Latest / Journey Elgin / Journey Through Scripture- Gal 1-3
Transcript
- Phillip Thomas: Hey, it's good to see you today. Welcome to our journey through scripture. My name is Philip Thomas, Pastor Journey here in Elgin. And ⁓ as we're going through in a chronological ⁓ look through the Bible, ⁓ we've been in Acts the last ⁓ few episodes, but now we're ⁓ gonna be in Galatians. So remember, Paul ⁓ took the missionary journey ⁓ through ⁓ some different areas, and part of that area was the area of Galatia. That's a an area. And so now he is riding back to those churches. So he started churches and now he's riding back to them. One of the things that ⁓ has happened is the debate ⁓ with ⁓ circumcision and and what is necessary to be able to be part of the faith. And there was a ⁓ you know kind of some disagreement there. ⁓ and it makes sense because again, this was at the beginning, this was strictly a Jewish faith. Jesus was Jewish. He came to the Jewish people. ⁓ and then he called them to go out to everyone. ⁓ and so the Jewish the thinking was is well, you have to become Jewish, and then you can believe in Jesus as well. ⁓ that's that's kind of what some people were were teaching. ⁓ Paul ⁓ was pushing back against that, and then Peter accepted that, and then they I started saying, okay, you what? You don't you don't have to follow all of the customs, ⁓ the Jewish customs in order to be a Christian. ⁓ now you still have to follow the moral law, ⁓ but not ⁓ for example, circumcision. And so Galatians is probably it's it's either Galatians or Thessalonians. It kind of depends on the time frame. ⁓ we're looking from anywhere from ⁓ forty eight AD to fifty three AD. ⁓ when this letter would have been written. And ⁓ so it's one of the earliest ⁓ or possibly the first ⁓ letter that Paul would have written. ⁓ and he is addressing some issues. ⁓ specifically there's a group called the Judaizers. And what their argument is is they want people to do more than just come to a faith in Jesus. They want them also to convert to Judaism through circumcision. ⁓ and so Paul is dealing with that ⁓ specifically in this in this letter. ⁓ and so he starts talking about the relationship between the law ⁓ and ⁓ faith in Christ. And so we're gonna just go through the first three chapters of Galatians, ⁓ and then on Thursday we'll do the last three ⁓ chapters in Galatians. ⁓ there's so much here, but you know, so I we definitely will not do it justice. ⁓ but I encourage you to to read through and to to really ⁓ take some time ⁓ reading through Galatians. ⁓ so it starts off. ⁓ Paul is writing and he he greets the the churches in Galatia. So this letter would have been circulated to the different churches. ⁓ says, Grace and peace to you from God the Father and Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil age. Right? ⁓ recognizing evil and and finding ⁓ an alternative to that that is found only in God ⁓ and that Christ came to rep ⁓ to ⁓ save us from our sins. Again, repentance. That's the core of the gospel message. And ⁓ he gets right into that in this ⁓ letter, verse six. He says, I marvel that you are turning away so soon. From him who called you from the grace of Christ to a different gospel, which is not another, but these are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. So he's dealing with people who are trying to add to the gospel message. ⁓ and ⁓ verse ten, for for do I now persuade men or God, or do I seek to please men? For if I still please men, I would not be a bond servant of Christ. So Paul is recognizing hey, there's There's a lot of people that are gonna disagree with me on this. ⁓ but listen, I am I am ⁓ a a bond servant of Christ and Christ alone. ⁓ I don't care that there are others who are are trying to to change things. They are wrong. Right. So he is standing up for what is what is right. ⁓ and again, what he's talking about is the addition of the need for people to be circumcised and follow the Jewish law. And not not not just the Jewish law. We're not talking about the moral law here. We're talking about the the traditions ⁓ of the the Jewish faith, that there were those who were saying you need to follow these ⁓ in order to be Christian. So basically, it's not good enough just to believe that Jesus is the Messiah. You also have to convert to Judaism. ⁓ that that's the what Paul is is dealing with ⁓ here. He he continues to to go on. talks about ⁓ the persecution, ⁓ talks about ⁓ how he went to Jerusalem and to see Peter and that they worked all of this out. It's really interesting, you know, again, ⁓ he he specifically talks also this is ⁓ evidence of ⁓ James, Jesus' brother, ⁓ became very prominent. Verse nineteen, but I saw none of the other ⁓ Apostles except James, the Lord's brother. ⁓ right. So ⁓ he's he's just talking about how he has talked to the apostles. He's talked to Peter, he's talked to James, ⁓ and they they are on his side. and and he talks about that. He talks about how he had to convince them and and show them ⁓ what what God was doing. ⁓ you have in ⁓ chapter two. ⁓ you know defending the the gospel verse four and this occurred because of the false brethren secretly brought in who who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus and that they might bring us into bondage. So basically it's saying listen there's a group of people who are intentionally trying to stir up this com ⁓ this ⁓ controversy. And I love what it said there in that verse four said to spy on our liberty is Which we have in Christ Jesus. So the freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, right? That He has freed us from sin. ⁓ whenever we repent, He has freed us from that. We don't have to follow all of these strict rituals. We can just live the way we're supposed to live. Right? Again, we're not talking about freeing us from from following the moral law that God lays out for us, but it is freedom from ⁓ following the rituals ⁓ that freed us from the ⁓ from sin previously. Now we have found that freedom in Christ. He has paid that price. We don't have to go through those rituals anymore to find freedom in him. Again, that's not talking about the fact that then we have to obey and still live the life that Christ has called us to live. Verse 10 They desired only that we should remember the poor the very thing which I also was eager to do. So basically saying we came together, ⁓ Peter, the ⁓ leaders of the church, ⁓ they extended the right hand of fellowship ⁓ with us and that we should extend that to the Gentiles, ⁓ but again, to to make sure that we continue to follow the moral law ⁓ but not necessarily the ritual law. And then he he gets into ⁓ returning to the law and being being careful that that's not where we're finding our salvation. Verse fifteen. We who are Jews by nature are not sinners of the Gentiles, ⁓ and and not sinners of the Gentiles. Know that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law. For by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. So he's saying you can't earn your way, you can't pay for your sin just by following the ⁓ the the rules, right? The following the sacrificial system, getting circumcised. That will not free you from sin. It is only faith in Jesus Christ. again, you have to think about this in in terms of d the the different types of laws. ⁓ he's talking about those ritual laws, not ⁓ the the moral laws that that we should be following no matter what. But even if we follow those moral laws to a T, ⁓ which we can't, that doesn't earn us to heaven. We still have to find that ⁓ forgiveness and ⁓ through faith in Christ and Christ alone. ⁓ verse 18. For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ lives. Died in vain. So, in other words, if we could just follow the law perfectly and do it ourselves, why did Christ have to die? No, he died to pay for our transgressions. And that is where we find our hope. That's where we find forgiveness. And then in recognizing that, that is why then we follow the moral law that he has set out, the way that we should live our life. And he talks about ⁓ justification through faith. Again, and he goes back to Abraham, ⁓ that we are justified through our faith, ⁓ not by things that we can control. ⁓ I ⁓ the only thing that you can control is you can have faith. ⁓ but you you cannot earn your way ⁓ into to God's ⁓ good graces, if you will. ⁓ also it ⁓ talks about The law bringing a curse. Verse 13. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Again, what he's talking about is the curse of God is ⁓ of the law, is that we can never live up to the law satisfactorily. We will always fall short. Therefore Christ took that curse for us. ⁓ literally he was cursed onto a tree, but died on a tree for us, and that is where we find new life. ⁓ and so I I one thing I I think is interesting, we're gonna stop there and we'll go through four, five, and six in Galatians ⁓ on Thursday. ⁓ but understand early on there's there's been conflicts within the church. There's been difficulties, they've They've had to seek God's wisdom and God's guidance and and ⁓ that has has all God worked through all of that ⁓ to show us the way that we are supposed to live, the way that ⁓ we are supposed to ⁓ to interact, to live our life ⁓ for Christ. ⁓ so of course there's going to be challenges that we still face and disagreements, but we always have to go back to scripture. We have to go back ⁓ to what God has revealed to us ⁓ in order to find what is true and what is right. ⁓ and there's always going to be those who will try to change the gospel to ⁓ either make it harder, right? The Judaizers were actually making it harder to come to Christ. ⁓ there is also the temptation to go the other way way to make it easier ⁓ to to take ⁓ the need for repentance away and just say, no, just ⁓ accept that God loves you. No, you have to repent of your sinfulness. we we need to not pervert the gospel by adding to it or by taking it away. ⁓ that's going to always be a temptation and we have to push back against that every chance we get. Okay. We're gonna stop there. I encourage you to read Galatians ⁓ four five and six. ⁓ and we will look at them