How would you summarize Galatians 3:19-22? What is the purpose of the law?
Why do you think Paul seeks to show us that the law was put in place “through angels by an intermediary?”
How does knowing God’s law make you more thankful for Jesus? How does this affect your affections?
Why do you obey God’s law? Do you ever obey it for the wrong reasons?
How would you seek to summarize Galatians 3:15-18? How do these verses offer you comfort?
What point is Paul seeking to make in verse 16, and why is this point important?
When do you find yourself most tempted to look to your own efforts to make yourself acceptable to God?
Read Galatians 3:18, then read Ephesians 1:13-14, 1 Peter 1:3-5, and Hebrews 9:15. What emotions do you feel whenever you begin to realize that we have an eternal inheritance kept in heaven for us on the basis of a promise?
What does it mean that “all who rely on works of the law are under a curse?” How is it evident that “no one is justified before God by the law?”
Read verse 13. How should this verse shape the way that we view ourselves and other Christians? How should it impact the way we interact with nonbelievers?
How is the fact that we have received “the promised Spirit through faith” a blessing?
What point is James seeking to make in James 2:14-25? Does this point contradict or affirm Paul’s teaching on justification?
What is James talking about when he says that Abraham was justified by his work of offering Isaac?
What “works” is James describing in these verses? Why is it important that our faith leads to these works?
How does Paul’s reference to Abraham support the point that we are justified by hearing with faith and not by works of the law?
How does Paul’s words in Galatians 3:7 shape the way we view the church?
What does it mean that God “preached the gospel to Abraham?” Why is it important for us to understand that God preached the gospel to Abraham?
In verses 8 and 9, Paul connects God’s blessing for the nations with justification by faith. In other words, justification = God’s blessing. How does this comfort us as we walk through life?
How would you summarize the point Paul is trying to make here?
Take a few moments and share with one another your testimony. Specifically, when did you hear the gospel and choose to trust in Jesus for your salvation?
How does the phrase “Jesus was publicly portrayed as crucified” impact our evangelism?
Who is the Holy Spirit? Why is the fact that the church had already received the Holy Spirit important to the point Paul is trying to make?
Spend a minute rehashing what it means to be justified by faith in Christ.
How would you respond to someone who would argue that “justification by faith” is simply an excuse to continue living in sin?
What does Paul mean in verse 20 when he says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”
How do we practically live a life of “faith in the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself for us?”
Discussion Questions:
What does it mean to be justified by faith in Jesus Christ? Seek to describe this doctrine in a way that a nonbeliever would understand.
How is the doctrine of justification by faith good news? How is justification by works of the law unattainable?
Why is it important for the church to be constantly be reminded of this doctrine?
How should this doctrine shape the way we live?
In looking at these verses, how would you define hypocrisy?
What hypocrisy was Peter guilty of at this point and time? Why was this hypocrisy so dangerous?
How does Paul handle this hypocrisy? As Christians, how should we handle hypocrisy within the church?
How is hypocrisy within the [C]hurch never an excuse to leave the [C]hurch when we understand what the [C]hurch is?
Discussion Questions:
How does Paul’s encounter with the other apostles here give further validation to the fact that the gospel of grace is in fact God’s gospel?
How would the demand for Titus to be circumcised be bondage (v.4)?
Have there been times in your life when you have begun to think that your performance counts toward your salvation? What caused you to think this way?
Do you ever feel guilty or insecure in your relationship with God? What might this be telling you about how you view your acceptance with Him?
What evidence is there for us to trust Paul’s legitimacy?
Why is God’s gospel so controversial?
What is man’s gospel?
How do we live in God’s gospel rather than man’s?
How does Paul’s testimony give validation to the fact that the message he’s proclaiming is God’s message?
Paul’s testimony teaches us that the message of the cross is full of power and grace. How should this shape the way we live our life on a day to day basis?
Galatians 1:16 tells us that God revealed His Son to Paul so that he might preach Jesus among the Gentiles. How should the fact that the message of the cross is for the world shape the things we do as a church?
In verse 24 we see the church in Judea “glorify God” because of Paul’s transformation. In our culture, when transformation takes place in a believers life, do you tend to see the Christian celebrated more than God? If so, how can we be better at “glorifying God” when God works in His people?
What are the dangers of living to please man over God?
Paul, in 1 Corinthians 9, talks about “becoming a servant to all, that he might win more of them.” What is the difference in becoming a “servant of others” and “living to please others?”
How are you most tempted to fear men and seek their approval? What would change if, in those moments, you lived to please the God who is pleased with you?
What is the true gospel?
Turn to Act 15:1. What are these false teachers teaching? Why is this teaching so dangerous?
Why should understanding the true gospel lead to anger toward false gospels?
SERMON MANUSCRIPT:
The most expensive painting ever sold was Leonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi." Back in 2017, it sold for $450.3M to a man named Mohammed bin Salman.
Although this 500-year-old painting underwent numerous conservation and cleaning efforts, the lure and beauty of this authentic piece of art was just too much to resist for our friend Mohammed.
Now, I would consider myself to be quite the artist, as well. As a kid, I specialized in drawing surfers, skateboarders, and snowboarders.
So, let me ask you, "What would happen to the value of the authentic painting of 'Salvator Mundi' were I to add my own artistic abilities to it?"
Would my contributions lead to an increase in value? Would the value stay the same? Or would my contributions lead to this multimillion-dollar painting losing every cent of value it once possessed?
The second my paintbrush touched Leonardo's canvas would be when this painting lost every cent of its value. The moment I made my contribution would be the moment this authentic piece would lose its worth.
Here's what we will see ring true in our passage today: there is nothing more precious and nothing more valuable than the authentic and exclusive gospel of Jesus Christ. No amount of money on the planet could equal the worth of the gospel of grace. And any attempt to add to this gospel will only destroy the gospel.
What is the gospel, you might ask?
Well, the word "gospel" means good news. And this good news is that God extends eternal life to you through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. All you have to do is believe and trust in Jesus, and you will have life.
Where you have sinned, Jesus lived righteously. Where you deserve God's wrath, Jesus (on the cross) took upon himself the condemnation we deserve.
As we saw last week in verse 4, Jesus gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age. And this act of deliverance on our behalf was undeserved. It was entirely an act of grace.
As Christians, we, therefore, place all of our hope in the fact that God is gracious. It is God's grace alone that is the ticket into right standing with God.
But, what we will find today is false teachers were creeping into the church who were seeking to take a paintbrush to this authentic gospel of Christ.
They were communicating the idea that, "Yes, Jesus died for our sins. But, for you to be saved, you also have to be circumcised (Acts 15:1)."
These teachers are essentially saying that your salvation depends upon the blood of Jesus and your actions. They're saying that the root of your salvation is Jesus + your works.
And Paul here is saying, "No! Either the blood of Jesus covers everything, or it covers nothing."
In the words of Tim Keller, “Gospel revision = gospel reversal." Meaning: if you seek to revise or add to the gospel message, you've at that point reversed the gospel message and made it null and void.
In our verses today, Paul is screaming, "Get your paintbrushes off the gospel!" To make any contribution to the gospel is to destroy the gospel.
A DIFFERENT BEGINNING
When you look at Paul's letters to different churches (Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, etc.), Galatians is the only letter Paul doesn't begin by giving a prayer or praise or thanksgiving to the church. In this letter, Paul jumps right into addressing the issue at hand.
Even in his letter to the church in Corinth (who were full of all sorts of issues), Paul starts by saying, "I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus…."
Yet, here in Galatians, we find no such greeting. Paul considers that there is no time to waste in this letter, which communicates the seriousness of the issue at hand. These are pressing verses that carry a lot of weight. The hearts of the first-century readers would be racing after reading these words.
Paul's quick response reminds us of the truth that there is not a more significant danger presented to humanity than the danger that comes from rejecting or abandoning the gospel. If the blood of Jesus is our only hope for life, then trusting in anything other than Jesus leads to death.
In adding to the gospel, we will see in our passage today that the church in Galatia was deserting the gospel. And in abandoning the gospel, they were walking away from God.
To Paul, there is no time for wasted words when dealing with brothers and sisters who are walking away from Jesus.
The verses that we're going to be looking at today could be divided into two sections:
Section 1: verses 6-7. Here Paul is addressing the state of the church and the fact that they are deserting the one who called them.
Section 2: verses 8-9. Here Paul is giving a warning to the church by speaking about those who have deceived the church.
In this first section, I feel like Paul is sad and heartbroken because the church is so quickly turning from the gospel. And in this second section, we find Paul's sadness shift to frustration, anger, and judgment toward those distorting the gospel.
So, my prayer is that we feel the weight of these four verses. I pray that these 101 words demonstrate to us the seriousness and beauty of the gospel. I ultimately want us to see two things: (1) the beauty and exclusivity of the gospel and (2) the tremendous danger of forsaking the gospel.
So, let's dive in.
"6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed."
DESERTING THE GOSPEL = DESERTING GOD
Alright, let's look at verse 6.
Paul starts here by saying that he's astonished. So, like a celebrity hanging out with David Blaine, Paul's jaw has hit the floor in amazement. And he's astonished because the church is so quickly deserting the one who called them in grace.
Their act of abandonment has been swift. It didn't take the church long to begin latching onto a new message contrary to the gospel of grace.
They were so quickly "deserting the one who called them" in grace.
Now, as you're looking in your Bible, I want you to underline the word "deserting." There are a couple of things I want us to take note of here regarding that word.
First and foremost, to desert is to turn and transfer your allegiance from one to another. It's the act of turning your back on someone or something and leaving them on the outside.
This word was initially used in reference to soldiers revolting or deserting their unit in battle. And it later began to be used in reference to the act of changing a political party.
But, the act of desertion here isn't merely intellectual. It's not a transfer of beliefs. It's not like Donald Trump deserting the Democratic Party to become a Republican President in 2017.
The desertion we see here is personal, not intellectual. This is a relational abandonment. Paul says that they are "quickly deserting him who called" them.
So, to desert the doctrine of the gospel is to desert the author of the gospel.
The church wasn't moving onto a better philosophical idea or a better doctrine. They were walking away from the God who called them in grace. As John Stott puts it, "To turn from the gospel of grace is to turn from the God of grace… It's impossible to forsake the gospel without forsaking God."
God and the gospel are so intertwined that you cannot have one without the other. You cannot have God without embracing the message of the cross. And if you add to the cross, you lose the cross.
This is both the beauty and exclusivity of the Christian faith. At the heart of the gospel is a personal encounter with God. And this encounter is birthed out of grace.
The church at this moment was deserting the God who personally called them to himself.
Now, that word deserting is a word that implies current action, not past action. The church is in the act of desertion. But, their abandonment is not complete.
That's extremely important for us as we work our way through this book.
Paul, in Philippians, teaches us that the work that God begins in his people, he will bring to completion. So, if someone has truly experienced the grace and mercy of God, God will draw them back to himself. God will complete the work that he began.
In this instance, the way that God was doing that was through the rebuke of Paul. While the church was walking away from God, God, through Paul, was in the process of drawing them back to himself.
Their desertion was not complete. There was still hope for their return. So, although there was nothing but clouds of abandonment in Galatia at this moment in time, there was hope that the sun of belief would one day shine again in their hearts. Their story was not over. There was hope for their return, and there was still an invitation to return.
Why is that important?
That's important because maybe you feel like you're drifting. Perhaps you feel like you're in the act of deserting the one who called you in grace. Or perhaps you know someone who is in the act of abandoning the faith.
Take heart. Your story, their story, is not over.
God is rich in grace, and he lavishes grace on his people. Grace isn't a ticket that God gives you one time so you can get into the Kingdom of God. Grace is something that God continually extends to his people every second of every day.
God is rich in grace, and it is by his grace that God keeps you in the fold. It's by God's grace that he chases after you to bring you back into the fold whenever you wander. The God of grace welcomes our wandering hearts back to himself with open arms.
The gospel's beauty (and even scandal) is God's constant extension of a gift we do not deserve.
The church, at this moment, is deserting the one who called them in grace. But, their desertion is not complete. So, God, through Paul, is seeking to bring them back to himself.
THE ONE WHO CALLED
Now, what does it mean that God called you in the grace of Christ?
Well, the word "called" can mean several different things. It can imply the act of "crying out" or "calling aloud." It can mean to "designate" or "give one a name." It can imply extending an "invitation" or "to summon" someone.
So, what I think Paul is saying here is that God is the instigator of salvation. If "to call" means to invite or summon, then that means man doesn't summon God. God summons man.
As we saw in verse 4, all of humanity belongs to this evil age. We are all inherently "children of wrath (Eph. 2:2)." But, God being rich in mercy extended to sinners a gift that we do not deserve. And that gift is an invitation to a reconciled relationship with himself through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
God is not sitting in heaven playing his Xbox with headphones in while we're jumping up and down trying to get his attention, saying, "Please save me!" God is pursuing sinners, calling out to them through his church, inviting sinners into a relationship with himself through His Son. God is active, not passive, when it comes to salvation. He is the one who calls, not man.
So, Christian brothers and sisters, God personally called you out of darkness into light. God personally breathed life into your dry bones. Where you were once an enemy of God, God personally plucked you out of hostility and transformed you into his child. The beauty of the gospel is God's gracious pursuit of sinners.
THE EXCLUSIVE GOSPEL
Eternal life is an undeserved gift that is freely extended to his people. He is the one who called. And like Leonardo da Vinci's painting, you cannot find this message anywhere else in this world.
There is only one good news! And this exclusivity is what makes this message so beautiful.
As Paul puts it, the church was turning to a "different gospel," but there's not another gospel! Nowhere else in this world will you find the hope of God's grace. Every other religion speaks on how you can pursue God with a set of rules.
Apart from the cross, you will only find a list of rules with the expectation that "if you do these things well, then you can one day have a relationship with God."
And apart from the cross, you will only find exhaustion and disappointment! Trying to obtain eternal life through your efforts is like running on a treadmill. You will exhaust yourself only to discover that you've gone nowhere.
The only good news for sinners is the message of God's grace. There is no other gospel!
And the church had both heard this message and embraced this message.
If you look down to verses 8-9, you will see that the gospel of grace was "preached to them," and they "received it."
That word "received" in verse 9 implies taking to and joining one's self to something. So this is a people who had heard God's gospel and joined themselves to Jesus in faith.
Yet, now they are loosening their grip and turning from the very one they had received. They are deserting the gospel for a different gospel.
What a great tragedy.
Our eight-month-old has been going through a sleep regression, and there's nothing worse than a sleep regression.
For all my non-parents in the room, a sleep regression is a time where your child (who was once sleeping well) is no longer sleeping well.
And what makes sleep regression so bad is the fact that you've tasted sleep. You know your child can sleep through the night, but now they are choosing not to. Experiencing sleep and returning to sleeplessness is one of the greatest tragedies in parenthood.
Church, is there anything more tragic than abandoning grace when you've already experienced it? When you've tasted freedom, how can you return to slavery?
When it comes to our relationship with God, we are bent to live transactionally. We view our relationship with God like a transaction. We think, "If I do X for God, God will do Y for me."
For the churches in Galatia, they began to think, "If I get circumcised, God will give me salvation."
For us, we think, "If I get baptized, then I will be saved."
Or, "If I start going to church and start acting like, talking like, and dressing like church people, God will be pleased with me."
Or, "If I pray in the morning and evening, God will give me the job I want."
Folks, listen to me. This is not the gospel. The foundation of your relationship with God is grace. You cannot say that you are saved by grace through faith and go on living like you're on God's payroll.
Yet, you have these teachers distorting the gospel at this time, saying salvation is both a gift and a wage, and the church believing it.
If you look in verse 7, the word "distort" means to pervert or reverse something. To revise the gospel or add to the gospel is to change the gospel altogether. This is why Timothy Keller says, "Gospel revision = gospel reversal."
ANATHEMA
We see here that one of the greatest dangers presented to the church at this time wasn't those outside the church who were trying to oppose, ridicule, or persecute the church. The greatest danger came from those inside the church who were trying to add to the gospel.
As one commentator puts it, "The church's greatest danger is not the anti-gospel outside the church; it is the counterfeit gospel inside the church." And, because of this danger, Paul then goes on to say that "even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed."
That word for accursed is "anathema." This is a harsh word that implies a divine ban and punishment. It means to be unredeemable and doomed for destruction. It is one devoted to the direst of woes, eternal damnation.
So, this is a weighty statement made by Paul. And he says it twice, which means it wasn't a slip-up. Like a dad snapping his fingers and repeating himself multiple times, Paul communicates this warning twice. He meant it.
And he even says, "May I be cursed if I preach a message other than the grace of Jesus Christ. Heck! If an angel comes down from heaven and preaches a gospel contrary to the gospel of grace, may he be cursed, too!"
Paul wants us to understand the seriousness of the issue at hand. The most dangerous thing I could do as a pastor is add to grace. The most damning thing I could do is say that the hope of your salvation depends upon anything other than grace. So, may we never add to the message of grace.
To add to grace is to spit in the face of our Savior. It's a slap in the face of the work of God. To add to the cross is to say that "the work of the cross wasn't enough." To add to the cross is to lessen the glory of Christ and heighten the glory of man. And there is nothing more detrimental than to add to or look past the message of the cross.
Jesus is "the way, the truth, and the life. And no one can make it to the Father except through him." So, if trusting in Jesus is the only way to life, then trusting in anything else leads to death.
FRUIT, NOT ROOT
There are a lot of good things that we do as a church. There are a lot of good disciplines that we have as Christians.
As a church, we baptize those that profess their faith in Jesus. As a church, we practice church membership. As a church, we gather together with other believers to worship, study, and pray together. As a church, we serve our community together.
As Christians, we personally study the Bible. As Christians, we personally pray. As Christians, we personally put sin to death. As Christians, we personally disciple others. As Christians, we personally love and serve others. As Christians, we personally evangelize.
But! We do these things as a response to grace. Out of the grace we receive in Christ, we live in obedience to him. Good works are the fruit of our salvation, not the root of our salvation. And the churches in Galatia had begun to misunderstand this.
Church, the gospel is a message of grace. And grace leads to rest, joy, worship, and obedience.
So, Holy Spirit, convict us of where we have missed the gospel!
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
What is an apostle? Why is it important for Paul to start his letter off by highlighting his apostleship?
We see in verse 2 that Paul is surrounded by other believers. Why do you think leadership is sometimes lonely? What can we do to make sure our leaders aren’t lonely?
Why is “grace” and “peace” so crucial to the Christian faith?
What is the significance of the fact that we were “delivered from the present evil age” by Jesus’ death on the cross?
SERMON MANUSCRIPT
A few years ago, my family and I had an incredible opportunity to go on a cruise with some of our extended family. It was a fantastic trip.
But! For someone terrified of heights, it was also a nerve-wracking trip.
I'm not sure if you know this or not, but cruise ships are tall.
Like, real tall. So, as a parent of two children who think they’re part monkey, I would have nightmares of my kids climbing over the side rail and jumping off.
Because of this fear, I would never let my kids get remotely close to the side of the boat. In fact, if I could read minds, I wouldn't have even let them think about the side of the boat.
Anytime one of them got close to the rails, I would raise my "dad voice" and shout, "Hey! Get back here now!"
Out of my deep love for my children, I would raise my voice in hopes of keeping them from danger. I would use strong language to communicate the seriousness of the threat they were heading toward. We go to great lengths to protect those that we love.
Here's what I think we will discover as we work our way through the book of Galatians: There is not a more significant danger presented to humanity than the danger that comes from rejecting or abandoning the gospel.
If faith in Jesus leads to life, then trusting in anything or anyone other than Jesus will lead to death. Therefore, the apostle Paul is like a distressed parent crying out to keep his kids from danger.
We will find Paul yelling at the church in Galatia, "Guys! The path you are walking down will lead to your demise! You are abandoning your only hope! Come back to safety! Come back and find refuge in the one who loves you!"
In this letter, you will find a tension of deep affection and deep anger. The church in Galatia had drifted from the gospel and began to pursue God's favor through their obedience to the law. They were exchanging freedom and joy that is found in Jesus with chains and bondage. And it disturbed Paul to see brothers and sisters that he loved so profoundly abandon the gospel and head for destruction.
The book of Galatians teaches us to prize and value that which is most valuable. The book of Galatians is calling the church back to trusting in God's gospel.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Now, let me quickly give you a bit of historical context to set the stage here.
Once upon a time, there was a man named Paul (Saul). Paul was a Jew, and Paul hated and persecuted the church. This man gave his life to destroying the church until Jesus revealed himself to Paul on the road to Damascus.
After Paul encountered Jesus and was called and commissioned by Jesus, he began to travel far and wide, taking the gospel to neighboring regions and planting churches in those regions. One of those regions was Galatia.
***Galatia is about where present-day Turkey would be.
After the churches were trained and equipped, Paul would leave these young churches and go to a new region. And as he was doing this, he would keep in contact with these churches via letters. And one of these letters is the letter we're about to study today.
Many commentators and historians believe this letter is likely Paul's earliest letter, dating it around AD 48 or 49, which tells me that it didn't take the church in Galatia long to drift from the gospel. And if it didn't take this church long to drift from the gospel, it probably doesn't take us long to drift from the gospel, either.
The current that seeks to push us away from the cross is swift. Therefore, we must cling to the cross daily.
So, in summary, the church in Galatia heard the gospel ("Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified"), and they believed and received the Holy Spirit. Yet, at some point, after Paul left, a set of teachers began to creep in and teach the churches in Galatia that Paul's gospel was a lawless gospel.
These false teachers began to essentially teach the church that to be included amongst God's people, they needed to observe the law and be circumcised. And this teaching began to fracture, divide, and tear down the church that God was building.
Therefore, in this letter, Paul boldly says to the church, "Don't abandon the gospel!"
The book of Galatians will teach us the truth that (1) we never outgrow our need for the gospel, and (2) to help the gospel is to hurt the gospel.
The gospel isn't something we need past tense. It's something that we desperately need every second of every day.
And the blood of Jesus is enough. You tread into dangerous waters when you begin to depend upon your obedience to God. You are in great danger if you start to believe that how you live benefits your standing with God.
If we were drowning in a pool, the Christian faith is not a ladder that we walk up to get to safety. The Christian faith is that God reaches into our chaos and plucks us out of the water onto dry land.
The Christian faith is one of hope, not because of something you have done, but because of something God has done on your behalf. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is your only hope for salvation. And this is what we celebrate as Christians.
GALATIANS 1:1-5
So, today we're going to look at the first five verses of chapter 1. Here in these five verses, you will find Paul's greeting to the church, and in this greeting, you will discover Paul masterfully introducing the message of this letter.
Let's dive in.
"1 Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers who are with me,
To the churches of Galatia:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen."
I will go out on a limb and say that many of you likely haven't written a letter in years. I will go out on another limb and say that some of you maybe haven't even written a letter.
So, let me educate you for a moment.
In the typical format of a letter in our day and age, you will find the recipient's name at the top, then the writer's name at the bottom.
A famous example of this would be Alfalfa writing to the love of his life:
Dear Darla,
I hate your stinking guts. You make me vomit. You're scum between my toes.
Love,
Alfalfa
Recipient -> Body -> Author
So, although we might not write many letters, we're familiar with how they are structured.
Well, ancient letters were structured differently. You would typically find both the writer and the reader's name in ancient letters in the introduction. In the introduction portion of the letter, the writer would first identify himself, clarify who he's writing to, and then extend a greeting to the reader.
A tangible example of this format would be in Acts 23:26, which says, "Claudius Lysias, to his Excellency the governor Felix, greetings."
So, because of this format, we can safely conclude that Paul is writing to the churches in Galatia. There's really not any disagreement here.
But, these introductions were typically brief and concise in ancient times, as you can see by our example in Acts 23. Yet, if you look in your Bible to Galatians 1, Paul's introduction is neither brief nor concise.
So, Paul's long-winded introduction has to be purposeful. He must be communicating to us something important. Which begs the question: what is it that he's trying to convey here?
Well, if you'll notice, Paul is amplifying both the first and third portion of this greeting. He expounds on (1) who he is and (2) the greeting he's extending to his readers.
So, that's what we're going to spend most of our time looking at today, the first and third portion of this greeting.
PAUL AN APOSTLE
Let's first look at how Paul identifies himself in verses 1-2. Here we see Paul refer to himself as "an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— and all the brothers with me…."
The first obvious question we need to ask in order to understand what Paul is saying here is, "What is an apostle?"
Well, in a general sense, the word "apostle" means "one who is sent." An apostle is a special messenger with a special title taking a specific message to a specific people.
So, Paul is saying that the one who sent him is God. The message he is bringing to the church is God's message. This is not man's message. This is God's message.
Now, the word apostle is a word that we see used pretty often throughout the NT. We specifically see Jesus refer to his 12 disciples in this way.
Where Jesus had many disciples who followed him, he chose twelve men and named them "apostles" and sent them out to preach.
We see this in Luke 6:13 and Mark 3:14.
"[13] And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles…" — Luke 6:13
"[14] And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach…" — Mark 3:14
The 12 disciples were referred to as apostles. These were men who personally walked with Jesus, who were personally called by Jesus, who were personally taught by Jesus, and who were personally sent out by Jesus to preach the message Jesus had taught them.
Due to Judas' betrayal, we see Mathias become one of the 12 apostles in Acts 1, and in Acts 2:42, we see the early church devote themselves "to the apostles teaching…."
So, this small group of men was given the authority to teach God's people God's message. And the church had begun to devote themselves to their teaching.
These would be what I would call [A]postles. In this context, the title "apostle" was a specific title given to a few to distinguish them as God's appointed messenger. And here Paul is saying that he's a part of that unique group. He was not commissioned and sent by man. He is a [A]postle who was taught, commissioned, and sent by the one who possesses power over life and death.
Paul wants the church to know that the message he is proclaiming is God's message. The message of the cross is not man-made. It is God-breathed.
Paul is not beating his chest so that the church will ask for his autograph later. He's beating his chest so that the church will stop abandoning the message that he proclaimed to them.
Paul is an apostle, he's heralding God's truth, and we see in verse 2 that he is not alone.
PAUL IN COMMUNITY
At the start of verse 2, he says, "…and all the brothers who are with me…."
We don't have time to camp out here, but I want you to think about that for a moment. Paul, an apostle of God, is walking through life with other believers. He is surrounded by brothers who love Jesus.
There's a temptation to think that leaders don't need community. But, that wasn't the case for Paul. Leadership should never be lonely.
If the apostle Paul is surrounded by brothers, immersed in community, how much more should we?
You, like the apostle Paul, need to be surrounded by Godly men and women who love you and who are committed to preserving the truth of the gospel with you.
Church, don't overlook your leaders. Check on your leaders. Pray for your leaders. Walk with your leaders. Leadership should never be lonely.
Well, at the end of verse 2, we see that Paul addresses the churches of Galatia, and in verse 3, he extends to these churches grace and peace.
But, he doesn't just extend to them a superficial grace and peace. He extends to the church a divine grace and peace.
Look at verses 3-5.
"3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen."
These three verses are rich with truths that are foundational to the Christian faith. And these three verses set the stage for the rest of the letter.
GRACE & PEACE
It is God's grace and peace that we all desperately need. Yet, it is God's grace and peace that these churches had lost sight of.
It is God's grace and peace that are the pillars that hold up the church. They are what breathes life into our bones.
If you were to remove grace and peace from the Christian faith, you no longer have good news. If you take away grace and peace, the church comes crashing down.
If you want to understand God and his message to you today, then you have to start with grace and peace.
So, what is grace? What is peace?
Grace is God giving you a good gift that you do not deserve. Where you deserve wrath and condemnation and shame because of your sin, God (through Jesus) extends kindness and forgiveness and mercy. Where you deserve to be cast out and ostracized because you rejected him, God (through Jesus) extends peace and reconciliation.
Peace is harmony, tranquility, the state of well-being, and unity. The Christian message is a message of peace.
When you look throughout the Bible, you will see that this peace is multifaceted. It is trifold. You will find the Bible talk about peace with God, peace with one another, and internal peace.
So, because of Jesus' death, we most importantly have peace with God.
Once we have peace with God, we then have peace with God's bride, his church. Peace with God leads to relational peace with God's church. Biblical community is a byproduct of having peace with God through faith in Jesus.
And once we have peace with God, we have peace within (inner peace). Amid the storms of life, we find inner rest and tranquility through a reconciled relationship with God.
God's peace leads to peace with our neighbor and peace within ourselves.
But, peace with God doesn't start with us. It begins with God. It is peace “from God!"
Man cannot manufacture true peace. Genuine peace can only be received as a gift from God. Peace is not manufactured from the bottom to the top. Like a river, peace is only able to flow downward. Your experience of peace is a result of grace, not your efforts.
As we see in verse 3, the one who gives us grace and peace is the one who gave himself for our sins. Peace with God can only be obtained through the sacrificial death of Jesus.
The cross teaches us that God is full of grace. He delights in giving good gifts to the undeserving.
So, are you weighed down with guilt and shame today because of your sin?
If so, please know that the gracious King of Kings has his hands extended to you today, offering you peace.
CHRIST OUR RESCUER
Paul then goes on to say that Jesus gave himself for our sins to "deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father…."
The word deliver here is a strong word used to convey a type of rescue from danger. This is the Greek word "exaireō," which is used eight different times in the NT.
This is the same word used in Matthew 5:29 and Matthew 18:9 to communicate the tearing out or plucking out of one's eye. "If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out (reach in and pluck it out) and throw it away."
This is the same word used in Acts 7:10 and 7:34 to describe the rescue of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. God saw the affliction of his people in Egypt and came down and acted on their behalf by rescuing them.
This is the same word used in Acts 12:11 to describe the rescue of Peter from both prison and the hand of Herod the King. So, Peter was asleep between two guards, bound with two chains, while guards were watching the doors, and an angel of the Lord came and rescued/delivered him from prison.
This is the same word used to describe the rescue of Paul from an angry mob that was about to lynch him in Acts 23:27. Paul is about to get lynched, and Claudius Lysias intervened on his behalf, leading him to safety.
Why is that important?
That's important because, in each of these instances, you (1) someone or something taken out or removed from something, and (2) you see someone in grave danger unable to save themselves and someone else intervening on their behalf.
To rescue someone is to remove them (pluck them) from pending danger. It's you frolicking in a pool, unable to make it to safety, and someone reaches down and pulls you out.
Church, this is the centerpiece of the gospel. The gospel is a message of rescue.
Let me be blunt and maybe a little rude for a moment. You are awful. You are far worse of a person than you could ever imagine.
You choose to be selfish when you should be selfless. You hold on to bitterness when you should forgive. You would rather fantasize about the beauty of someone else's spouse than your own.
When God says turn left, you turn right. You are a sinner, trapped in an evil age.
And because of your sin, you find yourself in a place of desperation and hopelessness. Yet, God (being rich in mercy) intervenes on your behalf and extends to you grace and peace.
What kind of lifeguard would see someone drowning and throw them a book on how to swim? A good lifeguard would act on behalf of the hopeless by entering into the chaos of the pool and rescue the drowning.
That’s what Jesus did for us!
Sometimes, I fear that some of us think God wants us to read the law and figure out how to live righteously while drowning in sin. But, we must understand, that's not the message of the Bible. God didn't throw us the law from heaven and say, "Good luck! Do what the law says, and you'll be fine!"
No, God wants us to know that he knew we were going to sin, and he had a plan of redemption from the beginning. The giving up of Jesus on the cross for our rescue was according to God's will. And if it was a part of God's will, then that tells us that the cross was a moment of power, not weakness.
The cross did not catch God by surprise. It was a part of his predetermined plan. God planned to use the death of His Son as the means to which he would take us out of the kingdom of darkness and put us in the kingdom of light. God planned to dive deep down into the water, giving himself up on the cross, and pulled you out of death.
All of humanity is drowning in despair. Like Israel in Egypt, we are enslaved to this world. Like Peter in prison, we are bound by the chains of sin. Like Paul surrounded by the mob, death is creeping in.
But, God, being rich in grace, had a plan to rescue us. And that plan was to crush his Son on our behalf. The Christian hope does not rest on the shoulders of you and me. The Christian hope rests on the shoulders of God.
The scandal and beauty of the gospel is God pursued sinners! The scandal and beauty of the gospel is that God pursued you!
And the only proper response is worship!
If I saved you from drowning, the only thing you could do at that moment is, "Thank you!"
J.I. Packer once wrote, "Any theology that does not lead to song is, at a fundamental level, a flawed theology." So, if you understand the theology of the gospel, then you can't help but worship!
"The one who gave himself for our sins deserves the glory forever and ever." There is not a day that goes by that Jesus is not worthy of glory! So, may we be a people that joyfully give him the glory every day of our lives!
What were some major takeaways from this miniseries on singleness?
How are you managing your time for discipleship? Do you feel like you’re stewarding your time and energy well for discipleship?
How can the church, as a whole, better walk alongside their single brothers and sisters in the church?
How is the “the grass is greener on the other side” mentality a dangerous mentality to possesses, especially when it comes to singleness and marriage?
How should the brevity of life impact the way we live our life as believers?
How should the greatness of heaven impact the way we view singleness and marriage?
What do you think it means to be “free from anxieties (1 Cor. 7:32)?”
What does it mean that both singleness and marriage are a gift from God (1 Cor. 7:7)? How should this impact the way we view and treat the season of life we are in currently?
How does the truth “God’s church is being built through spiritual descendants, not biological descendants” impact the way we view singleness?
Why and how is the comparison of gifts so dangerous to the life of a believer?
On Sunday the point was made that “the goal of Proverbs is not to show us how to become God’s people. The goal of Proverbs is to show God’s people how to walk like God’s people.” Why is that an important distinction to make?
How is God’s eagerness to extend wisdom in Proverbs 8:1-5 a declaration of his love?
How should the truth that God wants his people to be wise shape the way we study the Bible?
In light of the way God’s wisdom is described in Proverbs 8:6-9, how should we respond whenever we come across counsel in the Bible that goes against our hearts desires?
How can we “honor God with our wealth and with the firstfruits of all our produce?”
What does generosity to the poor look like practically? Do our budgets reflect the generosity of God?
Do I need to change how I manage my money?
What some examples of God's faithfulness when we have been generous?