GALATIANS
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Please turn in your Bibles this evening to Galatians chapter 2 as we continue our study through the Word of God. As I said last week, Paul’s letter to the churches in the region of Galatia: Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe – places that Paul visited on his first missionary journey, (Acts 13:14-14:23), is a blistering attack against the gospel of works that the Judaizers were spreading and now the Galatians were receiving!
Paul did not teach them a salvation that was based upon the keeping of the Law, doing works, but a salvation that was based upon the Grace of God by faith in Jesus Christ that was revealed to Paul or taught to Paul by the Lord as he spent 3 years in the deserts of Arabia. This was not some new doctrine, for as we go through this letter Paul is going to show us that the Old Testament Scriptures speak of a salvation by grace through faith and not by the Law through works. Now, because these Judaizers were coming in and mixing Law and Grace together, saying they had the authority, Paul shows the Galatians that his authority to speak forth the Gospel message came from God, who called him from his mothers womb and at the appointed time opened his eyes to Jesus!
Now as we move into Galatians chapter 2, it flows from what Paul was saying at the end of chapter 1, so let’s just pick-up in Galatians chapter 1, staring in verse 18 to get the flow of what Paul will be showing us this evening. We are told, “Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother. (Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.) Afterward I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Christ. But they were hearing only, ‘He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy.’ And they glorified God in me.” Galatians 1:18-24. With that as our background, let’s begin reading in verse 1 of Galatians chapter 2 and see what the Lord has for us this evening.
As I said last week, Paul’s first visit to Jerusalem after his conversion experience is recorded for us in Acts 9:26-30 and Paul spoke of it in Galatians 1:18-19. Now, some 14 years later Paul again returns to Jerusalem, not because he wanted to go at this time, no was he compelled by man to go, but the Lord directed him to go by His Spirit and Paul went. We are not sure if this was what Luke spoke of in Acts 11:24-25 or when Paul went to Jerusalem in Acts 15 as the debate stirred up over the Gentiles keeping the Law of Moses for their salvation along with believing in Jesus or a salvation by grace through faith. James, the leader in the church in Jerusalem sent a letter to the Gentile churches in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia telling them, basically, that Salvation is a gift of God, not of works!
Paul is traveling with Barnabas, a man who was well respected among Christians, especially in Jerusalem, (Acts 4:36-37, 11:22). And Titus traveled with him, a Gentile convert who was a co-laborer with Paul in the Work of God.
Because of the Judaizers, Paul was concerned that this false gospel was spreading to the Christian leadership in Jerusalem and thus Paul spoke to them privately. He was concerned that they would come against him and the work he was doing, spreading the Gospel of Grace, and thus, his efforts would be in vain! Of this Luther tells us, “The believing Jews, however, could not get it through their heads that circumcision was not necessary for salvation. They were encouraged in their wrong attitude by the false apostles. The result was that the people were up in arms against Paul and his doctrine.” Yes, some were but not all, and as we shall see, the leadership believed in a salvation by grace through faith.
As Paul spoke to the leadership there in Jerusalem, things went well, they received his words and the evidence is that they did not compel or force Titus, a believing Gentile, to be circumcised because circumcision doesn’t save, the Law doesn’t save, only Jesus saves! You see, the Judaizers snuck in, they spied out the liberty that Paul had in Christ, the things that Paul and his companions were doing and they were going to use it against them, but it didn’t work! No door was opened for them to spread their lies!
Some may argue that these Judaizers were saved, but I don’t believe that they were for Law and Grace don’t mix. In fact, that phrase “false brethren” or PSEUDADELPHOS (psyoo-dad’-el’fos) in the Greek and it means “pretended associate” and has been translated “sham Christians” (NEB) and “pseudo-Christians” (Phillips). Think of the cults that are out there and what they believe for salvation and everyone that I can think of has a work based salvation mentality because Christ is not enough, He is not sufficient, He is not God! That is the logical conclusion of these false gospels and the Judaizers were no different and they are still around today!
Paul’s point is simple, these leaders in Jerusalem that were highly respected did not teach Paul but the Lord Himself taught Paul. Please understand that Paul is not putting down the leadership in Jerusalem, his Christian brothers in the Lord, but his point is that God does not respect one person over another, all are precious to Him and all are important, He died for all! Isn’t our Lord wonderful, you can be a nobody in the eyes of the world but in God’s eyes you are very precious to Him. You can be a nobody and yet God will listen to you just as much as He will listen to Billy Graham! Never forget that, God is not a respecter of persons!
Obviously James, the half brother of Jesus and the leader in the church in Jerusalem, Peter and John were looked upon as the pillars in the church, not because they sought that title but the people looked upon them that way. It was these men that saw the power of God working in and through Paul who then gave him and Barnabas their blessings to go forth with the Gospel message of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles.
Now please don’t come to the conclusion that there are two different Gospels, one for the Jews and one for the Gentiles, not at all! There is only one Gospel and these five men wrote at least 21 of the 27 New Testament books, and 22 if you believe Paul wrote Hebrews! Paul said in Acts 20:24, “But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”
Peter’s focus was primarily but not exclusively to the Jews and Paul was to the Gentiles, which is interesting when you consider that the Roman Catholics believe the Pope is the succession of Peter – but his ministry was suppose to be to the Jews! Of this Calvin makes these comments: “But if Peter’s apostleship pertained peculiarly to the Jews, let the Romanists ask by what right they derive from him their succession to the primacy. If the Pope of Rome claims the primacy because he is Peter’s successor, he ought to exercise it over the Jews. Paul is here the bishop of Rome. Therefore, if the Pope would enter into the possession of his primacy, let him assemble Churches from the Jews.” Interesting thought!
The leaders in Jerusalem, after giving their blessings to Paul, wanted them to remember the poor, probably the saints in Jerusalem who were in need, which Paul did do, hoping to break down those walls of division between Jews and Gentiles.
As Peter came to Paul’s home church in Antioch, he joined in their potluck, shared in communion with these Gentile believers until the Judaizers came in, supposedly saying they came with the blessings of James. So as these influential, powerful men came in, Peter separated himself from the Gentiles, slowly but surely, because they did not keep the Law of Moses! Peter knew better than that for in Acts 10:44-48 we see the conversion of Gentiles at the house of Cornelius, “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, ‘Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?’ And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.” Then in Acts chapter 11 Peter defends his actions before the believers in Jerusalem and the conclusion of the matter is found in Acts 11:18, “When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, ‘Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.’” And folks, think about this, Jesus ate with publicans, with sinners, with leapers!
Peter’s actions, as wrong as they were, caused a domino affect with Barnabas following Peter and then the rest of the Jewish believers followed also. As leaders we have a heavy responsibility to lead people in a godly way and not lead them astray. And when you think about it, they were hypocrites – they did not keep the Mosaic Law and yet they refused to eat with the Gentiles who obviously did not keep the Mosaic Law! What bondage the Law has people in when Jesus wants us to live in the liberty He has given to us! Thus, Paul rebukes Peter for his sin; his error, which fly’s in the face of the infallibility of the Pope and that kind of teaching, which the Scriptures don’t support!
This had nothing to do with where they sat but what they believed in regards to the Gospel of Jesus Christ – the truth! You see, the Judaizers came in saying these Gentiles were not saved, they did not keep the Law of Moses, they were not circumcised, they did not eat kosher and-so-on. And Paul says they did not speak the truth regarding the Gospel and by Peter’s actions, he was agreeing with them, endorsing them even though I don’t believe he did in his heart, but his actions did speak otherwise!
Thus, Paul rebukes Peter in front of everyone so all could hear the truth of the Gospel and not be lead astray with their lies! Paul’s point is simple, he tells Peter that he doesn’t keep the Law; he has that ham sandwich or whatever! I’m sure you could have heard a pin drop at this point as Paul exposes Peter’s hypocrisy! If Peter didn’t keep the Law how in the world could he pressure the Gentiles to and not fellowship with them because they were not keeping the Law? It was foolish and Paul exposes Peter’s sin and how hypocritical he was being by his actions.
Paul goes on to say that even Jews are not justified by the works of the Law but by faith in Christ. In fact, Peter knew that for he said in Acts 15:6-11, before the church council in Jerusalem, “Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: ‘Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.’” Notice Peter’s point here, that the Jews are saved the same as the Gentiles are saved, by Grace through Faith and not by the Law through Works!
In fact Paul tells us that there is no way possible for our flesh to be justified by our works! Thus, it makes no sense for a Gentile to be circumcised according to the Law of Moses, to keep the Law, to eat kosher – all we must do is believe in Jesus and we are justified before God or declared innocent before God! That does not give us a license to sin, we don’t sin out of love for the Lord, we try to live a life that is pleasing to God out of love and that does not justify us but it is evidence that we are saved!
Regarding justification, John MacArthur tells us: “Martin Luther said that if the article of justification by faith is lost, all Christian doctrine is lost. In this last section of chapter 2 Paul was inspired to introduce this most essential doctrine in the epistle, a doctrine that he had preached and explained to the Galatians on many occasions. He uses the verb form of justification (dikaiooe) four times in verses 16-17 and the noun form (dikaisune) once in verse 21, where it is rendered ‘righteousness.’ In the New Testament these and other forms of the same Greek term are variously translated by such English words as justify, justification, righteousness, just, righteous, and justified. The basic term was originally used forensically of a judge’s declaring an accused person not guilty and right before the law. It was the opposite of being declared guilty and condemned. Throughout Scripture justification refers to God’s declaring a sinner to be guiltless on the basis of faith in Him. It is the free and gracious act by which God declares a sinner right with Himself – forgiving, pardoning, restoring, and accepting him on the basis of nothing but trust in the Person and work of His Son, Jesus Christ.”
Picture in your mind what is going on here. The Judaizers along with Peter and the rest of the Jews are on one side and the Gentile believers are on the other side, and Paul wants them all to know the truth about salvation, even raising some questions these Judaizers might bring up!
Some may say, “If we are saved by faith, our sins are forgiven, how can we still struggle with sin? And if we do struggle with sin then Christ must be a minister of sin because He didn’t make us right enough if we are still struggling with sin!” Paul’s response to that question is “Certainly not!” or “Banish the thought!” of course not! We are justified by Christ and not by works and yes we still struggle with sin but that does not mean Jesus is the author or the approver of sin in your life! And Paul concludes by saying, “If you try to keep the Law you are going to find more sin, it is not going to justify you, only condemn you! We are justified in Christ and by trying to keep the Law doesn’t make us righteous before God, only Jesus can do that!”
I like the way that Luther put it. He said, “To give a short definition of a Christian: A Christian is not somebody who has no sin, but somebody against whom God no longer chalks sin, because of his faith in Christ. This doctrine brings comfort to consciences in serious trouble.”
Think of it like this. If you were robbing a bank and got caught and in the process of your escape you are shot and killed, you are not going to stand trial for your crime, you’re dead! That is Paul’s point here; he is dead to the Law and living for God. The Law is not dead, the Law is good, the Law is perfect, but we are not and trying to live under it to be justified by it only keeps us in bondage to it. We are dead to it; it has no power over us to convict us! Calvin put it this way, “To die to the law is to renounce it and to be freed from its dominion, so that we have no confidence in it and it does not hold us captive under the yoke of slavery.”
Paul, in Romans 3:19-20 tells us, “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Thus, Paul died to the Law so he may live unto God! Paul crucified the flesh life, he gave his life up so that the life of Christ would live in him and this is all a life of faith and not of works. Luther put it this way, “Blessed is the person who knows how to use this truth in times of distress. He can talk. He can say: ‘Mr. Law, go ahead and accuse me as much as you like. I know I have committed many sins, and I continue to sin daily. But that does not bother me. You have got to shout louder, Mr. Law. I am deaf, you know. Talk as much as you like, I am dead to you. If you want to talk to me about my sins, go and talk to my flesh. Belabor that, but don’t talk to my conscience. My conscience is a lady and a queen, and has nothing to do with the likes of you, because my conscience lives to Christ under another law, a new and better law, the law of grace.’”
God has done this for us and we have the nerve to say to Him, “Thanks, but it is not enough. Now I have to work my way into heaven, I have to complete the work!” Paul will conclude this chapter dealing with this point. May we learn from it. May we receive God’s grace and not try to add to it works. In fact, if you truly want to live by the Law, then you will die by the Law, as James 2:10 tells us, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.”
Listen to how The Amplified Bible puts this verse, “[Therefore, I do not treat God's gracious gift as something of minor importance and defeat its very purpose]; I do not set aside and invalidate and frustrate and nullify the grace (unmerited favor) of God. For if justification (righteousness, acquittal from guilt) comes through [observing the ritual of] the Law, then Christ (the Messiah) died groundlessly and to no purpose and in vain. [His death was then wholly superfluous.]”
Paul is saying to Peter and the Judaizers, to all who are
there, if you try to obtain salvation by the Law then you nullify
or neutralize the grace of God, you are rejecting it!
Do you see how diametrically opposed Law and Grace are?
They don’t mix!
As Jesus said in the Garden of Gethsemane, before He went
to the cross, “Then Jesus came with them to a place
called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, ‘Sit here while
I go and pray over there.’
And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee,
and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.
Then He said to them, ‘My soul is exceedingly sorrowful,
even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.’
He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed,
saying, ‘O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass
from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.’ Then He came to the disciples
and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, ‘What! Could
you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray,
lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak.’ Again, a second time,
He went away and prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if this cup
cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.’
And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes
were heavy . . .
. . . So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then He came to His disciples and said to them, ‘Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.’” Matthew 26:36-46. You see, there is no other way and if there was, then the Father ignored the prayer of Jesus in the Garden, but of course we know that is not true.
To put this into perspective, listen to these quotes from Luther:
“What awful presumption to imagine that there is any
work good enough to pacify God, when to pacify God required the
invaluable price of the death and blood of His own and only Son?”
“If my salvation was so difficult to accomplish that
it necessitated the death of Christ, then all my works, all the
righteousness of the Law, are good for nothing. How can I buy
for a penny what cost a million dollars?”
“Those who intend to obtain righteousness by their own efforts do not say in so many words: ‘I am God; I am Christ.’ But it amounts to that. They usurp the divinity and office of Christ. The effect is the same as if they said, ‘I am Christ, I am Savior. I save myself and others.’”
That is the reality folks, does Grace save you through faith or the Law through Works? One saves and the other leads to death, spiritual death! It is only by grace we are saved as Paul said in Ephesians 2:8-9, and this is from The Amplified Bible, “For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God; Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law's demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]”
It is not always easy to confront false doctrine because to do so you must confront people. But Paul was willing to do that because it was a matter of life and death. As I close this evening let me leave you with these words to think about. Clow tells us, “The deepest heresy of all, which corrupts churches, leavens creeds with folly, and swells our human hearts with pride, is salvation by works. ‘I believe, ‘ writes John Ruskin, ‘that the root of every schism and heresy from which the Christian Church has suffered, has been the effort to earn salvation rather than to receive it; and that one reason why preaching is so ineffective is that it calls on men oftener to work for God than to behold God working for them.’”
It is as Paul said in Galatians 2:16, again from The Amplified Bible, “Yet we know that a man is justified or reckoned righteous and in right standing with God not by works of the Law, but [only] through faith and [absolute] reliance on and adherence to and trust in Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). [Therefore] even we [ourselves] have believed on Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law [for we cannot be justified by any observance of the ritual of the Law given by Moses], because by keeping legal rituals and by works no human being can ever be justified (declared righteous and put in right standing with God). [Ps 143:2.]” AMEN to that! You can believe it or reject it but it doesn’t change the truth of the mater, we are saved by Grace through Faith!