This is Galatians for beginners. This is lesson number six in the
series entitled, Spirit and Power Through Faith. And we'll be talking about
Galatians chapter 3, verses 1 to 5. So as a way to review, in his letter to the
Galatians, Paul the Apostles is restating the gospel, which he originally preached
to them, and the benefits that they derive from the gospel. And he also warns
them against the distorted gospel that has been brought to them by the quote
Judaizers, these false teachers that have infiltrated the church and been teaching
their version of the gospel. Now what's interesting to note is that both Paul
and the Judaizers had the very same objective, they wanted the same thing.
What was different was the method. The method was different. For example, the
Judaizers wanted to be perfect, to be acceptable before God, to be saved from
condemnation in hell. That's what they wanted. They didn't want immorality, they
didn't want those - they weren't promoting partying. No, no, they were
promoting how to be right with God, how to be perfect in His sight. Their
method to achieve this was to obey the commands of God, beginning with
circumcision, until perfect. And then receiving salvation as a reward for that
type of behavior. Paul, on the other hand, said that God's desire was that men be
perfect, and thus be saved from condemnation and hell. Same thing as
the Judaizers were saying, however, his method was that through faith in Jesus
Christ, one shared Jesus's perfection and was thus saved. Different method.
So the thrust of Paul's argument was that in living an absolutely perfect and
sinless life and then offering that life on the cross, Jesus obeyed the law and
Jesus fulfilled all of the requirements and all of the commandments of the law.
His point, in preaching the gospel, was that we also become perfectly
obedient to all the commandments as well, not by keeping them, because we can't, but
rather, by being united to the one that did, by faith. And that faith expressed in
repentance and in baptism. I just wanted to point out that difference
between these two individuals. So this perfection, this absolute obedience - Paul
calls it righteousness. Righteousness by faith is perfection granted by virtue of
one's union to Jesus, by faith in Him. This is why there is salvation
in no other person but Jesus. Not because God is mean - some
people, when you say that, they accuse you of being
mean-spirited and narrow-minded and you think you're the only ones
going to heaven, that type of attitude, they say - when
we say that there's salvation in no one else but Jesus. But that's not the
point. It's not because God is mean, will not accept sincere offers of worship
from other religions who have ancient and reverent worship and they have you
know very elaborate religious practices. It's not that He doesn't like what they're
doing. There's no salvation outside of Jesus, because only Jesus - no other
prophet or religious figure, only Jesus - fulfills the requirements of the law. And
the law is universal in its condemnation. The law condemns white people, black
people, Indian people, short people, tall people,
all languages, all backgrounds, Native Americans, everybody is condemned,
everybody is under God's law and subject to it. And the point is, only in Jesus can
one be considered perfect and thus spared judgment. It isn't Mohammad
that took care of the requirements of the law for mankind. It isn't Buddha
who did that. There are no other religious profits or figures or leaders
or thinkers or philosophers that actually fulfilled the requirements of
God's law when it comes to morality. They talked about it, they attempted quote to
live good and holy lives, pious lives, but none of them actually took care of the
problem. The only access to perfection is through Jesus. That's why there's no
salvation outside of Him, because there's no other way to be perfect. This is why
faith expressed in baptism, this is why it's so important, it's the point where God
has ordained that one is united to Jesus in order to be saved. Let's
get away from the idea that we have to stop being so
narrow-minded. Proposing that Jesus is the only avenue to salvation, that's
not being narrow-minded, that's simply expressing the truth that the Scriptures
explain. Nobody else takes care of the problem. So this was God's Way of making
man perfect. And no other way was to be substituted. Now, someone will say, but why?
Why this way? Why the elaborate history, and the cross, and the
resurrection? Why all of this? Because righteousness, by
faith, is the only method available to bring one before God in an acceptable
fashion. There is no other method. We've demonstrated that no matter how hard you
try you you can't be acceptable to God by doing good or by being good.
Christians aren't the only ones who have developed the idea that all men are
sinful. If you look at other religions, they say, they've noticed the same thing.
It's a pretty evident thing. Even people who don't believe in God at all,
acknowledge the idea that well, nobody's perfect. They say, well, nobody's
perfect. But that's true. Nobody is perfect. So how do you get to be perfect?
How do you get to be acceptable to God, and thus have the possibility of having
some sort of relationship with Him? Well, we, as Christians, we propose that the
only way is through Jesus. Why? He takes care of that righteousness thing for us.
Okay, I think we understand that. So again, why this method? Well, first of all, God
decreed that this would be so. Righteousness was to be by faith, not law,
Galatians 3:11. You see, God's Word is what brings a principal or a thing into
being and gives it legitimacy. In the physical world, it's God's word that
brings the Sun into being, right? He spoke the creation into existence. On the
spiritual side, it is God's word that establishes spiritual principles.
In other words, that there's no relationship between faith and
moral excellence unless God says that there is, because God said there is a
relationship between faith and moral excellence. That an individual can be
invested with moral excellence through faith in Christ. Why is it? Why does it
work like that? Well, because God said that's the way it's going to work. Just
like he said, let there be light and there was light. He spoke it into
existence. He spoke the gospel into existence. Another reason, why is
righteousness only by faith, why? Well, first God decreed it to be so. Secondly,
righteousness is a gift. It can't be earned. Man began righteous, was created
this way. It was a free gift to him at creation. When God looked at everything
that he had created he said, it's very good. It's all good. The new man
becomes righteous again as a gift from God, when he is recreated in Christ. Paul
talks about this another epistle. If you compare two passages, in chapter 3:23-24
he says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being
justified," how? "as a gift by His grace," how? "through the redemption which is in," who?
"Jesus Christ." And then in Romans 6:23 he says, "For the wages of sin is death, but
but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." So
no amount of effort can earn something already designated as a gift.
Righteousness is a gift that you have, you and I as Christians, that we possess.
The righteousness of Jesus, that's a gift. It's been given to us by God through
faith. Again, answering the question: why is righteousness only by faith?
Because God said so, that's why. Two, because righteousness is a gift. And
three, righteousness by faith honors God. In Romans 3:27-28 it says, "Where then is
boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of
works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by
faith apart from works of the Law." "God subdues his enemies with wrath and
destruction." Second Thessalonians tells us that. And God brings his children into
submission through grace - the offer of righteousness by faith. Either way,
we will submit to Him. We're either going to submit to Him in wrath. In other words,
judgment. Paul says, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess. He's
not talking about every Christian. He's talking about everybody that ever lived.
Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess, whether they like it or not.
Whether they believed it or not. At some point, when Jesus returns, they will not
be able to avoid or deny the truth of that. So God can subdue His enemies
through wrath and judgment, but he subdues us, the believers, how? Through
grace. I want to do what He wants me to do, why? Because I've seen what He's done
for me. Because I'm grateful and nobody has to whip me into wanting - the
law cannot make you want to do what's right. It'll make you do what's right
because you don't want to be punished, but it can't instill in you a desire to
do what's right. The law doesn't have that power, but God's grace has that
power. It makes me want to do what's right, it makes me reject what is wrong,
despite - my flesh can be saying, oh I want that. I want that. I want
that, but my spirit is saying, yeah, but because I love God, because of what He
has done for me, i'm not going to partake in whatever that sin is. In verse 15 to
21 Paul establishes this idea, that this righteousness is obtained through faith.
Jesus' faith, expressed in perfect obedience to the Father. That's something
we can not do. Now, the believers' faith, expressed
in repentance and baptism, that's something that we can do. He gives us
what we can do, in order to obtain what we can't. So it is because we believe in
Jesus that we are united to Him. And it is because we are united to Him by faith
that we are perfect according to the law. Now Paul goes on to describe other
things that are obtained through faith, which cannot be obtained through the
keeping of the law. He demonstrates that not only righteousness is obtained by
faith, but other spiritual blessings, as well. Such as the regenerative work of
the Spirit within all of them. And he shows this by asking five questions to
the Galatians. And so now we go back to our text. I've been kind of
compressing, reviewing, okay, with you what we have done so far, so now let's go to
chapter 3, verse 1. First question he asks, what's wrong with you people, basically.
He says, "You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus
Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?" They're being foolish,
they're being thoughtless in what they are doing. They're abandoning
perfection through faith, to try to obtain perfection through the keeping of
the law. How can they even think of doing what they are doing after Christ has
been so plainly and publicly presented to them. How? Well, through Paul's
preaching. So the fact that Christ earned everything for them through His cross,
was so plainly stated and portrayed, how could they be so foolish as to disregard
this? In other words, who's fooling you? What have you been
drinking? Question number two, how did you receive the Holy Spirit? He says, "This is
the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the
works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?" Now they were mostly Gentiles, with
no previous knowledge of the "Jewish law". When they heard Paul's
preaching, they responded with faith and they received the Holy Spirit. And so, the
Holy Spirit, if it's not received by faith, then how did they receive it? That's
the question. What is it that you had to do by the law? How many Commandments did
you have to keep in order to get the Spirit? At what point of law keeping did
you all of a sudden receive the Spirit?
Because, the gospel tells you that you receive the spirit when you responded to
Christ in faith, expressed in repentance and baptism, Acts 2:38. "Repent and be baptized
every one of you, in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins and you
shall receive," what? "The gift of the Holy Spirit." Question number three, what system
is working in you now? Verse three, "Are you so foolish? Having begun by the
Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" With the spirit also came the
regenerative power in their lives as they began bearing the fruit of
Christian character: love, joy, peace, patience, self-control. Those
type of things, that's the work of the spirit in you. They know that this
change was begun by the Holy Spirit, that they received through faith. Are they now
trying to complete the work of the Holy Spirit in themselves through human
efforts, based on the law? How can what was begun by the spirit, without the help
of human effort, be completed with human effort? Doesn't make any sense. So what
he's doing, he's saying, I'm asking you questions so you
can examine yourself in the light of what you've been doing. Question number
four, was it all for nothing? Parents have said this to their children for decades,
centuries. Have I done all of this for nothing?
The way he says it, "Did you suffer so many things in vain - if indeed it was in
vain?" They suffered for their faith through various persecutions, Paul asks
if all of this was for nothing, now that they're threatening to throw everything
away. If indeed it was in vain, he says, is another way of saying that Paul cannot
bring himself to believe so until it happens. So there's still hope. Then
number five question, where do miracles come from? He says. "So then, does He who
provides you with the spirit and works miracles among you, do it by works of the
Law, or by hearing with faith?" God had done signs among them through Paul. When
he preached to them. God had given them the Holy Spirit, at the preaching of Paul.
How was this done? Was it done based on their response of faith or works of the
law? The Judaizers did no miracles. See that's the point. Remember I said, keep
your eye on those guys, the Judiazers. They didn't do any miracles. He's saying, I
came in, I did miracles to confirm what I was preaching to you, and what I was
preaching to you was that you would receive the spirit by faith and so on
and so forth. So how come you're believing these guys and they don't do
any miracles? The Judaizers did no miracles while among them to confirm
their gospel, but the true apostles with the true Gospels were confirmed by
miracles and signs, just as Jesus said that they would in Mark 16:20. So Paul
reestablishes that the blessings of salvation were obtained by Jesus. Why?
Because he's the one that obeyed the law perfectly and then offered His perfect
life as a payment for the sins of all men. Those who want to receive those
blessings, do so by being united to Jesus by faith, and thus share in the blessings
that He has obtained. That's the system that God has designed for us and
that the gospel explains. When we say, the
church, we support missions, we've got to get the word out.
That's the word that we're trying to get out. That's the message, in a variety of
ways, that we're trying to get out. Bible correspondence courses, thousands and
thousands of them being done in Africa and other places, well, what are
they teaching those people? Well, that's what they're teaching them: salvation.
Unity with God doesn't come through magic. Here we don't have to preach that,
in the United States we're not - that's not a big thing in our culture,
but in other cultures, magic is very important. So they're learning.
Bible Talk is, obviously, more geared towards a Western mindset and
every time you invite a friend to church, ultimately they're going to hear this
message. So far he's mentioned two of the blessings of salvation: righteousness,
being right with God; and the Holy Spirit. Both are received freely, as one is
united to Jesus by faith, not by keeping the law. Paul reminds the Galatians
how they originally received these blessings, to prevent them from throwing
them all away. There's some practical lessons here. Just going to share one
with you, and it's this, if I am already perfect in God's eyes, why do I struggle
to avoid disobedience? Why do I make efforts to do good works? I'm already
saved, it's a lock. So why try? Both the Judaizers and
Paul struggled against sin and they both made human efforts to do good. The
difference was, why they did it. The Judaizers did it in order to be perfect,
in order to be right with God. Paul said that whatever good he did was prompted
by the spirit within him, and carried out as an act of faith to glorify God,
because God had already saved him through Christ. We say that
baptism is an expression of faith, and that's what it is. But you know what,
every time I say no to a temptation, to speak ugly to someone who's
getting on my nerves, or to tell the absolute truth when that truth will
perhaps cost me something, the effort to resist those things, why do I
do those? Not so i can be more perfect, to guarantee that I get into
heaven. I'm already getting into heaven. I do that because between me and God, it's
my way of saying to God, I believe even if the person in front of me has no idea
why I'm making an effort to, kind of, be kind to that person, and not
get ugly with them even though they're getting on my nerves, I'm
trying to act like a Christian. I'm not trying to impress them. I'm trying to say
to God, I'm making the effort because I really do believe and if in some way
this effort that I'm making to demonstrate my faith is pleasing to you,
than I've succeeded. Then I'm thankful. I'm happy. So the Christian does
what he does to glorify God and to lift up Christ. And his faith that saves him
is evident in this. So those who make no effort to serve God, to deny sin, to
confess Christ, they demonstrate that they have no faith and thus they're
separated from Jesus and salvation. Well, it's evident in them as well. What saves
us is not our talent. Our talent is a gift from God. What saves us is faith and
what continues to save us is faith, despite the struggles that we're
having. We're going to stop there, because there's another section that
starts and I want to have a full class time to tackle the next
section.