The Galatians
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One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘Father,[a]
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.[b]
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.[c]
And lead us not into temptation.[d]’” -
You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? 4 Have you experience so much in vain—if it really was in vain? 5 So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?
Introduction
We read in Galatians 2 that Paul met Peter, James and John in Jerusalem. They agreed that Paul was to be apostle to the gentiles and Peter, James and John were the Apostle to the Jews. Paul would go on his missionary trips into a region or city and preach and after establishing a church he would pastor the congregation by letters. Galatia was one of the regions of outreach.
1.Galatians: HISTORICAL DRIFT
2.Galatians: PREACHING GIFT
3.Galatians: GOSPEL RIFT
Historical Drift
Galatians is a letter to the Christian churches in the Galatia [Asia Minor] - Turkey today. This is one of the earliest letters written by Paul ~ 48 A.D. (15 years after the death of JC). As the gospel spread out from Jerusalem, many gentiles became Gentiles.
This letter addresses division in the churches of Galatia. Some Jewish Christians said gentile Christians had to keep the laws like male circumcision to be Christians. Paul said Christ-plus anything else was not the “the gospel I preached”(1:6). Led to division (1:8). In the letter to the Galatian Christians, Paul expounds the true gospel and it is all about JC, nothing else.
Preaching Gift
The Galatians had become Christians through Jesus being, v1, ‘clearly portrayed as crucified.’ And this tells me that the message had been well preached – ‘clearly portrayed.’ Paul had preached Jesus Christ so vividly that it gripped their hearts, (3:2) ‘believing what they heard.’
This says a lot about the power of the ‘preached word,’ it wasn't a lecture that he gave that they all suddenly decided. ‘Oh yeah, that seems to make sense.’ No, the preached word actually had anointing, the power of the Holy Spirit. From Paul’s lips came the word of God to their hearts by the HS. There is a dynamic of the living word preached and heard by a congregation – there is interaction something is going on that enables the Holy Spirit to work in the heart of the listener from the lips of the preacher. So that's why preaching is a gift of the Spirit, not a lecture. There is power in the living word and the work of the HS. When you first believed it wasn’t an intellectual process, you are not saved just by agreeing with the statements or by keeping Christian morals. But when you first trusted your life to Christ Jesus, the HS transformed you into a new creation (2 Corinthian 5:17). Diary 6/7/02 ‘Katie became a Christian today at Rock Solid.’ She was 8½ yrs old.
That’s what happened in Galatia. The message of Jesus Christ crucified clearly portrayed resulted in many coming alive spiritually.
Gospel Rift
In Galatians 3:1-5. Paul hits the roof. Some Christians were in danger of falling from the gospel of grace – Grace alone, Christ alone, faith alone. Grace - there is nothing that we can contribute to gain our salvation: it can't be earned, it is a free gift gained by Jesus' victory on the cross.
Gal 3:1 You foolish Galatians! ‘Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.’ Paul is writing to Christians who are falling back to ‘the works of the Law’ v2, and therefore falling away from Grace. Verse 3 ‘Are you so foolish, after beginning with the spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?’ This is a right telling off from pastor Paul.
There's something within us that wants to earn our salvation and even continuing as Christians[trying to finish v3]. Much of our falling from Grace is not bad in itself, much of it is good, like acts of kindness and giving to good causes. Benevolence and philanthropy.
If I think I am being a good Christian by good deeds, I am in fact denying the Grace of our Lord Jesus. Our good works s/be in response to JC love for me. We need to repent of those things and hand back the reins to the Lord. It is that old chestnut of ‘do v done.’ It is not about what we do, it is all about what he has done for us. Many believers are legalistic about their belief. It is a burden rather than a joy to be that type of Christian – have I done enough, have I given enough. If I read and pray, come to church, God will be pleased with me. If I am a hard-working Christian surely, I will be OK when it comes to it. No, Paul says, you will be OK when it comes to it if Jesus says he knows you, he poured out his precious blood so that you will be OK – what you need to do is believe on Him and be grateful that there is nothing more you can do except for repent for believing there is something more you can do!…. let us pray.
