Part 1 in 5 part series on book of Galatians given on May 23, 2011.

<p>Part 1 in 5 part series on book of Galatians given on May 23, 2011.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

AudioVerse

Norman McNulty

Galatians and the Gospel

Galatians 1—Another Gospel

Galatians 2—Justified and Crucified

Galatians 3—The Law in Galatians

Galatians 4—Two Covenants

Galatians 5&6—Flesh Versus the Spirit


Before we start, let's have a word of prayer. Father in heaven, we thank you for this new week, this new morning, and I pray that you would bless us as we have our worship time and bless us as we study from This wonderful book of Galatians. I pray this in Jesus' name, Amen. Alright, so the book of Galatians is obviously written by the Apostle Paul to the believers in Galatia. This was a church that he had already visited, and as we will quickly see, some problems had come into this church.

Therefore he felt the need to write a letter to them, and specifically in Galatians chapter 4 verse 19 he says, My little children, of whom I travail and birth again, until Christ be formed in you." So here you see that the Apostle Paul was actually pouring out intercessory prayer on behalf of this church. And so he's letting them know, because of some of the problems that have come into your church, I am interceding for you, I am praying for you, as if I were in labor for you, until you have the true experience of the gospel. And so with that setting in mind, you know, this month has been an emphasis on intercessory prayer. We see that Paul was offering intercessory prayer on behalf of this church. And now we're going to see the action that he took in addition to just praying for this church, He also took action and wrote them a letter to spell out where exactly he saw them going off track.

So now we're going to look at this letter to the Book of Galatia. Just to give you a big picture as we're starting off this week. We'll have 5 5 parts And the first 4 days will do 1 chapter per day and on the last day We'll do the last 2 chapters of the book. There's 6 chapters now When you look at the book of Galatians, next to the book of Romans, this is probably 1 of the most gospel-centered epistles in the New Testament. And of course, the 4 gospels, you have the Gospels spelled out by Jesus, and then in the book of Romans, Paul makes a clear exposition in the book of Romans of the Gospel.

We studied that last summer. And then in the book of Galatians, he also does, but in the book of Galatians, as opposed to the book of Romans where he's just explaining the gospel. In the book of Galatians, in addition to explaining the gospel, he is countering a false gospel, which is why he is interceding for this church. So let's get into chapter 1 and let's see what Paul has to say to this church. Starting in verse 1, we read, 1.

Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead. So Paul, as he addresses this church, he's saying, you know, I am apostle on the authority of Jesus Christ and God the Father. So what I'm about to say to you is based on the authority of God. And he says, this is not just the word of man that I'm going to share with you. This is the word of God.

So if it was true for the church of Galatia that this was the word of God, it's also the word of God for us. And then verse 2, and all the brethren which are with me into the churches of Galatia grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ. And every time we start off an epistle we can We can so often times just read that and not think about it, but we should really thank the Lord that there is grace, force, and peace from God the Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. Always remember that when you start off a reading of scripture. Now notice this.

Specifically of Jesus in verse 4, who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world according to the will of God our Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen." If you've noticed what Paul has done in the first 5 verses, he's basically, in a brief nutshell, spelled out the gospel. Jesus Christ, He gave Himself for our sins. He is our Savior. And if we accept that sacrifice, we will be delivered by Him from this present evil world.

That's the gospel. So, Paul is saying, I am an apostle. This is the authority from God. And this message is from Jesus. He is your Savior, so you ought to listen to Him, right?

And His purpose is to deliver you from this present evil world. To whom be glory forever and ever, Amen. Now, verse 6. Notice what happens. I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel.

So this church had been given the clear teaching of the gospel by Paul when he had visited this church, and now other teachers have come in and they're turning to a different gospel. And Paul says, I marvel that you turn so quickly to another gospel. And he just reminded them of the true gospel. And then he says in verse 7, which is not another, but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. Now notice verse 80 says, 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.

Do you realize that there is a true gospel and there are false gospels? And under the inspiration of God, Paul says If someone is teaching you a gospel that is not a true gospel, under the inspiration of God Paul says, let him be accursed. Because you realize if you're being taught a false gospel, it could lead you to eternal death. And so this is a life or death matter, and Paul is dealing with a life and death situation with these people. And then continuing on, verses 9 and 10, as we said before, So say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you, then that ye have received, let him be accursed.

And then notice verse 10. For do I now persuade men of God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." Now notice what Paul is saying here. When I teach the gospel, my purpose in teaching the gospel is not to please man.

The gospel is not Designed to be a people-pleasing gospel that will fit your carnal desires the purpose of the gospel is to Please God in teaching. What is truth so that you can accept that truth and receive salvation And the problem so many times in the Christian world today, you will hear people that will come right out and say, just accept Jesus as your Savior. Don't worry about anything else, and he will save you and your sins. And that gospel message at the end of the day is a people-pleasing gospel, but it's not a Bible-based gospel. Because as you're going to see as Paul develops the teaching of the gospel in the book of Galatians, Remember that famous verse, I am crucified with Christ?

Is that a people pleasing gospel? Crucified with Christ. There's a lot of other things that we're going to see as we develop here, but the question then is what is this other gospel that the Galatians had been deceived by? And we will see this again as we go through. But in chapter 5, for example, you can see some of the things that he's contending with.

Chapter 5, verse 1, he says, Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage behold I Paul say unto you that if you be circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing for I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to do the whole law." Now this is what was happening in the Church of Galatia. Paul came in, he teaches a clear gospel, Jesus came to this world, he gave himself up so that you could receive forgiveness of sins and accept him as your savior and have power over sin and be delivered from this present evil world. Jesus Christ has fulfilled the ceremonial law. He is the embodiment of the law. Accept him.

Follow him. Then certain Jews who professed to follow Jesus came in and said, you know what? What Paul said to you was good, but he doesn't have it all down. We have a better version of the gospel. What you need to do is, yes, accept Jesus as your Savior, but you also need to be circumcised to receive salvation.

And If you're circumcised, you will have salvation. And this is what Paul's saying. And if you study this out carefully in the Book of Romans as well, what these Jews were doing, and it applies to our time just as well as to back then, they were basically saying, all you have to do is perform an outward action, make an outward profession, and that will give you salvation. You do this simple act of circumcision, you will have salvation. And in modern times, people say, just accept Jesus, accept that you have this outward covering, and you have salvation.

And in both instances, the thing that is left out that is really the heart of the matter is Galatians 2 20. Are you crucified with Christ? Has your heart been circumcised? Have you surrendered your life completely to Jesus? And the gospel that Paul was teaching, the real gospel, is that the real gospel is being crucified, being fully surrendered, giving your life to Jesus 100%.

But the Judaizers who were coming into the Christian faith were saying, well, that's okay, but in reality, just do this outward act of the flesh, And that's actually salvation. And in reality, it's so much easier to just do an outward action that gives you a profession without a heart change. You see, today, you can do something similar. You can make the outward act of baptism, which is a good thing to do, but have no heart change. And the real gospel that Paul was trying to teach the church of Galatia is, if you are not crucified with Christ, you are not in a saving walk with Jesus.

And I marvel, after I explained it so clearly to you that you're turned to a gospel that will lead you away from salvation. And so this is Paul's introductory chapter. Now Paul then, after He says I marvel that you have turned from this gospel for example in verses 11 and 12 He says but I certify you brethren that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man For I neither received it of man neither was I taught it but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. And if you study more of Paul's epistles, you see that he did have visions, which tells us that Jesus himself explained the teaching of the gospel to Paul. And he explained it clearly to us in the book of Romans and Galatians and some of his other epistles and we can be thankful for that.

Now Paul after he tells the Galatians, look, if anyone else is teaching you another gospel let them be accursed and I marvel that you've turned from the gospel that I've taught you. He then explains some more qualifications to say, you know, I know something about those Jews who are trying to tell you that you should be circumcised. And starting at verse 13 he says, for ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God and wasted it." Now Paul was a Pharisee of the Pharisees, and if anyone understood the Jewish law that was preached by them that they said would bring salvation, Paul knew that so-called gospel. And so if anyone could recognize the false gospel that these Judaizing Christians were coming in to the church with, Paul could recognize it. Because he used to be steeped in the Jewish religion.

And now by the revelation of Christ, he had an understanding of the full complete gospel that did away with the ceremonial law and the Jewish customs and how Christ fulfilled all those things and how that an acceptance of Christ and the living of his life was the real gospel. And so he's saying, look, if anybody knows what the Jewish religion is all about, I do. And so now he's explaining that to the Galatians. And as he continues on, he says, he profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my father. So Paul, He was at the top end of the spectrum of this religion.

He says, But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. Now notice this. Paul was able to preach the gospel with power because Jesus Christ, the son, was revealed in him. And if we wonder sometimes why the gospel doesn't have power is because we might preach the theory of the truth, but Christ isn't being revealed in our lives in the way we demonstrate our lives to others. And Paul could say, the Son was revealed in me so that I could preach to others.

And then when you see that, again, that wonderful verse, I am crucified with Christ, says nevertheless, yet not I live, but Christ liveth in me. So that again is the gospel. When Christ lives in us, then we have the power to share the gospel with the world around us. And then, in closing, you see in the last 8 verses, verses 17 through 24, Paul simply talks about how after his conversion experience, he went into Arabia, then he went back to Damascus, he finally came back to Jerusalem. We of course know that Paul had his conversion experience on the road to Damascus, where he went from being a zealous Jew to being a converted Christian.

And so, This is the introductory chapter. Tomorrow we are going to get into Galatians chapter 2, and we're going to see how Paul contended for the faith of the Jerusalem council, and then he explains what justification by faith really is, and then we're going to continue on in chapter 3 where he talks about being the judge shall live by faith and so on. So the book of Galatians as we are going to go through our study this week, It's an epistle that clearly describes the gospel, but it's in the setting of contending against a false gospel, specifically a false gospel that Jewish Christians were bringing in. And because of this problem that had come into this church, Paul, as he says in Galatians 4, was offering intercessory prayer on behalf of these believers. And notice this, and this is the gospel, and now you understand this perhaps more clearly.

My little children of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you. So he's having intercessory prayer and he's praying, Lord, please help them to experience the gospel. Not a false gospel where they think that they can just be circumcised and be saved, but the true gospel where Christ is actually formed in their lives. And so as we think about the world around us, may we have a spirit of intercessory prayer for those that we see who may not have this experience, so that Christ will be formed in them and in us, so that we will be a living demonstration of the gospel of Christ to the world around us. And so the book of Galatians, it's a powerful book.

And I might also mention that this book in the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which is the church that our institution here is affiliated with, had a very interesting debate over the book of Galatians over a hundred years ago and we're going to talk about that as we go through our study as well. So this is an important book, it helps us to understand the plan of salvation and I look forward to studying some of these things more fully as the week goes on. So why don't we have a closing prayer and then we will have our closing song after that. Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you for this message in Galatians.

Thank you that you've clearly revealed to us what the true gospel is. Help us to be protected from false gospels that are out there. And may we have the experience of Christ being formed within us as He was in Paul so that we can preach this gospel with power to the world around us. So we thank you for your love, how that you gave yourself for us, that you would deliver us from this present evil world and may we fully accept your sacrifice. This is my prayer in the name of Jesus, Amen.

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Series

Galatians and the Gospel

Galatians 1—Another Gospel

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Recorded

Other Teachings in Series

Galatians 1—Another Gospel

19m

Galatians 2—Justified and Crucified

21m

Galatians 3—The Law in Galatians

25m

Galatians 4—Two Covenants

20m

Galatians 5&6—Flesh Versus the Spirit

20m

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