Epistle for June 5, 2016

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

Galatians 1:11-24

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OBSERVE:

This is one of the passages in Paul’s epistles — like 2 Corinthians 11-12, and Philippians 3 — in which he is extremely autobiographical.  In all three of these passages, Paul is illustrating the drastic transformation that has happened in his life, and his journey from a legalistic Pharisee who was zealous for the law to a Christian renewed by the grace of Jesus Christ.

In Galatians, his purpose is both defensive and polemical.  The Galatians have been visited by teachers who are proclaiming a different gospel (Galatians 1:6).  Their false teachings, says Paul, are a perversion of the gospel, and they should be accursed.

Here is the issue — Judaizers who have come to Galatia are saying that they believe in Jesus as the Messiah, but they insist that Gentiles must also subscribe to the Mosaic law, including the ritual law of circumcision.  [I have gone into more detail with commentary in last week’s post on Galatians 1:1-12.]

According to Paul’s interpretation of the gospel, the ceremonial and ritual law has been abolished, and salvation is a gift of God received by faith.  Salvation is by grace, not by works of the law.

So, Paul finds it necessary to prove his credentials to the Galatians. Part of his motivation for doing so is to illustrate that he had once been one of those who was a strict adherent of the law.

Here is his case:

• He reminds them that in his earlier life he was not only a Jew, he was dedicated to the destruction of the Christian church because he believed the church was a heretical sect. Moreover, he was among the religious elite in his adherence to the tenets of Judaism and the traditions of my ancestors. Therefore, he is suggesting, these Judaizers who have come among the Galatians do not bring a superior interpretation of the gospel. They merely bring a variation of the same message that Paul used to believe — that the law was the means of salvation.
• He also insists that his understanding of the gospel has come by direct revelation from Christ himself (verses 11-12).  He supports this argument by pointing out that even after God revealed his Son to him he did not seek instruction from any human being or go to Jerusalem in order to be taught by the apostles.  His description of his travels to Arabia, the three year sojourn in Damascus, his trip to Jerusalem and subsequent travels in Syria and Cilicia establish the fact that he was not beholden to the apostles for his understanding of the gospel.  Even when he was in Jerusalem visiting Cephas, and meeting James who was then regarded as the head of the church, he points out he was only there fifteen days.  In other words, he insists that he has received unique authority and revelation from Jesus himself!
• Paul’s transformation from persecutor of the church to apostle of the church is so dramatic that it soon became proverbial among the churches of Judea that:

The one who formerly was persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy.

APPLY:  

If we put aside the polemical aspect of this passage, what we see is the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ to transform a life.

Paul is reminding us that he was once hostile to the gospel of Jesus Christ and to all who believed it, and to the church which had coalesced around that gospel.  And because of God’s call and singular revelation to him, his hostility was transformed into love and faith.

If that can happen in the life of a man like Paul who was once zealous for the law and then became devoted to the gospel of grace, what can God’s grace do in our lives?

RESPOND: 

I knew a very wise man once who said that our theology tends to be autobiography.  I think what he meant by that is this: our faith and our understanding of the gospel is shaped by our own experience of God.

This doesn’t mean that our experience trumps the Scriptures or the traditions of the church.  What it does mean is that there is an intersection between the truths of the Christian faith and our own faith.

I can personally attest to the life-changing power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Therefore I can identify with the testimony of Paul.  No, I wasn’t a Jew, or a Pharisee, or a persecutor of the church.  Nevertheless, the general application of the gospel to my personal story is transformative.  And I would be willing to bet that the gospel is transforming for anyone who seriously allows God to enter into their lives.

Our Lord, I thank you that I’m not what I once was because of your grace, that your grace has restored me to relationship with you, and that you are in the process of transforming me. Please finish what you have started in me.  Amen.

 PHOTOS:
"Conversion on the Way to Damascus" by Caravaggio is in the Public Domain.

Epistle for May 29, 2016

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

Galatians 1:1-12

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Paul’s Letter to the Galatians may be described as his “angry epistle.”  He is the founding missionary of the churches in Galatia, and he preached the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ as he received it — and now so-called “Judaizers” have followed in his footsteps and introduced doctrine that is contrary to the Gospel.

The Judaizers were likely Jewish Christians who had come to believe that Jesus was the Messiah, in fulfillment of the Hebrew prophets.  However, they were telling the Galatians that, yes, it was good to have faith in Jesus for salvation; but, they also needed to obey the Mosaic ritual law as well, particularly the law of circumcision.

We must remember that Paul is also a Jew — as he will remind the Galatians.  But he will also remind them that salvation isn’t possible through the law, only through the grace of Jesus Christ.

Paul’s temper is revealed by the brevity of his introduction to this letter.  In his other letters, he lavishes praise on the recipients, and assures them of his love and his prayers for them.  Not here.

He begins by declaring clearly what his own credentials are:

Paul an apostle—sent neither by human commission nor from human authorities, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— and all the members of God’s family  who are with me . . .

His salutation is very short, commending grace and peace to them, and summing up the Gospel message briefly:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

And then, he bluntly confronts them:

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—

He makes it quite clear that there is no other gospel, but that there are some who are perverting the gospel of Christ.  His attitude toward them is extremely negative — he declares twice that if anyone preaches a gospel contrary to what he has preached they are to be cursed!  The Greek word for cursed is anathema.  This is indeed a solemn vow — an anathema is something that is given over to evil, and thus consigned to damnation.

Obviously, he is quite upset at those who are teaching false doctrine!

He also makes it clear that his own object is not to please people but to please God.  He is not interested in a popularity contest.  He is interested only in proclaiming the true Gospel, and in preserving the true and saving faith that the Galatians had received. And he is concerned about their salvation!

His confidence and his credentials arise from the fact that he has received this gospel from no human origin or source, but through direct revelation.

 For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin;  for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

APPLY:  

The tone of Paul’s letter reminds us that even apostles can get upset.  And the source of his intense feelings is of great importance.  Doctrine matters.  Doctrine matters because what we believe about Christ’s act of salvation, his grace, and our justification by faith, has great consequences.

The body of Paul’s letter to the Galatians will establish his credentials, but will also clearly establish his central doctrine:

And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law (Galatians 2:16).

The warning to be alert to false teaching is repeated throughout the New Testament.  Jude tells us that we are to:

contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints (Jude 3).

Jude’s letter also reminds us that there are sometimes equal and opposite dangers in the church.  For the Galatians, the danger was that they would be placed under a yoke of legalism and rigid ceremonial law that could not save them; for Jude’s audience, the false teachers went to the opposite extreme:

For certain intruders have stolen in among you, people who long ago were designated for this condemnation as ungodly, who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ (Jude 4).

Legalism and licentiousness are the bipolar threats to the balanced, grace-filled life of the Christian.

There are two applications for the earnest Christian:

• First, we must study the doctrines of Scripture carefully so that we may know the truth.
• Second, if we care about others, we must do our best to speak the truth in love and help those who have been deceived.

The motivation for this is not because we have to prove ourselves to be right and the others wrong.  The motivation is because there are beliefs that may have an impact on our salvation.

RESPOND: 

Differences over doctrine and the interpretation of Scripture go back an awfully long way — all the way to the early church!  All we need do is read 1 & 2 Corinthians, and Galatians, and Jude.

The Christian church has divided — several times — over the past two thousand years over sharp differences of opinion.

My own denomination is experiencing a crisis that may well divide us.  This grieves me, because there are people I love who believe differently than I do about certain issues.

However, for me, the issue is not what the culture says, or how popular a particular viewpoint has become.  What matters is, what does the Scripture say?  If the Bible is not our guide for doctrine and ethics, then there is nothing but wilderness with no burning bush, no guiding pillar of fire, only aimlessness.

This is essentially what Paul is saying in Galatians:

the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin;  for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

Our Lord, it is very easy for our heads to be turned in this perplexing and bewildering world.  Even folks who are ordained tell us things that contradict your Word. Help us to study your Word, understand it, and apply it in our lives.  And where we can, give us the courage to speak the truth in love to those who have been deceived. Amen. 

 PHOTOS:
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