One Gospel
Today we begin the letter to the Galatians. Though Galatians is one of Paul's shorter writings, it is highly esteemed as one of his most influential. Both Romans and Galatians teach the doctrine of justification by faith, and Galatians is sometimes referred to as "a short Romans."
OCCASION:
The infant church was drifting almost unnoticeably toward its first great doctrinal crisis. The Judaizers were attacking the message of grace. Things like observing the Law of Moses and being circumcised were being added to grace, in their teaching. These Jews were imposing rules, dietary laws and other legalistic requirements upon these new Christians. Paul had already encouraged these churches of Galatia "to continue in the grace of God" (see Acts 13:43). But unfortunately, after Paul left this area, a decade and a half ago, these false teachers came in and taught that salvation was by faith in Christ plus keeping the Law. Their message was a mixture of Christianity and Judaism; a mixture of grace and law, Christ and Moses. Then they tried to turn the Galatians away from Paul by saying he was not a genuine apostle of the Lord, and therefore his message was not reliable. This leads to the purpose of why Paul picked up his pen and wrote.
PURPOSE:
Paul's letter to them was a swift and decisive attempt to counter the attacks on his apostleship and message. In the first two chapters Paul attempted to vindicate his apostleship and message. In the next two chapters (3-4), he logically defended the doctrine of justification by faith. And finally in the last two chapters (5-6) he shows that Christian liberty does not mean a license to do as one pleases, but rather he shows that a Christian should live by the power of the Holy Spirit and thus bear spiritual fruit.
Chapter 1:
Paul was blown away of how easily these Galatains were misled into 'another gospel' of which there is no such (v.6-7). There is only one Gospel, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet some people will come and knock at your door and claim to know more, claim to be the true church. Don't listen to them. All cults follow this same pattern: the gospel plus something. If it's the gospel plus something, you know it's not the Gospel. This legalism broke Paul's heart and it should break ours. Millions of people are sucked into cults every year and that should break our hearts. But legalism is not just in cults. It sits in our churches and stands behind our pulpits today. "Why is she wearing that to church?", "Why does he raise his hands in church?", "Why is the music so loud?", "Don't they know how to act in God's house?"....and so goes the legalistic remarks. Legalist want to impose their miserable attitudes onto those who are excited about their salvation. Legalist come to church to see who they can rebuke and who they can correct. Legalist have no joy in their salvation. Legalism seeks to add to the pure Gospel, thereby contaminating it. Yes, legalism broke Paul's heart and it should break ours. The question today is, "Are you a legalist or are you at liberty in Christ?"
OCCASION:
The infant church was drifting almost unnoticeably toward its first great doctrinal crisis. The Judaizers were attacking the message of grace. Things like observing the Law of Moses and being circumcised were being added to grace, in their teaching. These Jews were imposing rules, dietary laws and other legalistic requirements upon these new Christians. Paul had already encouraged these churches of Galatia "to continue in the grace of God" (see Acts 13:43). But unfortunately, after Paul left this area, a decade and a half ago, these false teachers came in and taught that salvation was by faith in Christ plus keeping the Law. Their message was a mixture of Christianity and Judaism; a mixture of grace and law, Christ and Moses. Then they tried to turn the Galatians away from Paul by saying he was not a genuine apostle of the Lord, and therefore his message was not reliable. This leads to the purpose of why Paul picked up his pen and wrote.
PURPOSE:
Paul's letter to them was a swift and decisive attempt to counter the attacks on his apostleship and message. In the first two chapters Paul attempted to vindicate his apostleship and message. In the next two chapters (3-4), he logically defended the doctrine of justification by faith. And finally in the last two chapters (5-6) he shows that Christian liberty does not mean a license to do as one pleases, but rather he shows that a Christian should live by the power of the Holy Spirit and thus bear spiritual fruit.
Chapter 1:
Paul was blown away of how easily these Galatains were misled into 'another gospel' of which there is no such (v.6-7). There is only one Gospel, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet some people will come and knock at your door and claim to know more, claim to be the true church. Don't listen to them. All cults follow this same pattern: the gospel plus something. If it's the gospel plus something, you know it's not the Gospel. This legalism broke Paul's heart and it should break ours. Millions of people are sucked into cults every year and that should break our hearts. But legalism is not just in cults. It sits in our churches and stands behind our pulpits today. "Why is she wearing that to church?", "Why does he raise his hands in church?", "Why is the music so loud?", "Don't they know how to act in God's house?"....and so goes the legalistic remarks. Legalist want to impose their miserable attitudes onto those who are excited about their salvation. Legalist come to church to see who they can rebuke and who they can correct. Legalist have no joy in their salvation. Legalism seeks to add to the pure Gospel, thereby contaminating it. Yes, legalism broke Paul's heart and it should break ours. The question today is, "Are you a legalist or are you at liberty in Christ?"
posted by Royce Hendry at
7:18 AM
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