Sermons from Galatians: God's Purpose for the Law (Galatians 3:15-29

God’s Purpose of the Law

(Galatians 3:15-29)

6/28/09

The study of Galatians has brought us to the understanding that salvation is God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. That no works of man (religious or morally good actions) can save us, it is only by the Person and work of Christ. With all of this truth given to us here in Galatians we come to the question, “What was and is the purpose of the Law (commandments of God) given to Moses, if the Law does not save then what is it’s intent?” Today we will see the purpose of the Law in view of the grace of God.

I. The Law is Inferior (vv. 15-18)

A. It is inferior to the Covenant made to Abraham (v.15)- The Law is inferior to the Promise of Abraham because even though the law was given it did not change or do away with the promise of salvation in Christ made to Abraham (“in your Seed shall all nations be blessed”, see v. 16). This promise to Abraham was unconditionally initiated and established by God alone. That means it was done not on the basis of what Abraham could do or was, it was solely based on the unconditional grace of God. God’s basis for this covenant with Abraham was that God wanted to do it. There were no conditions to the promise made to Abraham. God called out Abraham and made the covenant promise to him and Abraham responded to God’s Promise by faith. In Genesis 15, we see that in verses 1-7 that Abraham asked God in light of the promise made to him “who shall be my seed come through since I am childless, my only heir is Eliezer, who was born in my household but he is not my offspring [my paraphrase]?” and God told Abraham to look at the stars in the night sky and told him “just as innumerable as the stars, so will be your descendants”. And Abraham believed God (put his faith in God). But Abraham then asked God, “And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?” (Gen. 15:8) and God sealed the covenant with Abraham by performing a ceremony that was common at that time in that Far East culture. Abraham received instructions from God to take a heifer, a she goat, a ram, a turtledove, and a pigeon, to cut them in half and lay the halves opposite of each other having a path in between the halves. Gen. 15:12-17 then tells us that God caused a great sleep to fall upon Abraham and then it describes that God symbolically walked between the pieces as a “smoking furnace and a flaming torch”. The practice ordinarily required both parties to walk between the pieces to signify a covenant between them but only God sealed this covenant. Only God walked through there which meant although Abram and his descendants would receive the promise made by God, that the obligation to fulfill the promise was upon God Himself. The blessing of the Promise would be unconditional upon the recipients. So the eternal promise of that promised Seed is Christ and the salvation of Christ (the New Covenant) is an unconditional, free gift of God’s grace that is in no way dependent upon us (Eph 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”). God initiated and instituted that promised New Covenant of Christ and it is unchangeable and permanent. The Law in no way set aside or amended that promise (Abrahamic), and the obligation to fulfilling that covenant was on God alone so that means it could not fail and would be fulfilled. The Fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant was the New Covenant in Christ.

B. It is inferior because the Abrahamic Covenant was based on the fulfillment of that promise, Jesus Christ (vv.16-17)- because it is based on the supreme New Covenant of Jesus Christ, the law cannot modify it or change that fact that all are forgiven only through the offering of Jesus Christ on the cross. The covenant with Abraham looked to it’s fulfillment in the New Covenant in Christ. Salvation comes from the finished work of Christ on the cross and not of any religious rituals or good works. The eternal work of Christ for salvation is a timeless act and it saves regardless of those before Christ or after Christ

C. It is inferior because the Abrahamic Covenant depends on the power of God and not man’s performance (v. 18) - if we compare the Law with the Promise we see that it is all dependent on God. The inheritance of the Promise is not based on our performance or keeping the Law but it is based on the powerful grace of God. We are saved and eternally secure in our salvation because it is based on God’s power and not our inability to keep the moral law of God. Christ fulfilled the Law on our behalf (Matt. 5:17-18, "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled."). It was all fulfilled in the sinless life of Christ.

II. The Purpose and Accomplishment of the Law (vv.19-25)

If we have over and over again been told here in Galatians that salvation has always been about faith and not of works and the covenant with Abraham was fulfilled in Christ, then why do we have the Law, just what purpose does it serve? Paul says here in verse 19 that the Law was added because of “transgressions”. The Law was given to show mankind their sinfulness. It was given to show us our inability to keep the moral demands of God. It was given to show that we are in desperate need of God’s mercy and grace. It was given to show us we are unable to please God by our own works and in desperate need of a Savior. In v.24, which we will discuss more here in a minute, it tells us that the law was our “…schoolmaster (tutor) to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith”. The Law helped to us to realize that it is impossible for us to meet the moral demands of God. The standards that God demands to be in His presence or to enter His Heaven cannot be possible for us because we are utterly sinful. The impossibility of keeping the Law shows us that we are under God’s divine judgment because He holds us accountable for our sinful acts. The law convicts us of our sinfulness and drives us toward the mercy and forgiveness of God. The Law was not wrong but it is inferior (Rom. 7:12- “the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good”), it cannot save but it leads us to God’s grace. It was not possible for the Law to save, v.21 says, “if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law”. The Bible says that we are unrighteous (Rom. 3:10- “there is none righteous”) and “dead in our trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1) and the only thing the law does is to condemn our actions. How can we not know our need for salvation in we don’t know we’re sinful. The law was not to do away with the promise but to only reinforce just how desperately we need Jesus. If the Law could save us then the death of Jesus Christ would have been needless (Gal. 2:21- “…if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”). The ultimate purpose of the law is summed up perfectly in v.22, “the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.” And in verse 23, it says that we “we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.” These terms ‘confined’ and ‘guard’ are used for those who are in prison. The Law revealed that our sins condemned us in the eyes of God and basically that we are on death row awaiting our day of execution. The high, unattainable moral standards of God condemned me and showed me I needed Christ as my Savior and that word of God’s law convicted me with guilt of my sin. It caused me great discomfort and sorrow and pain but it brought me to a place of surrendering my life to Christ. God has made our bodies to let us know when something is wrong with us, a pain, a fever, or other discomfort let’s us know when something is wrong and in need of medical attention. If we ignore the symptoms, then we will pay the consequences such as permanent damage or even death. The pain is to warn and protect, so is the moral law of the Word of God, it shows us our spiritual infirmities and warns us of danger, but if ignored it will result in serious eternal consequences. The consequence of ignoring the warning of our spiritual condition is spiritual death (Ezek. 18:20- “The soul that sins, it shall die"; Rom. 6:23- “For the wages of sin is death”). But to let the Law be our schoolmaster or tutor to teach us our condition without Christ and guide us to Christ. In the ceremonial laws (specifically the sacrifices), was the picture and symbol of that perfect sacrifice and sinless offering of Christ. The Law always showed us our sins but graciously pointed to our only Savior, Jesus Christ. We cannot know the depths of the mercy and love of God if we are not shown the depth of our sinful depravity.

III. Freedom and Salvation in Christ (vv. 25-29)

Romans 6:14- “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” The ceremonial system of the law only symbolized what Christ has done for us on the cross. When we by faith received Christ as our Lord and Savior, we were no longer under the bondage and judgment of the law because of sin. We are free from sin and the judgment of sin because of the finished work of Christ. Because Christ has fulfilled the requirements of the Law on our behalf, we can by Christ now become the sons and daughters of God, baptized into His Body, and then we are the true, spiritual seed of Abraham.

Sermons from Galatians - Justified by Faith: The Faith of Abraham (Galatians. 3:6-9)

Justified by Faith: The Faith of Abraham

(Galatians. 3:6-9)

6/7/09

The theme of Galatians might be summed up this way: we are justified by faith in Christ. Because Paul over and over again tells us in Galatians it is by faith we are saved and not by works. We are saved, justified, reconciled and redeemed by faith in Christ alone. There is no religious works, good deeds, or any human effort that can save us. In this passage today we will see from the scriptures how that we are saved through faith in Christ and not through any external works of the flesh. We will see that the Old Testament saints were saved and justified through faith just as the New Testament saints were. Today we will see that we are only justified by faith.

I. Spiritual Children of Abraham (Gal. 3:6-7 – “just as Abraham "believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.”) – Paul uses Abraham as an example of a relationship with God through faith. The Judaizers were trying to use Abraham as an example that the Gentiles needed to be circumcised, to take this outward sign, to share in the blessings of Abraham. They were in effect saying that unless they were participating in the religious rituals of the Jews then they were not of the “sons of Abraham”, that they did not have a relationship with God and not truly saved. Just what was the promised blessing God made to Abraham? Genesis 12:2-3 – “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” and Gen. 22:18 – “"In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed”, through the promised seed, Christ, will all peoples, all tribes, all tongues, and nationalities can be blessed. The Bible says in Gen. 15:6 that Abraham “believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness”, this verse is what Paul is quoting to the Galatians 3:6 to refute the false teaching of the Judaizers. Paul was saying that Abraham wasn’t seen as right standing with God because he was circumcised, but that Abraham was justified by his faith in God. It was 14 years after Gen. 15:6 that Abraham was circumcised and that just shows that the external sign of circumcision was not what justified Abraham in the sight of God. Paul in Romans 4:3, 7-10 says this about Abraham being found righteous, 3- “What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness."; 7-10- "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him." Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before!” From the O.T. scriptures Paul shows us that Abraham was found righteous before God because of his faith in God. The Judaizers, like many of the Jews, confused the outward mark of circumcision as a means of salvation. Circumcision was only a sign established by God to identify His chosen people with Him and show their separation from the pagan and idolatrous world around them. Circumcision was only an outward sign and had nothing to do with the spiritual work of salvation and justification. It is almost the same with water baptism is only an outward sign of identification of believers with Christ and not a means of salvation. It only has meaning if you have a salvation relationship with God. The Jews were very proud of that they were the racial offspring of Abraham and because of their physical descent it made them acceptable to God. When the Pharisees made claim that they were the offspring of Abraham to Christ in John 8, He told them that they were of their father the Devil. They had put their trust in the racial heritage and the religious works of Judaism and did not put their faith in God. Jesus put it into perspective just like Paul did, it’s not the result of your physical lineage (family or race or nationality you’re born to) or your religious works, if your faith is not in God then you’re not in the spiritual family of Abraham. Abraham is the spiritual father to anyone who by faith receives Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior that’s what Paul is saying here in Galatians 3:7. Just as Abraham was the example for justification by faith (Rom. 4:3 – "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness”), so we must be like Abraham and believe God by faith to be justified (Rom. 4:5 - But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness).

II. Gospel to Abraham (Galatian 3:8-9, “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall be blessed." So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.”) Let’s look at verse 8, it says that the Gospel was preached by God unto Abraham. That’s an unusual statement that Abraham heard the gospel. You see when God revealed Himself to Abraham, He revealed to Abraham the complete fulfillment of that promised blessing, Jesus Christ. For we see that in Gal. 3:16 it says, “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ.” God revealed Christ, the crucified Savior, to Abraham and he believed God. If that is hard to believe then let’s look at the very words of Christ in John 8:56, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad”. You see the O.T. saints and the N.T. saints all had to put their faith in Christ. The promise God made in His covenant to Abraham was fulfilled in Jesus Christ and one can only be a partaker of those promised blessings by putting their faith in the One who fulfilled the covenant. If you look at Heb. 11 you will see that all the O.T. saints put their faith in Christ, 11:4- By faith Abel, 11: 5- By faith Enoch, 11: 7- By faith Noah, 11: 8- By faith Abraham, 11: 20- By faith Isaac, 11: 21- By faith Jacob, 11:22- By faith Joseph, 11: 23- By faith Moses, etc., we see all these O.T. saints were justified by faith, Heb. 11: 6 sums it up nicely- “But without faith it is impossible to please him (God)”. It doesn’t matter which side of the cross we are on even if it’s before or after Christ came to earth, salvation is found only in the Cross of Calvary. Even though the O.T. saints might not have known the specifics about Jesus, there was enough revealed to them to put their faith in the future sacrifice of Christ on the cross. The O.T. covenant looked forward to the cross while the N.T. covenant proceeds from the cross. Their faith pointed to the cross while ours points back to the cross. It was said of the O.T. saints in Heb. 11:13, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises (fulfillment in their lifetime), but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them (believed what God revealed and promised in Christ), and embraced them(faith in Christ produced salvation)”, this verse speaks of their faith in the promise of Christ’s work of salvation and because of this they were justified. We who are under the New Covenant it is said of us in Eph. 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast”. We are saved, justified, reconciled, and redeemed only through faith in Christ alone. Whether it is from the perspective of looking forward to the cross or whether looking back to the cross, the only thing that matters is that there is the finished work of Christ on the cross. The shed blood of Jesus Christ covers both sides of the Cross. That is what saves us and nothing else.

By looking at the accomplished work of Christ on the cross we that no matter if it was Abraham by faith looking forward in anticipation of Christ or all of us looking back in faith to the Cross, it doesn’t matter where we are at but that we by faith believed in the only One who can save us. Because of Christ being the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham and Abraham believing and putting his faith in God for the future fulfillment by his obedience to the command and word of God we can share in the same spiritual blessing with Abraham. That blessing is a personal relationship with God through Christ. And just like Abraham, we are justified by faith.

Sermons from Galatians - Truth Positive (Galatians 3:1-5)

Truth Positive

(Gal. 3:1-5)

May 31, 2009

Paul continues the defensive argument of the gospel message to the Galatians.  Here in Chapter 3, Paul’s reaction is still of bewilderment why they would leave the truth of the Gospel for the Judaizers’ false teachings of religious works.  Today we’ll look at how Paul deals with their abandonment of the truth by him asking key rhetorical questions to make them remember the truths he had taught them.   

I.  Crystal Clear Picture of Christ (Gal 3:1 - “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?")

A. “O foolish Galatians”- Paul begins speaking to the Galatians with a strong statement, “ You foolish Galatians”, it sounds as if he is claiming these believers have a mental deficit of some sort, but that is not the case.  The problem was not a mental deficiency but a mental laziness, they had been careless with the truth of the Word of God.  They failed to test these teachers with God’s Word.  Paul wasn’t calling them stupid, he was letting them know that they were not applying the true Gospel teaching they had received from him, that they had stopped even believing it, that’s why they had fallen for the Judaizers’ lies.  So, the problem was not just mental, it was spiritual.  It created in them a lack of faith and severely hindered their judgment in regards to God’s truth.  A good example of this is the two disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24, when the resurrected Christ walked with them, they did not know who He was, and because of their lack of faith and knowledge about Him in the scriptures and He began to explain the scriptures about him- Lk. 24:25-27- “Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!  "Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”  Although they had spent three years with Him, they failed to understand that Christ had to die for their sins and rise from the dead.  Jesus used the same word for foolish in Greek that Paul used for mental carelessness and laziness.  If they had sufficiently studied and believed the prophecies in scripture they would known that Christ’s death was not the end, that He would rise again from the dead.  They believed the modern and popular teachings of some rabbis and not the truths of the word of God.  It seems that the popular false teachings of the Judaizers were also taken for face value instead of believing God’s word.  They had so foolishly fallen for the false teachings of the Judaizers’ legalism that they quit believing and utilizing the Gospel truths that Paul had faithfully taught them.  These were Christians that had failed in staying faithful to and applying in their lives God’s Word of Truth. They  willfully and sinfully neglected these God-given resources found in God’s Word and were foolishly caught into their web of lies.  

B. “Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?”-  Paul continues with the questioning by asking, “who has lured you away from the foundational truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?”.  Bewitch here gives the idea of being lead away by flattery or emotional persuasion.  What it means is that they were enticed by the feeling of fleshly pleasing religious works righteousness.  They ‘felt’ there was something else besides faith alone in Christ. They ‘felt’ that something was missing and they had to add to their salvation to make it complete, that faith alone was not enough.  False religious works always appeal directly to the flesh and want you to forsake using your mind to accurately handle the Word of Truth, “2 Tim. 2:15 - “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth”.  What was the truth they were “bewitched” from?  The truth was of the Person and work of Jesus Christ, which means that faith alone in the fact that only Jesus Christ can save us and that He saved us through the death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. That’s the truth of the gospel and Paul is saying to them, “remember, Christ was clearly and truthfully preached and taught to you and salvation was clearly seen as being accomplished for us by Christ alone”.  This tells us they were faithfully taught the word of God by Paul and the powerful gospel of Jesus Christ was believed, received, and by faith salvation was wrought out in their hearts by the Holy Spirit of God.  Instead of residing and abiding and staying in that glorious truth they chose to believe a lie.  One thing I learned from my instructor in the study of Cults is that it is always easier to believe a lie than the truth.  This lie caused them to deny the absolute saving power of Jesus Christ and it dishonored His atoning death on the cross.  It is always the truth of the Cross that “sets us free”.

II. Faith Alone (Gal. 3:2-4 - “This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?  Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain; if indeed it was in vain?") -  Here Paul asks some more rhetorical questions.  These were questions they should have asked of themselves from the beginning these false teachers began to assert themselves into this body of believers.  To answer the first question, to receive the Spirit of God you must be saved by faith in Christ (Acts 2:38 - “Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”).  We are indwelt by the Holy Spirit when we receive Christ by faith.  There are many so-called Christian groups who claim that salvation is earned by religious works and faith like those who believe in baptismal regeneration.  That means they falsely believe that one is saved or “regenerated” only when one is baptized (hard-line Churches of Christ, Catholics, Oneness cults [UPC, Apostolic] etc.).  But the false teachers ignore more than 60 times in the New Testament where it explicitly states that our eternal salvation in Christ is through faith and/or repentance alone with no mention of water baptism or any other religious works associated.  Well, Paul goes on to say, you have begun by the truth of Gospel, you were saved because of the truth of the Gospel, are you now believing that it is by your legalistic works, by your own effort, you are now trying to keep yourselves saved?  They had begun in the truth and the joy of grace but now are grudgingly trying to maintain their salvation.  They went from freedom to bondage.  If we cannot save ourselves then we cannot keep ourselves saved.

   

III. Power Encounter (Gal. 3:5- “Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”) - Paul was appealing not only from a standpoint of the scriptural revelation of Gospel truth but he was also appealing to the genuine experience of the gospel of grace.  The greatest miracle, the greatest demonstration of the power of God ever seen is salvation of a sinful man.  Paul was saying to them, if you remember the day your were saved by putting your faith in Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you’ll remember it was not done by you being baptized, or you joining a church, or receiving communion, or any kind of good deeds or religious works.  It was done by the power of God alone, through the Person and work of Jesus Christ alone, and through faith alone in Christ alone.  It was because you heard the powerful Gospel message, the Spirit of God convicted your heart, and your were given the saving faith needed to receive Christ as Lord (Rom. 10:17- So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God) and not the human works righteousness that was powerless to save you from sin (2 Tim. 3:5 - “…having a form of godliness but denying its power").  

The power of the Gospel is found in the powerful work of salvation in our powerful Lord Jesus Christ.  The gospel is “the power of God unto salvation” and it is found only through faith in Christ alone.  

 

Sermons from Galatians- part1: Another Gospel?

Another Gospel?

(Galatians 1:6-9)

04/26/09

   We are going to begin a study of the book of Galatians.  Paul wrote this letter to the church of Galatia and this is the local church Paul started and discipled.  This church had the privilege of having the greatest teacher of the church, besides Christ, to learn the fundamental and foundational teachings of Christianity.  But from these few verses we read that false teachers had crept in and began to teach “another gospel”.  Today, we will see from these verses: Paul’s wonder, Paul’s wisdom, and Paul’s warning about the deception and false teachers in Galatia.

I.  Paul’s Wonder of Their Deception (v. 6- I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel) - The believer’s at Galatia were taught by the Apostle Paul himself.  He lead many of the believers there to Christ, discipled, and preached the foundational truths of doctrine to them directly and yet there had been false teachers gain a foothold in this local body that had led them into gross error and deceived them into believing they were teaching another gospel.  

A. These people were believers- they were Christians, according to passages to them by Paul in chapter 3 and 4 describing their coming to faith in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit and Paul calling them Christian brothers (brethren) in this book and yet they had become seriously confused and led into deception.  They knew Christ and had heard the true message of the gospel and were led into this error.  The amazement of Paul was that they were deserting the truth of the gospel that led them to Christ, actually deserting like soldiers desert their fellow soldiers, their general, and their allegiances to their Supreme Commander and country.  The KJV says that they were removing themselves from the gospel truth and the grace that they were called to in Christ.  Not that they were deserting the gospel of Paul but the gospel of Christ and the very One (Jesus) that had called them into grace.  Understand they didn’t lose their salvation in Christ but they had lost their fellowship with Christ because they had put this false gospel before Christ.    

B. The False Gospel Infection- What exactly the false gospel that caused their defection was that of the Judaizers.  They were false teachers that had become part of that local body after Paul had left to go on to build other bodies of believers (churches) in different countries.  

   The Judaizers taught that for the Gentile believers in Christ had to become physically and ritually like the Jews to continue being Christians by being circumcised and keep the dietary laws, religious days and festivals, and Sabbaths.  You’ve got to understand they taught that Christ died and rose again from the dead for their sins but they taught you must do all the Jewish religious laws and regulations in order to stay saved.  They did not deny Christ as Messiah or death for our sins on the cross.  If they had denied the work and person of Christ they would not had been accepted by the Galatian church.  The way they introduced error into this church was to “improve” on the gospel of Christ by adding religious ceremonies, requirements, rituals, and standards of the Old Covenant (side note: the WoF also supposedly “improves” on the Gospel and doctrine).  

   When you add anything to the grace of God, even the Old Covenant Law, then you destroy grace.  It did not matter that even though they added the Law to grace, then grace ceased being grace (NASB Rom. 11:6- But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace).  You see the only gospel of Christ is grace, (“God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone”).  Eph. 2:8-10a says it best, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.  For we are His workmanship…”; the work of salvation is not through the power, abilities, or merits of man in any way but only through the grace and mercy of God through what Christ has done for us.  We as mankind cannot individually or corporately by what we are or what we do attain salvation for ourselves or even sustain the salvation that Christ provides for us.  It is all by God’s grace we are saved and are kept saved unto glorification.  It is a foolish idea to believe that such a gracious salvation can be kept by any human effort on our part by religious ritual or ceremony.  It says in Romans 5:2 that only in Jesus, “we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand”, it is only on this grace we stand in salvation and by and through nothing else.  

   Because the Judaizers promoted works with grace then it put the focus of salvation off of the Cross of Christ and onto the works of flesh.  When this is taught then people are putting faith into their works instead of Christ.  Then instead of them preaching the grace through faith in Christ the emphasis is then on the human works to save thus having not only false teachers in a church but a body of false believers.  

   When a church places an emphasis on baptism to save (Church of Christ, UPC, Church of Jesus Christ) or an evidence of an experience to save (speaking in tongues; UPC, Church of Jesus Christ), participation to receive a sacrament (ex. communion, Eucharist; like the RCC), or church on Sabbath proves true believers (SDA) then it is a false teaching because it is dependant on a work based salvation and not God’s grace. Remember anything added to God’s grace is not ever grace.  Just because it was a little error added to mostly truth don’t think it wasn’t deadly.  Even if you add a little drop of poison to a glass of pure water it is still deadly.

II. Paul’s Wisdom Concerning the Deception (v. 7- Which is not another; but there be some that trouble (disturb) you, and would pervert (distort) the gospel of Christ)- Is there another Gospel? To answer like the Apostle Paul the answer is an emphatic no.  Paul says it best there is no other gospel of salvation than what was preached to you concerning Christ.  That gospel message says that God alone saves through the person and work of Jesus Christ.  The message of works maintaining salvation destroys the powerful message of the true gospel message by falsely proclaiming to mankind the false belief that we can save ourselves.  And if it is by our works and efforts then Christ died for nothing (Gal. 2:21- for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain). 

   If it had been in our ability to keep the moral law and standards of God then the death of Christ would have been needless because not only did Christ die for our sins but also fulfilled the Law in our behalf (Rom. 8:2-4a, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us). The truth of scripture shows us that it is not by our efforts or strength but by the powerful work of salvation made possible for us solely through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:6- For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly).  

   The false teaching was troubling and disturbing to the church here in Galatia.  We see the word for trouble here meant a great disturbance and distress.  It was tearing this church apart and it was tearing families apart.  It was causing all of this because it perverted the true gospel message making it into something entirely opposite of what it really was.  Whenever the gospel message or any biblical doctrine perverted it will cause that church to become unsettled and destroy people, families, and maybe a once thriving congregation (Titus 1:10-11- For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain) and the main reasons usually are for power and monetary gain.  

   There are many supposed Christian ministries on TV and radio that fall under the title of false teachers.  Many who preach “another gospel” of health/wealth varieties (prosperity, WoF), positive confession, and experience centered groups (signs and blunders, I mean wonders) that supposedly are preaching a message that has been hidden or suppressed until God has revealed it to them.  I’m not going to be able to go into them this time but needless to say they preach a false gospel that is destroying churches and families and causing them to fall into unbelief.  But Paul wants to be aware of them and the wisdom he shares is that although they do not openly contradict the Bible and denounce Christ but these demonic teachers so subtly distort and undermine the word of God, that they gradually lead people into error.  Never compromise the truths of the Word of God irregardless of how Christian it sounds because false teachers have an excellent teacher of deception, Satan (2 Co. 11:13-14- For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light).  Deception is one of the greatest tools that Satan uses.

III. Paul’s Final Warnings (Gal. 1:8-9- But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.  As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed)- There are so many false teachers and ministries out there that use every avenues of media to push their false doctrines of devils.  There was a so-called Christian revival meeting in Florida recently by a young man named Todd Bentley saying that God was going to use him to bring a world-wide revival. In fact he said that an angel had come to him named “winds of change” and that God was going to usher in this great revival through him.  I listened to some of his messages and what I noticed was a great emphasis on himself, his visions, his words from God, and his supposed healings.  But another thing I noticed was a lack of biblical preaching, lack of reading from the Bible, false experiences, and an emphasis on a sideshow performance of faith healing.  It was all emotional, all experienced based (truth dependent on false experiences rather than Biblical truth), and little if any preaching from the Bible (Mt. 7:20 - Therefore by their fruits you will know them).  I knew he was a false teacher first from his false teaching and preaching (angels giving him messages, erroneous and retarded doctrines) and false allegations of great healings (no evidence of these healings provided or proved) and later it became evident from the life he lived in private that became very public (he left his wife for another younger woman that was one of his assistants and this happened during this false revival). Paul has not only warned the church at Galatia this time but even before of false teachers but this is the warning that he speaks twice that if anyone preaches anything other than the powerful truth of salvation alone through Jesus  let them accursed.  This word accursed in Greek is anathema which means that which is devoted to destruction.  So what Paul is saying is if they are so devoted to destroying the gospel message and destroying lives by their false teaching let them go to their destruction and feel the wrath of God.  Strong words but that is the false teachers’ end.  

We will explore the false teachers and teachings next time but let’s leave with this.  Keep in God’s word, study God’s word, and know His truth because through this it will keep you from the troubling of false teachers and error. 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”.