that we get in these passages comes when Paul says:
“You are fallen from grace.”
For those who cry once saved always saved this line challenges their stance wonderfully in both context and word as these Galatians were more than just initial believers under Paul – he goes so far as to call them sons. And we (through the words of Paul) know the difference between a son or daughter and a child in Christ).
In other words, these believers were advanced in the faith – and yet still Paul, several times – states that he fears for them and their salvation.
Here he straight-up gives them the facts:
If you try to mix justification by Christ and Law Christ is of no effect to you and YOU ARE FALLEN FROM GRACE.
The ramifications for them in that day and age was if they died before his return they would go to sheol, and if they lived up until 70 AD they would not be saved by Christ at his coming – plain as day.
The ramifications for us, it appears (I’m much more fluid on this because we can’t be exactly sure) but for those who mix grace and law it seems means that instead of being justified and possessing citizenship in the New Jerusalem, they will be outside the city walls – what that looks like and means is unknown to me.
All we can say is Paul says that such a choice amounts to apostasy from Christ which winds up being a rejection of the grace of the gospel.
Also, we cannot suggest that Paul is giving us a two roads to heaven story here. He is in no way saying that the Law and/or Grace by faith and Christ are the two ways.
He other writings (Like Romans 3:20 which says)
“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
Reject this premise out of hand.
There is one way.
It is by faith in Jesus Christ.
In this the grace of God is bestowed.
And those who receive it become the Children of God, with the Power to become the Sons and Daughters of God as a result.
I do not care about the rest of it. I’ve not interest in catering my messages to those who reject Christ, or choose the Law, or follow after other Gods.
I trust in the efficacy of Christ’s work for all to handle every other situation. But my focus is to reach and teach Children of God as a means to help bring them into son and daughter-ship – and I do this because this is the ultimate plan of God – to make Sons and Daughters of those who love Him.
So again, it is either wholly Christ and all He has done . . . (BEAT) or it is nothing of Christ and we are left to the strength of whatever substitutes we embrace.
Paul adds at verse 5:
5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
For “we” who are truly Christians, “wait through the Spirit” (the Holy Spirit, we wait through its sustaining help) Wait for what?
“We wait for the HOPE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS by faith.
What a line! In other words, while we are still housed in these bodies of flesh and bone, knowing our propensities, knowing our fleshly evils – whatever they may be – and we are not yet righteous in and of ourselves. We can’t be – the flesh is still housing us.
Paul says that we “through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness (which we do not or cannot experience fully while in the flesh) by faith.
IOW, we trust that the time is coming when we will be righteous as He is righteous, and we wait and trust in this by faith, sustained by the promise of the Holy Spirit that God is faithful to those who are His.
Hope here, does not translate to wish. The best way to understand biblical hoping in through the word, expecting.
So in conjunction with the previous verses the sense seems to be that true Christians have no other hope of salvation (which implies that we have been made righteous before God) than by faith in the Lord Jesus as the term, “The hope of righteousness,” is synonymous with, “the hope of justification.”
And then we get a fantastic summary. Ready?
6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
We are followers, believers, trusters in Jesus Christ. In Him, in this, Paul says:
Neither circumcision produces anything of merit nor uncircumcision produces anything of merit (but what does? He tells us)
BUT . . . FAITH WHICH WORKETH BY LOVE.
Faith with works by love.
One of the most important lines in the whole of scripture in describing the relationship in the Christian life between faith and love – which are the two commandments in the Christian life – as you all well know because we read in 1st John 3:
1st John 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
There rages and wages a long and protracted debate on the question:
“Is faith alone enough to save?”
The question is errant from the start just to let you know. Let me tell you why. Faith never arrives alone – any more than in a human being that the brain can thrive alone. Without blood to the brain, being pumped by the heart, there would be no brain. And without the brain to tell the heart to beat, there would be no heart.
So, it is with faith and love in the life of a Christian – the two and only two commands a Christian has in their life. In fact, it is really easy to skip over in reading the new Testament but listen to some of the couplings of faith and love that are given in scripture:
We will soon read Galatians 5:22 where Paul says:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
And he opens Ephesians (verse 15) with
“Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,”
Ephesians 3:17 says:
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
Ephesians 6:23 says, “Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Colossians 1:4 Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints,
1st Thessalonians 1:3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
1st Thessalonians 5:8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
1st Timothy 1:14 And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
1st Timothy 6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
2nd Timothy 1:13 Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
And Philemon 1:5 says,
“Hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints;”
We are CERTAINLY AND CLEARLY JUSTIFIED AND MADE RIGHTEOUS BEFORE GOD by faith – and nothing more. This is more than abundantly clear in scripture.
But this faith, like the human brain, does NOT arrive alone. It brings the capacity, yes even the command to love.
The faith causes the heart to beat with love. No faith no real love. Little faith, little love. Great faith, great love.
They always go hand in hand. And when we come to faith the amount is generally small – even miniscule. Therefore the love in babes for God and others is reciprocally the same.
As faith in Him (and His words and ways) grows, and we learn that he expects us, his children to forgive, and give, and turn the other cheek, and walk the extra mile, and die to our will and flesh and embrace His, our love show or proves our faith and trust in His commands.
“By this (our love) will all men know if you are (truly) my disciples (will all men know if you really have faith in me.”
Religion – which is capable of producing great doers who are also capable of lacking real faith – will always focus on the love first. The doing. The actions.
But just as the heart cannot exist without the mind, real (genuine authentic selfless agape love) cannot exist in humans without faith existing first in Him who is love.
Which is why the non-religious genuine Christian command is always, believe – the love will follow.
The reason for this is because He establishes the ground rules for real love – not us. He is love, and He tells us how to love the way that He is. And his demonstration of this love comes through the commands and examples we see in and through His only Begotten Son.
Extract faith from the equation and we are left loving the way our flesh tells us to love – and we wind up with Haight Ashbury, Sugarhouse, or any other free-love communities that push love without God.
One of the biggest wrenches in the faith/love debacle occurs from a misreading of James 2 so I want to spend the rest of our short time together explaining that, where we get the infamous, faith without works is dead.
So misunderstood is this chapter that Martin Luther did not believe the book should be included in scripture! He could not see what James was actually saying and believed that he was contradicting Paul.
Not so and not in the least.
To understand the meaning of James we have to look at what he says before getting to that single message of faith without works is dead.
In chapter 1 verses 1-8 he speaks about asking God in faith and summarizes the point by saying that a double minded man is unstable in all of his ways.
He then writes about temptation and adds at verse 19:
“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:”
Appealing, in part, to what comes out of our mouths as Christians. Then again he says at verse 22 in chapter 1:
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
So, he has been building a case that clearly says:
“Genuine faith is always displayed in activity – truly, in loving activity.”
He wraps chapter one up by likening those who only hear the word to people who look in a mirror but walking away forget what they saw.
He then tells his reader to look instead into what he calls, “the perfect law of Liberty,” which I suggest can only be LOVE (which is a means to avoid such empty faith) and then he summarizes what he has said by pointing out that the PUREST expresssions of religious worship is visiting the widows and fatherless in their time of need (which is a verb, a loving action).
All this is obviously building and referring to what he is about to really hit hard now beginning at verse 14.
Then in chapter 2 he introduces what appears to be an actual problem in the churches – showing preferential treatment to the rich while treating the poor disparagingly.
Referring to this he reminds them in verses 8-9
“If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well:
But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.”
Then, again, he mentions this principle:
“So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.”
Again, he our actions and activities being in harmony with what we proclaim, what we say, what we profess.
Reversing this, verse 12 is merely saying, “If we say it, do it.”
This is really what he is repeating here at verse 14 through the rest of the chapter.
If we say or proclaim or attest to faith in Jesus we would then DO what our profession would suggest – no question.
James seems to be speaking to people who say they believe but their works (of love) are absent. Therefore, James concludes, they do NOT really believe!
In the spirit of honesty and integrity this only makes perfect sense.
Forget Christianity. Use any other profession. We prove our allegiance and devotion and love to whatever we profess by ACTING in harmony with the tenets of the profession.
So, let’s say someone professes vegetarianism.
“I believe in the tenets of VEGITARIANISM.” “I LOVE VEGETARIANISM.” “I AM A VEGETARIAN.”
If the claims are followed up by, “pass the steak,” the claim of vegetarianism is called into question.
Again, to cement the point down.
“I believe in the tenets of Karl Marx. I love Marxism. I am a Marxist.”
But then such a person embraces elements of capitalism, including bourgeoisie attitudes and material conspicuous consumption, her Marxist claims are in question.
The interesting things about this principle when it is assigned to Christianity is what is expected to come from people who claim His name and principles as their own.
And we continue to what James says about this next week. But for now this is his point, asking:
14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
This is a question loaded for bear especially in light of Paul’s words. Listen to the question again, and as you do try and think of all the rhetoric you have heard on the subject.
James asks:
14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
I’ve appealed to other translations to try and get my arms around how they see this question.
Jas 2:14 (ASV) What doth it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but have not works? can that faith save him?
Jas 2:14 (BBE) What use is it, my brothers, for a man to say that he has faith, if he does nothing? will such a faith give him salvation?
Jas 2:14 (WNT) What good is it, my brethren, if a man professes to have faith, and yet his actions do not correspond? Can such faith save him?
I think it is really important to remember that James is talking here about faith. This is the premise. Something we either refer to as faith all the way out to what is actually the best form of faith.
The other translators refer to this when they ask:
“Can such a faith save him,” meaning a faith that professes (speaks) but doesn’t have ANY corresponding activity to back it up or sidle up to it.” Is this a type of faith even?
To me we can argue that genuine faith works so therefore faith that does not work is no faith at all – anymore than a heart can function without the mind or the mind can function without the heart.
But in light of Paul’s writings on faith and works it seems that faith is absolutely void of works.
“Otherwise works would no more be works.”
So we must first see FAITH for what it is – “the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen,” and that it bears absolutely no component of works, labors or actions.
In my estimation this must be understood right off the bat if we are going to have a reasonable argument or discussion on the matter.
The question THEN becomes, can the type of faith that says “I believe, I trust, I love” save a person if it simultaneously does nothing to serve, help, or act?”
James says no way – this type of so-called “faith is held in vain. And I could NOT agree more.
We have long tried to say that a faith which does nothing is really not faith at all but I think this is a misnomer. I think to believe in any sense of the word is faith.
Instead of quibbling over if a person REALLY has had faith or not, the fight is whether the faith they possess is rich enough, deep enough, virulent enough, powerful enough to cause someone to act, to labor, to move, to do, in short (and I will prove this next week) to love.
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