GALATIANS 1:1-24 Today we begin a new study. For the next six months we re going to be in different books of the New Testament. Today we begin in the book of Galatians. I love the Old Testament but it s always good to be back in the New Testament and learn some great truths from men like Paul and James and Peter and John and others. As we always like to do when we begin a new book, let s set a little background. The book of Galatians is an epistle or a letter, and is believed to have been written anywhere from 57 to 47 A.D. The writer of this letter, of course, is the apostle Paul. Galatia is not a city. Galatia is a region. On Paul s first missionary journey he and Barnabas had established four churches in the cities of Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe and this letter was written to these churches. The theme and purpose for this epistle is to set forth for these believers the fact that true freedom comes only through Jesus Christ. This book can be divided into three parts: Chapters 1 and 2 are personal and autobiographical. Paul describes in these two chapters how he was saved and called and taught to be the great teacher and preacher and evangelist and church planter and apostle he was. Chapters 3 and 4 are doctrinal. Paul presents in these chapters several arguments to establish that sinners are saved by faith and grace, not by works and Law. Chapters 5 and 6 are practical. Paul turns from argument to application. Paul shows these folks that living by grace brings liberty, not bondage. I think it s interesting to know that this book has been given such titles as The Magna Carta of Spiritual Liberty The Battle Cry of the Reformation The Christian s Declaration of Independence. Many scholars believe the foundation of the Reformation was laid with the writing of Martin Luther s commentary on the book of Galatians. With all that said, I believe we have much to learn from this book. I encourage and exhort you to study it every week. It s only six chapters long. You could read the entire book in just about 15 minutes. Why did Paul write this book to these particular people at this particular time? It s important to know why and the reason is that the churches in Galatia had come under the teaching of Judaizers. They taught that for a person to be saved, he had to believe in Jesus, but he also had to become a Jew. He would have to be circumcised. Page 1 of 8
He would have to keep the holy days. He would have to observe the feast days. He would still have to keep the Sabbath. He would have to observe the dietary laws. In other words, he would have to keep everything the law of Moses taught the Jew to keep. Isn t that just like the devil to come along and pervert the gospel? That s exactly the way the devil operates. He takes a simple truth and twists it all into a mess. Nobody has to become a Jew to be saved. The gospel is not Jesus plus Moses. The gospel is not grace plus the Law. All of this is a lie from Satan. And that s what the book of Galatians is all about. Galatians 1:1-5 In the very first sentence of this letter, Paul set forth his credentials. He wanted to remind the Galatians that he had the authority to write to them and to teach them and to straighten out any false teaching they may have heard. Paul identified himself as an apostle. But he didn t stop there. He went on to say that he was not sent from men or through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father who raised Him from the dead. We all know the story of Saul of Tarsus. This man, who was a devout Jew, and an even more devout persecutor of Christians, was one day gloriously saved as he was going to Damascus to persecute more Christians. But, what made Saul, the new believer in Jesus Christ, come to be Paul, the apostle of Jesus Christ? There were two primary requirements to being an apostle in the early church. 1) He had to have been with Jesus and been taught by Him during His earthly ministry. 2) He had to have been a witness of the resurrected Christ. Now, let me ask you? Did Paul travel with Jesus during those three years of His earthly ministry? No. Did Paul see Jesus after His resurrection and before His ascension? No. The answer is no to the two basic requirements of being an apostle! So, there were those who were saying because Paul did not meet these two requirements that he couldn t possibly be a real apostle. But, Paul did indeed meet these two requirements! Had He seen the resurrected Lord? Yes! Remember that Jesus came to Him and said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? Was Saul of Tarsus persecuting Jesus? I mean, Jesus had died and had been buried and had been raised from the dead and had ascended into heaven. How could Saul be persecuting Jesus? Well, I believe it s a wonderful thing to know that the dear Lord Jesus Christ so identifies with His people with His church, that when any one of them is persecuted, He is persecuted as well. What about being taught by Jesus? Page 2 of 8
Look down in verse 17. Paul spent three years in the Arabian desert. What did Paul do in the desert of Arabia? He was taught by the Lord Jesus Christ! Most conservative scholars believe Paul spent three years alone with the Lord. Some believe he spent only two. But, if it is true that he spent three years alone with the Lord Jesus in Arabia, then this means Paul was taught by the Lord the same length of time that the other apostles were taught by the Lord. I m sure Paul was taught extensively by the Holy Spirit as he spent years traveling alone from place to place planting churches. The bottom line is that Paul received his teaching from the Lord. And this isn t the only place he says this. We see it a couple of places in 1 Corinthians and in Ephesians, as well. Having established his credentials from the very beginning of this letter, Paul goes on to say, I send you grace and peace from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ And Paul never lets the opportunity pass to present the gospel even a short version Paul told them that Jesus is the One who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father. Verses 6-9 Well, Paul didn t waste any time getting to the heart of the matter, did he? There was nothing more precious to the heart and soul of Paul than the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. By the way, what is the gospel? Good news? Yes, but not good news in general. The gospel, according to the word of God is: Jesus died for our sins. Jesus was buried. Jesus was raised from the dead. Say it with me Now, we can all say that we have not only heard what the gospel is, but we have spoken it with our own lips. We are without excuse! To whom much is given, much is also required! If we die without Jesus, it isn t because we don t know what the gospel is! Not only was the gospel precious to Paul it was powerful! Paul wrote to the church at Rome: For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Paul never became bored with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to tell you something any time people begin adding to the simple truth of the gospel, that means they have become bored with it. It s not enough for them. It s not powerful enough for them. They must add something to it to make it unboring and powerful again! There is not power in ourselves to save ourselves. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation The gospel is precious the gospel is powerful, and the gospel is perfect. It is complete. It doesn t need anything added to it. And this brings us to the problem in Galatia. Verse 6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ. Did you pick that up? Did you notice that? You see, Paul is startled that they re doing it so quickly. It shows you just how fast the devil works. Page 3 of 8
But, he s also amazed because they re not simply forsaking a theological position. They re not simply deserting a doctrinal position. They re forsaking a Person! They re deserting a Person! Twice he said that if anyone, angel or man or even Paul himself, were to preach to them a different gospel another gospel a gospel that was not the gospel of grace that is the only true gospel there is Then, that person or angel should be accursed! Paul is saying, Folks, if an angel should appear to you right now If I, myself, or one of these Judaizers should come to you with a different gospel than the one I ve already presented to you we all should be accursed! See, the Judaizers didn t deny the facts of the Gospel that Jesus died and rose again. I mean, there were too many witnesses for that what they denied was that this was adequate. They agreed that Jesus must be believed in, but the law must be kept as well. And Paul is pronouncing a very serious verdict for these people. He said, Let them be accursed. Verses 10-12 Remember we said a few minutes ago that the primary objective of these false teachers was to discredit Paul s authority. But, Paul attacked that head on. He said, Listen, this Gospel I preached to you wasn t something I learned from any man. Paul was taught at the feet of Gamaliel, one of the most well known rabbis of that day. But, Paul didn t learn the gospel from Gamaliel. We re going to see in a few moments that he wasn t taught it by Peter or any of the other apostles. Paul received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. Think about it. Any gospel that would be dreamed up in the heart and mind of any man would not be a gospel of grace. Man is much too proud for that. The heart of man wants to be in charge. Only a God of grace and mercy would plan from the foundation of the world to send His only Son to die on a cruel cross for the sins of the whole wicked world! And then, only a God of grace and mercy would offer to sinful man that salvation as a free gift a gift of grace a gift not merited not earned not deserved! To illustrate and prove to these folks what a difference this gospel of grace meant in his own life, Paul shared his personal salvation testimony with them. Verses 13-17 In these five verses, Paul covered several years of his life. He talked first about what he was and what he did before he came to know the Lord Jesus Christ. Page 4 of 8
Bear in mind what Paul is still doing as we look at these verses Paul is still establishing his right to preach and teach for the Galatian churches. Paul is still refuting the false teachers claim that Paul preached an insufficient gospel. And the first thing Paul says is my conversion gives me the right to preach and teach. Dr. Luke tells us in the book of Acts that Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and dragging off men and women, and he would put them in prison. Acts 8:3 And a little later, Luke tells us that Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and obtained letters that authorized him to bring the followers of Jesus bound to Jerusalem. Now, this isn t a pretty picture of what Paul was before conversion, is it? And, it s one thing for Dr. Luke to tell us of the horrible things that Paul did. But, right here Paul, himself, tells us of the horrible things he did to the Christians. By the way, the word for persecute in verse 13 means literally to waste, to devastate, to destroy and the tense of this verb means that this was a persistent and continual intent to destroy. Saul of Tarsus was totally dedicated and committed to ridding the world of all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ! Not only that, but he says he was advancing in Judaism more than his peers. In fact, Paul tells us in the book of Philippians: although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. What is Paul saying here and in other letters he wrote? He is saying Folks, I was a wicked sinner. My greatest delight was to see believers in Jesus suffer. So, how on earth does Saul of Tarsus become Paul the apostle? One day, he came to face to face with the reality that he was a sinner! One day, he realized he needed a Savior! One day, he realized the Law that he loved so much could not save him! One day, Saul of Tarsus met the Lord Jesus Christ! One day, all his sins were forgiven! And one day, he left all his sins behind and became what God had marked him out to be before he was ever born! And what Paul is saying is not only do I have the authority to preach and teach because of my conversion, but I also have that authority because of my call. So many times we think, Oh, if only this celebrity or that one Page 5 of 8
would get saved how God could use him or her. Listen, God didn t look down on Paul and say, Oh, look at that guy. I need the zeal and enthusiasm and commitment and dedication that fellow has. If he would just quit working against Me and begin working for Me, how lucky I d be! NO! God already knew what Saul would do. And God already knew what Paul would do. God had set him apart, even from his mother s womb! Not only did Paul have the authority to preach and teach because of his conversion and because of his call, but Paul had the authority to preach and teach because of his changed life! In the book of Philippians, Paul said that all the things he had put so much emphasis on before all those things that were gain to him before, he counted as loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus as his Lord in fact, Paul said that he counted those accomplishments as rubbish! And that s how Saul of Tarsus became Paul the great Apostle! And you want to know something neat? Paul never, never, never got over it! And neither should we! Paul never ever got over the wonder of the fact that not only did Jesus save him but Jesus used him in His kingdom s work! Paul counted the days before his conversion the days when he had religion and self-righteousness as well as reputation and recognition as garbage as rubbish as dung because with all that he had, he didn t have Christ! Paul never looked back on those days with fondness. In fact, he chose to forget what was back there and to press on to the upward call of the Lord Jesus Christ! His life was changed! Let me tell you four areas in which his life was changed and then we ll be through 1) Paul s mission changed Paul goes on in this passage to tell us that he didn t consult with flesh and blood he didn t run to men and tell them what had happened to him and ask their counsel about what they should do next What he did do was go away to Arabia and as we ve said before to be taught one on one by the Lord Jesus Christ. By the way, the best commentary on Scripture is Scripture. Over in Acts 26 as Paul is relating his conversion experience before King Agrippa, Paul said that Jesus promised He would appear to Paul after the Damascus road appearance. Then, Paul said he went to Damascus. Don t you know this was a risky thing for Paul to do? Now think about this with me. The people in Damascus certainly knew of Paul s conversion. The Christians knew of it, and the Jewish leaders knew of it! How would the believers know that it was real? After all, Paul Page 6 of 8
been gone awhile! Would they accept him? And don t you think the Jews would be after him. After all, their champion against the Christians had become a Christian himself. And Damascus did prove to be a dangerous place for Paul. Remember from our study of the book of Acts some time back when Paul had to be let down over the wall in a basket because the Jews were plotting to kill him? It probably took place at this time. In spite of the dangers, God led Paul to Damascus after his stay in Arabia. What about our mission in life? Has your relationship with Jesus had an impact on your goals? On your ambitions? On your mission in life? Not only was Paul s life s mission changed but 2) Paul s friendships were changed Verses 18-19 Paul and Peter got together. Paul knew Peter was the spokesman for the original twelve disciples and three years after Paul got saved, he hunted up old Peter so they could become friends. There was a day when Paul would have killed Peter! But now, Paul said, I want to meet Peter. I want to get to know him. I want him to be my friend and I want to be his friend. By the way, Acts 9 tells us that without the help of Barnabas, Paul wouldn t have been able to visit Peter. When Paul first arrived in Jerusalem, he was not readily accepted by the disciples. See, they didn t know if this was a trick. They didn t know if his conversion was real. And then, Paul said he met James, the brother of Jesus. Don t you know that was a thrill to Paul to meet the brother of Jesus? James didn t even come to know the Lord Jesus until after the crucifixion but he went on to be a church leader and to write the book of James, which we ll be studying this quarter. What about our friendships? Are we as comfortable with the kind of people we ran around with before our salvation as we are with the people of God? Notice a third thing 3) Paul s career changed Verse 20-21 Paul was there at least eleven years maybe even fourteen. But he stayed there preaching the gospel. What had he been doing before his life was changed? He was persecuting the Christians now he is preaching the gospel! Has God called you to do something for Him that you re refusing to do? Are you doing everything today that God wants you to do for Him? Lastly 4) Paul s testimony changed Page 7 of 8
Verse 22-24 Paul is saying, They know something is different about me. They don t fear me like they once did. They glorify God because of me. They know only God could do this good work in me! How I pray that folks will see a difference in your life and my life. I pray that folks will glorify God because of you and me. I pray that folks will know that anything good and godly in your life and my life is because of Him! Please study this book. As I said earlier, you can read through it every day. It takes only about 15 minutes. Ask the Lord to teach you as you read. This book is as timely today as it was back then. There are still folks today who add something to the simple gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some folks say you must be baptized to be saved. Some folks say you must speak in tongues to be saved. Some folks say you must observe certain ordinances on certain days and certain rituals. But, when you really read and study God s word, you will understand that our salvation is a precious gift of Almighty God to us bought by the blood of Jesus at Calvary. The Cross is sufficient! Jesus plus anything equals nothing! It is by grace through faith! And it is sufficient! It needs nothing added to it! It is not of ourselves lest we should boast! May the Lord seal this truth to our hearts so we can have an answer to those who would try to tell otherwise! Let me just say this as we begin our new church year I truly feel like God wants me to teach again this year. I love God s Word and I love to study it and teach it. And I ve promised Him and I promise you that I ll do the best job I can. But I want to ask you to promise me something I ask you to pray for me each week as I study that the Holy Spirit will teach me and enlighten me and multiply my time and energy to minister I also ask you to commit to faithfully study God s Word. Page 8 of 8