No Other Gospel

GALATIANS 1:6-24

⁶ I am astonished (I marvel, I’m amazed!) that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— ⁷ which is really no gospel at all…

Paul could hardly comprehend that the Galatian believers were already abandoning his apostolic teaching. He was especially surprised that the defection had come so quickly.  The believers apparently offered little and ineffective resistance to the false teachers and therefore were fickle in their allegiance to Paul and his teaching. They quickly and easily came under the influence of heretical doctrines.

..Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.

•     (The facts were not challenged by the Judaizers, but they sought to add law to grace (faith + law). There is only one gospel — one in fact and interpretation.
•     “Pervert” (Greek: metastrepho) is a strong word, as in “sun…turned into darkness” (Acts 2:20); “laughter…turned to mourning” (James 4:9). Attempting to change the gospel has the effect of making it the very opposite of what it really is.

These Galatians were true believers who had come to salvation in the power of the Holy Spirit (3:3, 5; 4:6, 8-9). They were Christian brothers (1:2,11; 3:15; 4:12, 31; 5:13) who had become seriously confused. The Galatian Christians not only were being confused and weakened in their confidence to live by grace but were actually deserting. The term behind deserting (metatithmi) was used of military desertion, which was punishable by death during time of war, much as in modern times.

The false teachers were accountable for their corruption of God’s truth, but the Galatian Christians were also accountable for being so easily misled by it to pursue legalism.

MacArthur, John F  - The only gospel of God is the gospel of grace, which is the gospel of divine redemption totally apart from any work or merit of man. “For by grace you have been saved through faith,” Paul declared to the Ephesians, “and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. For we are His workmanship” (Eph. 2:8-10). And it is continually that “grace in which we stand” (Rom. 5:2). We live in grace from the moment of salvation, and if grace ever stopped, we would lose our undeserved salvation and perish in sin. The grace of Christ is God’s free and sovereign act of love and mercy in granting salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus, apart from anything men are or can do, and of His sustaining that salvation to glorification. It is absurd to accept a gracious salvation and then endeavor to maintain righteousness through human efforts, ceremonies, and ritual. The Judaizers who plagued the early church claimed to be Christians, and much of their doctrine was orthodox. They must have recognized Jesus as the promised Messiah and even acknowledged the value of His sacrificial death on the cross—-otherwise they would never have gotten a hearing in the church. They claimed to believe all the truths that other Christians believed. They did not purport to overtly deny the gospel but to improve it by adding the requirements, ceremonies, and standards of the Old Covenant to the New But anything added to grace destroys it just as surely as does anything taken from it. When law—even God’s own law—is added to His grace, His grace ceases to be grace

Rom. 11:6  ⁶ And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

To turn away from any part of the grace of Christ is to turn away from the power of God to that of human effort. Those who seek to sustain their justification in any degree by law have “fallen from grace” and “have been severed from Christ” (Gal. 5:4). Paul is not speaking of losing salvation that is already received but of polluting the pure stream of living grace by putting a barrier between oneself and Christ and therefore of being severed, or separated, from His power and from fellowship with Him.

The Judaizers were promoting a different gospel, a completely contrary and ineffective means of being right with God. Law does not moderately pollute grace but reverses and destroys it. As a means of salvation, the two are diametrically opposite and cannot coexist. Grace can be destroyed, but it cannot be modified. It can be rejected, but it cannot be changed.

 Martin Luther

Galatians 1:6. I marvel.

How patiently Paul deals with his seduced Galatians! He does not pounce on them but, like a father, he fairly excuses their error. With motherly affection he talks to them yet he does it in a way that at the same time he also reproves them. On the other hand, he is highly indignant at the seducers whom he blames for the apostasy of the Galatians. His anger bursts forth in elemental fury at the beginning of his epistle. "If any may," he cries, "preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed." Later on, in the fifth chapter, he threatens the false apostles with damnation. "He that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be." He pronounces a curse upon them. "I would they were even cut off which trouble you."

He might have addressed the Galatians after this fashion: "I am ashamed of you. Your ingratitude grieves me. I am angry with you." But his purpose was to call them back to the Gospel. With this purpose in his mind he speaks very gently to them. He could not have chosen a milder expression than this, "I marvel." It indicates his sorrow and his displeasure.

Paul minds the rule which he himself lays down in a later chapter where he says: "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." Toward those who have been misled we are to show ourselves parentally affectionate, so that they may perceive that we seek not their destruction but their salvation. Over against the devil and his missionaries, the authors of false doctrines and sects, we ought to be like the Apostle, impatient, and rigorously condemnatory, as parents are with the dog that bites their little one, but the weeping child itself they soothe.

The right spirit in Paul supplies him with an extraordinary facility in handling the afflicted consciences of the fallen. The Pope and his bishops, inspired by the desire to lord it over men's souls, crack out thunders and curses upon miserable consciences. They have no care for the saving of men's souls. They are interested only in maintaining their position.

And later he writes:                                                                                                

The church is a tender plant. It must be watched. People hear a couple of sermons, scan a few pages of Holy Writ, and think they know it all. They are bold because they have never gone through any trials of faith. Void of the Holy Spirit, they teach what they please as long as it sounds good to the common people who are ever ready to join something new.

We have to watch out for the devil lest he sow tares among the wheat while we sleep. No sooner had Paul turned his back on the churches of Galatia, than the false apostles went to work. Therefore, let us watch over ourselves and over the whole church.

Why does the world abhor the glad tidings of the Gospel and the blessings that go with it? Because the world is the devil's. Under his direction the world persecutes the Gospel and would if it could nail again Christ, the Son of God, to the Cross although He gave Himself into death for the sins of the world. The world dwells in darkness. The world is darkness.

⁸ But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! “Accursed”  ⁹ As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!

·         “Accursed” (Greek: anathema) is “be damned.” The gospel shuts out all works.

Romans 4:5 ⁵ However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.

The Judaizers who were misleading the Galatian churches probably had impressive credentials and may have been among those who claimed to be from the Jerusalem church and to be authorized by James, the leader of that church (see Acts 15:24).  The truth outranks anyone’s credentials!

·         The Jews believed that the divine law came through angels (cf. Heb. 2:2), and the Judaizers may have made the point that this made the Old Covenant and its attendant ceremonies and traditions binding.

J Vernon McGee

God saves only one class of humanity — the ungodly. The reason is that this is the only class — even the righteousness of man is as filthy rags in God’s sight. Law condemns us and it must make us speechless before grace can save us.

Now we know that whatever things the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

Romans 3:19 ¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.

The real difficulty is not that people should be “good enough” to be saved, but that they are not “bad enough” to be saved. Humanity refuses to recognize its lost condition before God. This is the human predicament.

The Judaizers did not deny the facts of the gospel; they perverted it and therefore were anathema. The “gospel” of law plus grace is a mixture that has no power, no growth, no victory.

It robs grace of its blessing, beauty and glory;

It robs the Law of its majesty and authority

Martin Luther writes: - In spite of this emphatic denunciation so many accept the pope as the supreme judge of the Scriptures. "The Church," they say, "chose only four gospels. The Church might have chosen more. Ergo the Church is above the Gospel." With equal force one might argue: "I approve the Scriptures. Ergo I am above the Scriptures. John the Baptist confessed Christ. Hence he is above Christ." Paul subordinates himself, all preachers, all the angels of heaven, everybody to the Sacred Scriptures. We are not the masters, judges, or arbiters, but witnesses, disciples, and confessors of the Scriptures, whether we be pope, Luther, Augustine, Paul, or an angel from heaven.

¹⁰ Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a (bond)servant of Christ.

To this day you will find many who seek to please men in order that they may live in peace and security. They teach whatever is agreeable to men, no matter whether it is contrary to God's Word or their own conscience.

John 5:43-44  ⁴³ I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. ⁴⁴ How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?

Paul Called by God

¹¹ I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up.

It’s Man’s sinful pride that is offended by the idea that only God’s mercy and grace can save him from sin, and he therefore insists on having a part in his own salvation. The very fact that Paul preached a message of salvation in which works play absolutely no part was itself evidence that his message was from God and not . . . man.

 ¹² I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

In the eyes of many Jews of that day—just as in the eyes of many professing Christians today—Scripture was a religious relic that deserved superficial reverence but not serious study or obedience. Many of the traditions not only were not taught in Scripture but contradicted Scripture. With few exceptions, Jews “invalidated the word of God for the sake of [their] tradition”
Matt. 15:4-6  ⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’ ⁶ he is not to ‘honor his father’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

One of the primary objectives of the Judaizers who were stirring up so much controversy and confusion in the Galatian churches was to discredit Paul’s apostolic authority.  They accused him of putting aside the Mosaic ceremonies, standards, and practices in order to make the gospel more appealing to Gentiles by removing its Jewish associations.

Although in humility he saw himself as “the least of the apostles” (1 Cor. 15:9), he knew that, as far as his calling and authority were concerned, he was “in no respect. . . inferior to the most eminent apostles, even though I am a nobody” (2 Cor. 12:11).

¹³ For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. ¹⁴ I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

Here Paul describes his former standing and activities while he was in Judaism, offering them as a kind of negative proof that his message of grace had no foundation in the beliefs, circumstances, or events of his former life.

Paul had been a Jew of the first order, “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 the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless” (Phil. 3:5-6).

Living as a devout Pharisee, Paul was outdone by few John R. W Stott writes: “Now a man in that mental and emotional state is in no mood to change his mind, or even to have it changed for him by men. . . . Only God could reach him—and God did!” (The Message of Galatians [London: Inter-Varsity, 1968], p. 32).

¹⁵ But when God, who set me apart from birth (This is a Hebrew expression, meaning to sanctify, ordain, prepare.) and called me by his grace, was pleased ¹⁶ to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, ¹⁷ nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.

Paul speaks of how Jesus was revealed to him (the revelation of Jesus Christ). But here is something different, and perhaps more glorious: Jesus revealed in Paul. God wants to do more than reveal Jesus to us; He wants to reveal Jesus in us.

The Lord set apart Paul to salvation and apostleship not because Paul developed great leadership ability and writing skill or was a determined and hard worker. He had been set apart and consecrated by God even from his mother’s womb, long before he could have demonstrated the least potential for anything. Paul was chosen to be an apostle before he was born.  Paul’s Jewish readers knew immediately that he was comparing his call to apostleship to the calls of those great men of God. He was not trying to rank himself with them but to establish unequivocally that, like theirs, his call was entirely God’s doing.

¹⁸ Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days. ¹⁹ I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother.

Paul makes a point of noting that he went solely for the purpose of becoming acquainted with Cephas, who was the personal companion of the Lord Jesus and the most powerful spokesman in the early years of the Jerusalem church, from Pentecost on.  He only stayed with him fifteen days, obviously far too short a time to have been fully transformed from all his Jewish theology and tradition and fully instructed in the gospel.  Paul’s visit to Jerusalem was not to learn more about the gospel message but to meet and get acquainted with (the verb means “to visit with the purpose of getting to know someone”) these two men who had been so close to Jesus and perhaps to learn from them some of their intimate experiences with the incarnate Lord, whom he had come to love and serve, and with whom he had spent those three years getting acquainted.

No time frame is given for his going to Jerusalem, but when he arrived there and tried to see the apostles, he was rebuffed because of fear that he was not a true believer

Acts 9:26  26 When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple.

 Without the help of Barnabas, Paul would not have been able visit even Peter and James. He met none of the other apostles at all, who may have been too afraid or may have been away from Jerusalem at the time. It could be surmised that, though the apostles did not scatter under Paul’s persecution (Acts 8:1), they may have done so by now.

²⁰ I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie. (I certify)

Paul’s point in this part of the letter was to affirm that he had received his gospel directly from the Lord, not from the other apostles. He only visited two of them for two weeks, and only after three years had elapsed since his conversion. Any accusation that he was a second-hand apostle, receiving his message from the Jerusalem apostles, was false.

²¹ Later I went to Syria and Cilicia.  (the latter of which included his home town of Tarsus)

 ²² I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. ²³ They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” ²⁴ And they praised God because of me.

He and Barnabas only made two visits to Jerusalem, one to bring famine relief from Antioch

Acts 11:30  ³⁰ This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

and another to discuss the relation of the Mosaic law to the gospel of grace (Acts 15). Since Paul’s presence there was so scarce for fourteen years

Gal. 2:1 Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also.

Most of the people did not know him except by reputation. And though his gospel had not come from Jerusalem nor been refined there, still the believers there affirmed both it and the power of his apostleship as being cause for glorifying God. The fact that the people were praising God for the very same gospel they knew shows it was identical to that taught by the Jerusalem apostles and was truly from the Lord.  Remember, NONE of the New Testament was written for them to compare!

David Guzik writes:

There isn’t any shortage of people who claim that they have a revelation from God. But we have to be careful to not regard a message as being from God if it isn’t. How can we know that the Bible is really from God and not man?

iv. First, we know that the Bible is reliable, accurate and trustworthy as an ancient document. We know this because the text itself is reliable (we know this from the study and comparison of ancient manuscripts). And we know this because archaeology has consistently confirmed and supported the Biblical record, and has never contradicted the Bible. People, places, and events in the Bible are repeatedly verified by archaeology.

v. Second, we know that the Bible is unique, and special among all books ever written. It is unique in its continuity, being written over 1600 years, over 60 generations, by more than 40 authors, on three different continents, in different circumstances and places, in different times, different moods, in three languages, concerning scores of controversial subjects, but it speaks with one united voice. It is unique in its circulation, being the most published and popular book ever. It is unique in its translation, being the first book translated, and having been translated into more languages than any other book. It is unique in its survival, having survived the ravages of time, manual transcription, persecution, and criticism. It is unique in its honesty, dealing with the sins and failures of its heroes in a manner quite unknown among ancient literature. It is unique in its influence, having far and away a greater influence on culture and literature than any other book in existence.

vi. Third, the Bible is a book of predictive prophecy, literally fulfilled. For example, there are some 300 prophecies concerning the Messiah that were exactly and literally fulfilled by Jesus, such as His birth at Bethlehem, His manner of death and burial, and so forth. Another example is that the Bible describes the rise of four successive world empires (Babylonia, Persia, Greece, Rome) with such accuracy that all critics can do is claim that the passage was actually written after the events happened.

vii. Fourth, the Bible is a book that has profoundly changed the lives of millions, irrespective of their race, class, era, sex, locale, age, or social status.

viii. One might look at all this evidence and still say, “It doesn’t prove that the Bible came from God.” The point is granted; but it does give us a reason to believe that it did. In the end, believing the Bible is from God is a step of faith. But it is a step of intelligent and informed faith, not a leap of blind faith.

Questions:
How do you see God’s grace active in your life?           

How do you perceive/receive evangelists from cults like Mormons or Jehovah Witnesses?

GALATIANS - Chapter 1:1-5

Many scholars believe that Galatians was written in the late 40’s or the early 50’s; an approximate date of 50 a.d. is often given. It seems that Paul wrote this letter before the Jerusalem Council mentioned in Acts 15, because although he mentions several trips to Jerusalem, he makes no mention of the council. Because the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15 dealt with the exact issues Paul writes about, it would seem strange if it had already happened, yet he made no mention of it. If it is true that Galatians was written around 50 ad, then Paul would have been a Christian for about 15 years, being converted on the road to Damascus around 35 ad.

1Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers and sisters with me, To the churches in Galatia: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

One way to deny the truthfulness of a message is to deny the authority of the one who gives it. The Galatian church had received the true gospel of grace from Paul and had believed it until some false teachers came in after he was gone. They not only attacked the validity of the message but also that of the messenger. Apparently the Judaizers had convinced some of the Galatian church members that Paul was a self-appointed apostle with no divine commission. So at the outset of the letter Paul dispensed with the usual personal greetings and immediately began to establish the genuineness of his apostolic authority, which he later (1: 11—2:21) expands on in detail. In this brief salutation Paul summarizes his authority (his right to speak), his message (the truths he speaks), and his motive (his reason for speaking).

1 Paul, an apostle - apostle. One sent on a mission with full authority of representation; an ambassador

Romans 1:1

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—

In its primary and technical usage, the term applied to the original twelve who were chosen at the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry (Mark 3:14; Luke 6:13) and were set aside to lay the foundation of the early church and to be the channels of God’s completed revelation (Acts 2:42; Eph. 2:20). They were also given power to perform healings and to cast out demons as verifying signs of their divine authority (Acts 2:43; 2 Cor. 12:12; Heb. 2:3-4). It should be noted that, shortly before Pentecost, Judas was replaced by Matthias (Acts 1:26).

MacArthur, John F (1987-11-08). Galatians MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Macarthur New Testament Commentary Serie) (Kindle Locations 226-230). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition.

—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father

“The bluntness of Paul’s denial is due to the charge . . . that Paul was not a genuine apostle because not one of the twelve.”

Martin Luther wrote - “When I was a young man I thought Paul was making too much of his call. I did not understand his purpose. I did not then realize the importance of the ministry . . . We exalt our calling, not to gain glory among men, or money, or satisfaction, or favor, but because people need to be assured that the words we speak are the words of God. This is no sinful pride. It is holy pride.” (Martin Luther)

Acts 20:24 - ²⁴ However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

Acts 9

Saul’s Conversion

9 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”

“Yes, Lord,” he answered.

11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”

13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”

15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

As an illustration of the mistake that may be made in filling an official position in the Church without consulting the Holy Spirit, we have the case of Matthias. A vacancy had occurred in the “Apostolate” by the suicide of Judas. Standing in the upper-room, surrounded by the 120, Peter boldly affirmed that the vacancy must be filled, and of the men who had companied with them during the Lord’s earthly ministry—“One must be ordained to be a witness with us of HIS RESURRECTION.” Acts 1:22. But the Apostles had hitherto had no voice in choosing Apostles. The Lord had done this of His own sovereign will—“Have I not chosen you twelve.” John 6:70, 13:18. Now the Lord had gone back to heaven having commanded His disciples to do NOTHING until His “Vicar” the “Holy Spirit” should come (Luke 24:49), and as he had not yet arrived no business that they might transact would be LEGAL. But in spite of the Lord’s command a nomination was made, and an election held but there is no indication that their choice was ratified by the Holy Spirit when He came. On the contrary, Matthias, who ‘was chosen from that time, passed into obscurity, and his name is never again mentioned. A few years later, on the road to Damascus, the Lord Himself chose Saul of Tarsus to be an Apostle in Judas’ place, certifying to the choice by filling him with the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:15-17),

Jesus called Paul and set him apart before he had contact with any of the other apostles. After several years of divine preparation (see Gal. 1:17-18), he was sent out to begin his work among the Gentiles directly by the Holy Spirit, whose divine appointment was acknowledged by the leaders of the church at Antioch (Acts 13:2-3). Paul’s authority was not man-given or self-given but God-given, and his right to instruct the Galatians was grounded in that divine prerogative.

Paul certainly had a vastly superior commissioning to any of the false-teaching, self-appointed Judaizers who were confusing the Galatians and trying to set themselves above his authority.

MacArthur, John F (1987-11-08). Galatians MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Macarthur New Testament Commentary Series) (Kindle Locations 256-259). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition.

who raised him from the dead— 2and all the brothers and sisters with me,

Galatians MacArthur New Testament Commentary - A basis of Paul’s authority is implied by his referring to companions with him at the time of writing as brethren, in contrast to his own identification as apostle. Liberal Bible scholars and theologians maintain that the apostles were no more significant or inspired than other human witnesses of Jesus Christ who happened to live at the same time He ministered on earth. What they taught and wrote was based on their own human insight and understanding and was not divinely authoritative or binding on other believers, either of their own day or of later ages. Every believer has his own experiences of what is often called “the Christ event.” Roman Catholic dogma maintains that the church wrote the Bible and is therefore a higher authority than the Bible. The church can therefore add to or modify Scripture as it sees fit, and its ecclesiastical pronouncements are held to have the same spiritual and moral authority as Scripture—even when they clearly contradict scriptural teaching. Paul would have argued against both of those views with every breath in his body. If he and the other apostles of the New Testament were not divinely inspired in a unique and authoritative way, they were the most presumptuous of men, because they boldly and unequivocally claimed to speak and write in God’s name. As apostles they spoke to the church, not on behalf of the church. The church derived its doctrine from the apostles, who received it directly from God (Eph. 3:5). They are never spoken of as apostles of the church but always as apostles of Jesus Christ. Jesus told the Twelve, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me” (John 13:20). A short while later He said to them, “These things I have spoken to you, while abiding with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (14:25-26). Because the apostles’ teaching came directly from the Lord, the writings of Paul, Peter, John, and the others are every much as divinely inspired and authoritative as the words that Jesus spoke in person during His earthly ministry. It is for that reason that red letter Bibles may be misleading, because they suggest that the words Jesus spoke during His three-year earthly ministry are in some way more inspired and precious than other parts of Scripture. As Paul made clear to Timothy, however, “All Scripture is inspired by God” (2 Tim. 3:16), who is the Author of its every word, whether through the prophets, the Lord Jesus Christ, or the apostles. Because the Bible is God’s own Word, to be subject to God is to be subject to the Bible. It is not an amalgam of human opinion but the repository of divine truth.

To the churches in Galatia: 3Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,

This is Paul’s familiar greeting, drawing from the traditional greetings in both Greek (grace) and Jewish (peace) cultures. Paul uses the exact phrase of verse three five other times in the New Testament.

i. “Grace is always first, peace always second. This is due to the fact that grace is the source of peace. Without grace there is and can be no peace, but when grace is ours, peace must of necessity follow.” (Lenski in his commentary on 1 Corinthians)

ii. Paul uses the word grace 100 times in his writings. Among all the other writers of the New Testament, it is only used 55 times. Paul was truly the apostle of grace.

iii. “These two terms, grace and peace, constitute Christianity.” (Martin Luther)

Chuck Smith - The Greek word grace is a word that in its base meaning is beauty, charm. It has come to mean unmerited favor. And that is its theological kind of a definition. But there is always a beauty attached with grace. And it was the typical Greek greeting. Charis. Peace, the typical Jewish greeting, Shalom. Joined together always by Paul in his epistles, "Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ."

MacArthur, John  - Two of the most precious words related to that God-given gospel are grace and peace. The first is the source of salvation and the second is the result. Grace is positional, peace is practical, and together they flow from God our Father through His Son and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Since it offered no grace and provided no peace, the law system being taught by the lying Judaizers is attacked even in this simple greeting. If being right with God and possessing salvation is by works, as those false teachers maintained, then it is not of grace (Rom. 4:4-5) and can bring no peace, since one never knows if he has enough good works to be eternally secure.

MacArthur - The apostle’s frequent mention of God and Father in relation to Jesus Christ throughout the New Testament marks an emphasis that should not be missed. The intent is not for us to understand God as our Father (although that truth is mentioned in 1:4) but the Father in relation to the role He has in the Trinity, particularly His relation to the Son. The intent is to emphasize the significance of the relationship between the first and second members of the Trinity as to essential nature. The title is to express equality of deity between the two, a Father and Son who share the same nature.  It asserts that Jesus Christ is the One who is of the nature of God and that the true God is the One who is the Father of Jesus Christ.

4  who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age,

Chuck Smith - Now in speaking of Jesus Christ, he declares that He "gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world." This world is governed by Satan. Jesus called Satan the prince of this world. And referring to him said, "The prince of this world is coming, and has nothing in me" (John 14:30). When Satan tempted Christ by showing to Him the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, and promised to give them to Jesus, if He would just bow down to Satan, Satan bragged, They are mine and I can give them to whomever I will. Jesus did not dispute that. And because Satan is the god of this world, because it is under his control, being given to him by man, it is a present evil world but the purpose of Jesus Christ is to deliver you, His children, from this present evil world. That is God's will to deliver you from it.

Martin Luther on who gave Himself for our sins: “Let us equip ourselves against the accusations of Satan with this and similar passages of Holy Scripture. If he says, ‘Thou shalt be damned,’ you tell him: ‘No, for I fly to Christ who gave Himself for my sins. In accusing me of being a damnable sinner, you are cutting your own throat, Satan. You are reminding me of God’s fatherly goodness toward me, that He so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. In calling me a sinner, Satan, you really comfort me above measure.’ With such heavenly cunning we are to meet the devil’s craft and put from us the memory of sin.”

i. The particular word for evil denotes someone who is not content in being corrupt themselves; they also must corrupt others, and draw them into their same destruction.

ii. The idea behind the word deliver is not deliverance from the presence of something, but deliverance from the power of something. We will not be delivered from the presence of this present evil age until we go to be with Jesus. But we can be experience deliverance from the power of this present evil age right now.

MacArthur - The heart of the gospel is Christ’s willing sacrifice of Himself for our sins. Salvation is not earned by one’s efforts to eliminate sin, but by one’s trust in God’s promise to forgive sin through the work of Jesus Christ. His atoning death was the most essential part of the divine plan of redemption, without which all of His teachings and miraculous works would have been meaningless and a mockery. Apart from Christ’s sacrificial death, His earthly ministry would have portrayed the power and truth of a great and wonderful God—but a God with whom men could never be reconciled, because they had no way out of their sin. Since no man can eliminate sin by works (Rom. 3:20), it must be forgiven. That is why it was absolutely necessary that “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Pet. 2:24). If Christ had not died on our behalf, He could not have been raised on our behalf; and if He had not been raised, Paul says, then preaching the gospel would be vain, trusting in the gospel would be worthless, and all men would still be in their sins (1 Cor. 15:14-17). The statement who gave Himself for our sins affirms that the purpose of Christ’s coming was to be a sin offering

according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

MacArthur, John  - Specifically, every rescued believer is delivered because of the sovereign, gracious will of God. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13). Salvation is thus removed from the will of man and is buried deep in the sovereign decree of God. 

In these five opening verses of Galatians Paul covers the four stages of man’s salvation. The first stage was the sovereign decree of God to save, the second was the death of Christ for man’s sins, the third was the appointment of apostles to testify to that divine provision, and the fourth was the gift of God’s grace and peace to those who believe in Jesus Christ. In each of the stages the Father and the Son work together, because Their will and Their work are always one (John 5:30; 6:38; 10:30).

John 5:30 - ³⁰ By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

John 6:38 - ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.

John 10:30 - ³⁰ I and the Father are one.”

TABLE TALK

1.      John 1:13 -  13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. Wait a minute…God’s idea to save me, and not by my will? Explain

Amen expresses the affirmation fitting the worthiness of God to receive glory for such a wondrous provision of eternal, gracious salvation. Alan Cole writes of this word: “When the old-fashioned Cantonese-speaking Christian says at the end of a prayer shing saw. shoh uen (“with all my heart this is what I wish”) he approaches very nearly the original Hebrew meaning” (The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970], p. 37).