Transcript Galatians 1 - Amazon Web Services

Paul’s letter to the
Galatians
The weakness of law
verses the power of faith
working through love
What’s in Galatians?
• Doctrinal information about
salvation through faith in
Christ Jesus – Paul’s
gospel of the Grace of God
• Warnings about our human tendency to
want a religion based on works of law –
Judaism!
• Practical daily life lessons about living by
a faith that is motivated by love
Galatians is a mini-Romans
Outline of Galatians
1-2 Answer challenges to Paul’s authority &
the origin of his gospel
3-4 Expose the false teachings of Judaisers
who perverted the truth of salvation
through faith in Christ Jesus
5-6 Explain the impact of faith working
through love on the way we live and
treat each other (what James calls “be
doers of the word”)
Paul’s 1st Journey
Acts 13-14
Antioch
Paul preached Jesus as
God’s son, raised from the
dead & salvation by faith!
Acts 13:38-39
38 "Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that
through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness
of sins;
39 "and by Him everyone who believes is justified
from all things from which you could not be justified
by the law of Moses.
Iconium
A great multitude of
Jews and Greeks
believed (14:1)
• Paul & Barnabas spoke boldly and worked many
miracles (14:1)
• Unbelieving Jews poisoned the minds of the
Gentiles (14:2)
• City became divided (14:4)
• Both Jews and Gentiles made a violent attempt to
abuse and stone Paul & Barnabas (14:5)
• Paul fled to Lystra (14:6)
Lystra
Probably met Timothy here
Paul healed a crippled man
(14:10)
• The people wanted to make Paul & Barnabas gods
(14:11-12)
• Jews from Antioch and Iconium convinced the
multitude to stone Paul (14:19)
• Disciples gathered around Paul, he rose up, and
went into the city (14:20)
• The next day he went to Derbe
Derbe
Preached and made
many disciples
(14:21)
• Then returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch
• Strengthened the new disciples
• Warned them: “we must through many tribulations
enter the kingdom of God” (14:22)
• Appointed elders in every ecclesia
• Paul went back to Antioch in Syria
• Judaisers set out to overturn Paul’s message &
make Gentiles get circumcised & keep the Law
Letter to Galatians
was written:
From Antioch (Syrian) at a
critical time when Judaisers were challenging the
inclusion of Gentiles by grace. These Gentiles were
not circumcised and did not keep the Law.
Acts 15:1, 5
1 And certain men came down from Judea and taught
the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according to
the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved."
5 But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed
rose up, saying, "It is necessary to circumcise them, and
to command them to keep the law of Moses."
Letter to Galatians
was written:
• Paul & Barnabas dealt with Judaisers in Antioch
of Syria, but it was harder to reach the new
Galatian converts
• Paul’s authority was under attack too
• Probably written between 1st and 2nd journeys,
just before Jerusalem conference in Acts 15
Paul defends his Authority
• An apostle by the will of God, not men (1:1)
– Judaisers claimed Paul was not one of the
original apostles like Peter and James
• Jesus gave him the gospel by revelation (1:12)
• Formerly persecuted God’s ecclesia and wanted to
destroy it (1:13)
• God separated him from womb and called him
through grace! (1:15) [cp Jer 1:5]
• God made Paul a preacher to Gentiles (1:16)
• Accepted by the other apostles (1:24)
It’s hard to believe how much these
Judaisers discredited Paul – an apostle with
spirit gifts who was called directly by Christ!
No commendation:
no praise, no thanks
• Paul wouldn’t give the Galatians any basis to
think it was OK to agree with the Judaisers
• Rather than thanking God or them, in 1:6, Paul
marveled they were turning away so soon to
another gospel
• This was a major error that would destroy all the
work God had commissioned Paul to accomplish
• Even all the apostles, working together, could
barely hold back the Judaiser movement to
return to the law and circumcision
Principles of Judaism
• Emphasizes procedures that we
must do to be saved
• Leads to comparing ourselves
with others and judge others
• Motivated by a work/payment
system: “I do, therefore I earn”
• Hard to refute because it relies heavily on the Bible,
especially the Law
• Claimed that even Jesus kept the Law, so we should
too!
• Not motivated by love!
The NT contains a lot more
warnings about Judaism (legalism)
than it does about liberalism!
Simple example of
Judaism (legalism)
• A husband and wife do family Bible
readings together after dinner.
• The husband checks off his Bible
companion, reads quickly, thinking
about what he wants to do when the readings are
over.
• The wife considers each reading, looking for lessons
and answers to solve issues she’s facing in her
family.
• Both satisfied the requirement to read the word, one
as a legal requirement, the other out of love for God’s
ways.
Galatians balances James
Liberals: Christ did it
all, so I don’t need to
do anything or change
James
corrects this
“Faith working
through Love”
(Gal 5:6)
Judaisers: I must
work to earn my
salvation
Galatians
corrects this
God has forgiven us in Christ. We follow
Christ’s example & live for God and his
family because of our love for them.
Paul’s authority (1:1)
• An apostle – not of man – but by
Jesus Christ & God the Father
• The same God who raised Jesus
from the dead
• God – the Father of us all (v.3,4)
a theme Paul will pick up again in Gal 3
– The Law treated Israelites as slaves, but
grace offers us adoption into the family of God
as sons and daughters!
Grace and Peace (v.3)
• Grace (a Gentile term) – the undeserved
kindness of our loving Father who desired to
save us
• Peace (a Jewish term) – the wonderful
relationship we now have with our Father
because He has adopted us as His children
• Jesus Christ gave himself for our sins willingly
• All according to the will of God
Turning away to a different Gospel
O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? (3:1)
• So soon – implies Paul wrote this letter soon
after his 1st journey
• Turning away from God – not Paul (v.6)
• Some who trouble you = Judaisers
• Different gospel – based on works of law, not
faith in Jesus Christ (2 Cor 11:4 “another Jesus”)
• Angel from heaven: some claimed angels
taught them in visions (Col 2:18)
• Let him be accursed (8 & 9) – this is a critical
issue
Challenges to Paul
• Paul is just trying to please people –
the Gentiles
• Paul got his gospel from Peter and
other apostles in Jerusalem
• Paul is inconsistent: he circumcised
Timothy, not Titus
Paul’s Defense:
• He tries to please God as a faithful servant of Jesus
Christ (v.10)
• God separated him from birth (v.15)
• He got his gospel direct from Jesus Christ (12)
• He spent little time in Jerusalem or with apostles (16-24)
• God told him to go to Jerusalem by revelation (2:2)
• Paul’s mission was to the uncircumcised (2:7-9)
Origin of Paul’s Gospel
11-12 Jesus Christ taught Paul direct
13-14 Paul didn’t get his gospel from
his earlier life
15-17 Paul didn’t get his gospel from other
teachers
18-24 Only stayed in Jerusalem 15 days during
his first visit, and had limited contact with
Peter and James
Paul’s mission is
not personal
• He personally persecuted God’s
ecclesia & tried to destroy it (v.13)
• Paul was zealous for the traditions
of the fathers (v.14) – no man could
have changed him!
• God called Paul through His grace (v.15)
• God decided to reveal His Son in Paul, so he
could preach to Gentiles (v.16)
God is responsible for Paul’s mission! God wanted
Paul to show Gentiles how Jesus Christ lived.
A warning to us
because we all do make
many mistakes…
• It’s easy and tempting to attack the motives and
authority of our brothers and sisters when we
have disagreements
• It’s easy and tempting to gather ecclesial
support for ourselves when we have
disagreements with others
• Resist the temptation – aim for unity & peace (on
most issues)
• Pray for understanding of our doctrines and
principles so we can present God’s gospel, not
our own.
In Galatians 2 we
will continue with
Paul’s defense of
the Gospel of
Grace