Galatians 1

Auto-generated from the audio — may contain errors.

0:00 I mentioned last week that we're going to spend the next several weeks going through Paul's letter to the church in Galatia, the churches in Galatia in your copy of the scriptures. It's usually called Galatians. And last week we looked a little bit at, there's some debate about what time period that Paul wrote this letter, whether it was after his first missionary journey or after his later

0:33 missionary journey. But either way, we know that it was written sometime in the like between 45 and 58 AD, which puts it very early. Most people think this is the first letter that Paul wrote that we still have. And we said last week that it was written to an area, a group of churches in an area called Galatia, which is around modern day Turkey. And we walked through that, the one journey that's recorded in the second half of Acts

1:04 there in Acts 13, 14, and 15, where he goes to these three towns. And it's actually pretty, it's like, he has a lot of fruit, like he's starting several churches, there are people gathering. Also in that time period, he's run out of one town, he's stoned in another. It's a serious situation for Paul. And we talked about this like, talked just a little bit about like, there are few, very

1:37 few things that if someone stones you and leaves you for dead, you get up and do again. Right? I mean, just like, and go back to the same people, Paul. When he was stoned, the left them for dead, his disciples came and found him and actually who knows, somehow he did not die. We said last week that they knew how to stone people and it's pretty brutal. So I don't know how the mistake happened or if God was involved, but when his buddies

2:11 got to him, he was still alive. They brought him back into the town, kind of surptitiously to recover. He went to the next town, walked over there, started preaching, started a church and then before he went back home, went back to the cities that stoned him. It was actually two cities that got together, found him in the third and stoned, went back to each of them and visited the church again, this dude that they had left for dead. Right? Okay, so, Paul really believes something, right, to do that, is what I'm saying.

2:45 And that'll come in here in the letter to Galatians. If you want to look there with me, this letter in Galatians goes, it's in your New Testament. If you're looking at a paper copy, Acts, Romans, verses, and Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, we're looking at Galatians and right at the beginning at chapter one. I mentioned the Beverly before this, but I got some studies of Galatians and I put them out there, take one if you want.

3:17 It's one done by NT Wright, it's pretty easy to walk yourself through and starting next week, I'll stick around afterwards and we can talk through the answers. So if you're into it, take it and look at chapter one this week and then we'll talk about the answers to chapter one next Sunday after church if you're into it. We don't have to make a big deal about it, but it will keep us all together going through it if you want. But for Sundays, I'm also looking at this commentary by Ben Witherington III, which is

3:49 like, I really like it because he gives me some like socio-cultural history of the text, not just exegetical and I already learned some stuff, so I'll flash it here for you guys here just a minute, okay. So Paul here at the beginning, he says Paul and Apostle Dash, not from men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead and all the brothers who are with me. The thing Ben Witherington here points out that I learned from him is this term apostle,

4:24 we know it as like capital A apostle, which means if you are a capital A apostle in the church, that means Jesus sent you, right? So it's a reserved term, meaning you were there at the hill of Galilee at via ascension when he gave the commission or your Paul. Other than that, you don't get to be a capital A apostle. We know that term apostle, but it comes partly from the way Paul used it here. And so most scholars think, like the dude Ben Witherington III, that this little offset

4:59 here where Paul says, I'm an apostle and then the offset, he's not having to defend his authority. A lot of people think that Paul in this letter to Galatians is having to defend his authority. We're thinking that he's not really most of the time and that'll come through in the story of Scripture. But what he's wanting to say here is define what he means by apostle. And this is important, this is important for Paul throughout his ministry because he was a bad dude, right?

5:31 It's like good turnabout actually that they tried to stone him, right? We meet Paul first in the story of Scripture when he's overseeing the stoning of Stephen, the first martyr and the follower of the way of Jesus. And then after the stoning of Stephen, what's happening there when they're stoning Stephen is because at the Passover, Jesus is just at the Passover, Jesus is crucified and then buried and then three days later, all his disciples come out.

6:01 Jesus appears to 500 over a period of 40 days. So the people that came to Jerusalem for the Passover are hanging out in the city that whole time. And then when Pentecost comes, that original spirit is released and Peter stands up and preaches and 3000 people are converted and then they're all hanging out together and they're all holding all their things in common. Remember, people are coming from other places into Jerusalem, selling everything they have, giving it to the capital A apostles to distribute appropriately among the group and living there

6:35 waiting for Jesus to come back. And so right then, in as the Jews, the Israelites are an occupied country from Rome, the Jewish churches like we had better get a handle on this situation because they are upsetting every norm and the Romans are only going to leave us alone for so long. And so they start recruiting guys like Paul to clean up this way of Jesus and to get people back into the right Jewish way of living. And so Paul's like, no problem, I got it. They just annoyed and Stephen, let's take him out.

7:08 So Paul's like, I'll hold your coats. Guys go ahead and do the thing. And then Paul gets a writ like a permission to go take what he's doing outside of Jerusalem because they realize that the way of Jesus has spread outside of Jerusalem to places like Damascus and Antioch. And so Paul's on his way to go oversee and take care of these followers of the way, purify the church when Jesus makes a special trip out of heaven, flesh and bone, body and soul, eyes and arms, shining bright white light.

7:46 And so light is God's idea at the very beginning at the Mount of Transfiguration when they start to see Jesus in all his glory. He shines bright white light, can't hardly look at him. Then we know John gets a vision of the glorious city at the end and says we won't need a son because Jesus sitting on the throne will be a light when Paul runs into the resurrected Jesus, come out of wherever he dwells infinitely waiting to return. He meets him on the road and he's blinded by the light of the resurrected Jesus. And Jesus grabs the one who not only was not looking to become a follower of the way

8:23 of Jesus was vehemently set against the way of following Jesus. You get flashes of Abraham in the calling of Paul, what merit does Paul have that God would call him? He qualifies Saul to be the emissary messenger of the church.

8:54 Not only was he not good enough, he was like not only was he not a big enough plus, he was a negative, not only was he not doing enough right things, he was doing a lot of the wrong things. Not only was he not loving his neighbor, he was actively killing his neighbor. Not only was he not interested in the way of Jesus, he was adamantly set against the way of Jesus. He wasn't asking Jesus to come and yet Jesus came I'm saying and got him.

9:29 And so then Paul significantly in his letters over and over again is like guys I don't know why. Where he says famously I'm the chief of sinners, but I have been sent by Christ for a purpose. If I get shipwrecked, if I get bit by snakes, if I get stoned and left for dead, I get up and keep going for the purpose for which he sent me. We talked last week just briefly about Paul being this unique missionary.

10:04 It's just worth undoing especially if you've grown up in the church. Paul's calling is not yours. It is a minority of the followers of Jesus who are sent out as missionaries to convert the world. Just is. Paul encounters a lot of people, starts a lot of churches.

10:41 And there are very few times where his messages drop all your things, go to the ends of the earth and tell people what's up about the way of Jesus. More often he says what's your station? Stay in your station and love the places where you are sent. What's happening now here in the churches in Galatia is Paul came with this message, review it real quickly. And now they're trying to figure out how do we continue and live within the context we're

11:16 in. Things are happening here, Paul, and you're not here anymore. And people are telling us how we should interpret the way of Jesus in the context that we are in, but we'd like to know what you think. Would you tell us? They send somebody to ask Paul that and he writes this letter back. So when he writes the letter back, he first reminds them who he is and why he's doing the thing he's doing. And then he says this is me sent by God, then to the churches in Galatia, verse 3, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself

11:50 for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age according to the will of God our Father to whom I read this like 20 times. Like, not because I didn't understand it, but because it's beautiful, I'm going to read it again to you so you hear it. I mean, Paul is really smart and says complex things, but sometimes he just says really pretty things. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is where it gets pretty, verse 4, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from

12:25 the present evil age. According to the will of God the Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever amen. Paul doesn't usually start with a doxology like that or even with an amen. He might end his letter like that, but the fact that he starts it like that is interesting. I think he's wanting to give a hint of where he's going and the hint is right in that thing about who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from this present evil age.

12:58 And of course, what he's going to pull out and what becomes apparent in the letter is what he means or what he's talking about when Jesus, when he says that Jesus brought deliverance from the present evil age. Because there might be multiple meanings for what it would look like to deliver someone from a present evil age, but there are two main ones that come to mind. The first one is the one I'd like the most, I think. Remember me from the present evil age?

13:29 That would mean, this place is evil. Hey, come with me. We're going to get out of here. That's the one I would like. Remember when Paul and Silas are in prison, the gates are locked and they're locked up for preaching the way of Jesus and they're singing praise songs and an angel comes in and unlocks the gate and they stay there.

14:00 And the jailer is like, what's going on, man? We didn't want to hurt you, but Paul says that Jesus, according to the will of God, the Father gave himself for our sins in order to deliver us from the present evil age, one way might be that he takes us out of the evil, of course. If that's true, you and I missed it, right? Because there's evil all around us.

14:33 Another might be to deliver you from the present evil age to protect you amongst the present evil age. They say, you find yourself in a present evil age, but it will not win the day for you. I deliver you from this present evil age. I will protect you, provide for you. And you will emerge from the present evil age in the end with me. Paul's tipping his hat here to what he's about to talk about with the Galatians.

15:05 All right, we're going forward. Verse 6. And I told you that being amazed, I told you being amazed we'd come into the story of Scripture because who uses the word astonished? But my translation is astonished here in verse 6. Maybe, somewhat maybe the NIV. What does the NIV have? I am astonished. What does the NIV have? Anybody have an NIV? Nobody reads that trash anymore, I guess.

15:36 It is still a astonished good job, NIV. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel. This is going to be one of the present evils that the church in Galatia finds themselves in is these people or these tendencies or these notions to divert away from the gospel

16:07 that Paul preached. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel, not that there is another one, but that there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. I was thinking about this for a minute, just a minute, and what you get here in this idea of Galatians is an idea that at least American Protestant church has really not liked and been very uncomfortable with.

16:38 And you catch what Paul said. He said, I came to you all in Turkey, in Asia, in Asia Minor, and I started a church and then the group of you came, I announced the gospel, the Holy Spirit moved, faith emerged, it caused dissension. In fact, I moved to the next one, I did it again, and you were operating in the faith. And now I am astonished that you are leaving the faith, that they were in the faith here,

17:11 and now some people have come and so they are deserting it. I don't know how many conversations I had in college and in seminary with people trying to sort out. But I think that's your saved, are you always saved? If you weren't saved before, does that mean that you aren't saved? If you thought you were saved but then now you're not saved, does that mean you never were saved to begin with? If I'm saved now, does that mean I never have to doubt about will I ever be not saved

17:44 in the future? Oh if my behavior is like backsliding from what I hoped it was, does that mean then that I never was saved back then? And how should I get baptized again? I had lots of conversations with people about that. And where I ended up is where I feel like Paul is ending up here. Is that the past has gone, the future hasn't happened yet, the question is what is your relationship with the God of the universe look like right now?

18:19 Is it really with the God of the universe look like right now? And Paul is astonished at the rapidity of how quickly the church in Galatia is losing a grip on the gospel. Now this is where learning from other people that are smarter than you helps. There are some contextual things that might give us some reason for why followers of the way of Jesus would be trying to look more like the Jews.

18:57 We're going to get to in the letter, I mean we'll jump ahead here for a second, but the way that they're leaving mainly is trying to figure out do we need to keep the calendar of the Jews, do we need to keep their festival and holidays in order to stay in the faith, do we need to get circumcised in order to stay into the faith? I mean what holidays you observe is neither here nor there, but if you must, if you must keep the law of Moses in order to receive the grace of Christ, there's a problem there

19:28 because Paul is like the grace of Christ comes free to you at his own expense. No further cost must be paid than the cost that he paid on the cross in order to deliver you from this present evil age. If you're feeling like you must perform in order to be delivered from the present evil age, you're missing the gospel because then it's built on your performance and that's tragic. It's built on the work of Christ, the sacrifice of Christ to deliver you from the present evil age. So he's bumped, but there are a couple of reasons culturally that this might be happening.

20:02 The first one, I didn't realize this, but in Acts, there's a spot in Acts chapter, I wrote it down, then I, oh, 18, where it mentions that the emperor of Rome Claudius kicked all the Jews out of Rome. We're thinking maybe for like a five year period. They all had to leave. They didn't want Jews in Rome.

20:35 And so they all left and what might have happened if they came into other towns, there's this real contention now about, on two sides. One the Jewish people would be really worried about Christians coming in and diluting their faith when they're already under attack. So it would be really sensitive to a gospel coming in, changing what they're in. So there might be pressure for followers of the way of Jesus who came out of the Jewish

21:05 church to go, guys, calm down. We're still one of you. Might be this pressure, right? The other one that's even more interesting to me is emperor worship, part of why Claudius kicked the Jews out of Rome is because emperor worship was growing significantly, becoming a big deal. The whole calendar was based around emperor worship. They had festival and feast days that were obligatory that everybody must participate in in order, except for the Jews had a dispensation they didn't have to.

21:36 And so there was a movement among the early church that for Christians they still wanted the dispensation to not have to do the emperor worship. So were Christians a sect of Jews or were they something completely different? If they could prove they were a sect of the Jews, then they would get out of this emperor worship. I'm trying to say there were concerns about how they got along in the current political system and in the cultural system that was reading into their theology.

22:11 And Paul's like, Jesus came down out of heaven and you guys are worried about the feast days. Paul, I don't know if it's because of the situation on the road to Damascus or just

22:41 a particular kind of zealous nature of Paul. I don't know if it's like a special dispens, I'm sure you had a special dispensation of the spirit, saw healing things happen. But the ability to keep the right perspective in the present evil age is really hard. It doesn't seem like it's hard for Paul, but it's really hard for the church in Galatia.

23:15 Like I know Paul, I get it, this is why they wrote to him. But it's like this thing, figuring out this is hard and it feels important to know how should I vote. Paul, who's in charge around here? I'm feeling dislocated, like I'm worried about how I fit in with the culture around

23:51 me. Can't we make some changes in order? Paul, his like perspective is so clear. He's like, guys, it's about the gospel of Jesus. Not all those other things. He's like, I'm astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the

24:24 grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel, not that there is one. If you could imagine if in a present evil age where there's questions about cultural identity, political authority, where you could draw bounds around who's in and who's out, what it means to belong to the way of Jesus and what it doesn't, that are determined by

24:58 those things rather than the gospel of Jesus. You could imagine a situation where you get into a cultural situation that could be described as the present evil age where you start to determine what you do with your money, how you vote, what you do with your body. These things determine whether you're in or out. And Paul is saying he's astonished at how quickly they left the gospel as the chief marker of who's in and who's out. How you endure in the way of God.

25:32 So he's like, I'm astonished at how quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel. Not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and who want to distort the gospel of Christ. He says in verse 8, but even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be a cursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be a cursed.

26:05 For I am now one of the ways we know Paul's not fighting for his authority with them, that he remains an authority, that's why they wrote and asked him, is because of the strength of this language. This anathema to be able to announce something, it's not like Paul's cursing that he's like let God curse the one who preaches you something other than what I preached to you the first time, even if it's me. And the fact that he would have the confidence to do that suggests they recognize him as an authority. They're just curious how should we handle this situation and Paul is setting them straight.

26:40 For I am now seeking the approval, oh for am I now seeking the approval of man or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. Verse 11, for I would have you know brothers that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel, for I did not receive it by any man, nor was I taught it, but I received

27:14 it through the revelation of Jesus Christ. I went back to look at, swear we'll wrap up, this message that he preached to them, that he's like even if I come back and preach something different to you, let me be a curse. If an angel comes down, he's pretty confident of the gospel that he got, that he preached to them in the first time and we looked at it last week, there is a version of it in Acts chapter 13 where he runs through kind of the story of Scripture, but then when you

27:48 get to verse 36 he says, for David after he had served the purpose of God and his own generation fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, but he whom God raised up did not see corruption, verse 38, let it be known to you therefore brothers through this man, forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

28:23 All here as he's kicking off this letter to the Galatians, it's like, hey, deliverance from this present evil age comes not at any of your own works or boundaries, but by the free gift of God and then he wants to seem to say be vigilant therefore because it will

28:55 be tempting and tricky to keep the right perspective. It will be easier to depend often on your own qualities and merit, on your own capabilities and goodness, to make up rules that you follow that others don't, in order that your rules that you follow keep you safe inside the place and he's saying don't trust any other deliverance

29:28 from the present age, but this free gift of God. And I was like thinking how is he so sure and then I remembered while Paul was yet dead in his sins, did Christ die for him? Not because he deserved it, but because God and the same is true for you that God gives you the deliverance from the present evil age, not because you have earned it or even were particularly looking for it, but the deliverance he gives, according to Paul, you can get nowhere

30:05 else. So as we go through in the next weeks coming up, we'll look at the ways in which the little pockets and pieces and ways in which the churches in Galatia are tempted to look to other places for their deliverance in an evil age that they find themselves in and maybe we can find comparisons and hope for ourselves. Let me pray. Lord, thank you for the testimony of Paul and the life of the churches in Galatia.

30:37 May it encourage us this morning to return again to your gospel, to cling only Lord to your saving work for us, that it is enough and it brings us a deliverance. Teach us to recognize your deliverance when we experience it and to look for it always. In Jesus' name we pray.

43:00 Lord, thank you.

44:25 We pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.