Take your Bibles and turn to
Galatians chapter 1. I want to begin a study in the
book of Galatians with you. Let's remember that it's the
Lord our God who wrote this epistle by the hands of Paul. He used
Paul to write his will, to make known the gospel to us here. And I don't think any of us have
a problem with that, with Paul being an apostle who wrote this
epistle. But in the early church, There
were many voices. There were many voices that were
vying, trying to get the attention of the believers. And so Paul,
the apostle, would go through a place and preach the gospel,
and the Spirit would come upon them in power and convert many
in the city. And then eventually, some others
would come behind. and they would begin to preach
another gospel. They would begin to turn the
hearts of the people away from the Christ and the gospel that
Paul preached. And Paul would speak of these. He would describe them in places
like 2 Corinthians 11, 13, where he says, such are false apostles. deceitful workers, transforming
themselves into the apostles of Christ. But in reality, they
were servants of the devil. And they put on a show as though
they were ministers of righteousness. And that's appealing to the flesh. Because when the flesh hears
someone coming and pointing us to the law and telling us, you
need to be doing this and this and that, it sounds like they
know what they're talking about. And it sounds like it's giving
us something to do in the flesh in partnership with God for our
salvation. So it's appealing, but it's appealing
to the flesh. It's not testifying, the spirit
doesn't testify of this. And so Paul would often have
to defend his apostleship. He spoke of the Lord appointing
him an apostle, and he would defend his apostleship, and he
would say things as he did to the Corinthians again in 1 Corinthians
chapter nine, verses one and two, where he said, am I not
an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen
Jesus Christ our Lord? Are not ye my work in the Lord?
If I be not an apostle unto others, if others don't acknowledge me
as an apostle, yet doubtless I am to you. For the seal of
mine apostleship are ye in the Lord. And so this being the case
that men would attack his apostleship. They would attack the gospel
that these churches heard founded on Paul not being an apostle. Because they would go for that,
Paul began his epistle here. He opens it with strong words
to imminently set forth that he is an apostle of Jesus Christ. and that he has the authority
of God through Christ to preach the gospel to them faithfully
according to the will of God to make known to them that one
in whom is all our salvation. in whom is all the hope of the
sinner, the needy sinner, who needs salvation, who cannot save
themselves, Paul declared him faithfully as an apostle of our
Lord. And so this epistle is written
to the churches of Galatia to turn them back to Christ, whom
he preached, back to the gospel that he preached to them at the
first, and that they should stay right there. Stay in Christ. Stay upon Jesus Christ. We're going to speak a little
bit about authority, about the authority that our God has given,
that He's made known to us through His Son and the authority that
His Son has given to His Apostles and in His Word. So let's read
the first verse, Galatians 1.1. Paul, an apostle, not of men,
neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who
raised him from the dead. So today we do take for granted
that Paul is an apostle. He told the Romans that he is
the apostle to the Gentiles. He's the preeminent apostle whom
God ordained and sent to the Gentiles. to teach them, to reveal
to them the mystery of the gospel of our God revealed in the face
of Jesus Christ. And so to the churches of Galatia
he begins his epistle asserting his apostleship. He's saying
to them, I'm not just some man. I'm not just some man coming
with some new philosophy. as the Greeks thought of him
on Mars Hill when they said, what does this babbler have to
say? What new thing is he going to
tell us? And they entertained his words
as though it was just another voice among the many voices.
He's saying to them, I have the authority of God to declare to
you the gospel unto salvation. And so first, therefore, let's
understand that in regards to authority, our God is the ultimate
authority in all things. It's not some clever man. We're
not just led about by some clever voices out there. Let me show
you some examples. Turn over to 2 Peter 1. 2 Peter
1. Let's look at verses 20 and 21. Peter says, knowing this first,
that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. This isn't made up by man. This
is not man's teaching. For the prophecy came not in
old time by the will of man, this isn't man's will, but holy
men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Hold your place right there in
2 Peter 1 and turn over to Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews 1 and let's
look at 1 verse 1 and 2. It's affirmed to us here that God, God who at sundry times,
various times and in diverse manners, spake in time past unto
the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things,
by whom also he made the worlds. And so here, our God is revealing
to us that he's given authority to his son in the role of our
mediator. He's one with the Father. As
the Son of God, he's one with the Father, but he's speaking
here of Christ, our mediator, who has authority. All things
have been committed to the care and keeping of the Son of God,
as the Christ, as the Savior of his people. And so our Lord
Jesus Christ, who has come in the flesh, makes known to us
the Father. He reveals the will and purpose
of our God toward you who believe on Christ. He reveals God's will
and purpose to be gracious to you in his Son. All who come
through the blood of Christ shall be received of the Father, for
they are washed clean of their sins and their iniquity." Back
in 2 Peter 1, let's pick up at verse 16. Peter
affirms to us, saying, For we have not followed cunningly devised
fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received
from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a
voice to him from the excellent glory, saying, This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from
heaven we heard when we were with him in the holy mount."
This is the mount of transfiguration where Peter, James, and John
were brought by their Lord to that mount and they witnessed
the transfiguration of Christ. They saw His glory. And so as an eyewitness to what
happened on the Mount, and to all the words spoken by Christ,
and the works which He did, He's telling us that Christ has all
authority, and He is our Lord and our Savior, and has all authority
over all His creation, which He made. Now Peter says in verse
19, we have also a more sure word of prophecy. which we apostles
are declaring unto you, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed,
as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day
dawn and the day star arise in your hearts." And so Peter is
saying there that naturally we dwell in darkness. Naturally,
we have no light or life. But when the Spirit comes, attending
the word that these men preach, the gospel which is declared
unto us, when the Spirit attends that word, He gives life and
light to His children. He reveals to us the Day Star,
Jesus Christ, the light and life of men, of His people. Now, turn
over to 1 Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians 2, and let's look
at verse 10. Paul affirms this, but God hath
revealed them unto us by his Spirit, for the Spirit searcheth
all things, yea, the deep things of God. Look at verses 13 and
14. Which things also we speak, not
in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy
Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with the spiritual. But
the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned. Now the end of verse
16, but we have the mind of Christ. And so these scriptures are given
to us by the Spirit of God, revealed to holy men, to prophets, and
to his apostles to make known to us the mystery of the gospel,
hid in ages past, but now revealed to us in the preaching and declaration,
the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the salvation
sent of God for the deliverance of His people. So these words,
these scriptures reveal to us the will and purpose of God toward
you in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He will be gracious to you,
who have no righteousness of your own, no strength to save
yourselves, no ability But you look to Christ, you've heard
Him, His voice, and you believe that which God has declared to
you in this gospel. God will be gracious to you.
He is gracious to you who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Your
faith in Him is a testimony to God's grace to you in Christ. And so God gave his spirit to
Paul, and he commissioned Paul as an apostle to make known the
word of God to his people, to establish these churches. And
his words are documented, that which the spirit gave him is
documented here in the scriptures. And Christ said in Matthew 28,
18 and 19, He affirms to us that all power, all authority is given
unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Ghost. And so our Lord chose Paul. As Paul said, I've seen Jesus
Christ. He was an eyewitness to Christ
who appeared to him on the road to Davascus. And Christ ordained
him an apostle as one born out of due time. One born out of
due time. And Christ made him one of the
12 apostles. And so everything written here
by Paul as an apostle is inspired by the word of God, by the spirit
of God, and it's written for our learning and reveals the
Lord Jesus Christ to us. He's declaring to us as an apostle,
the apostle ordained of Christ to declare the gospel, the liberty
that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ and what he's done for
us. So taking our understanding of the authority which Christ
gave to Paul, Paul is declaring his authority to proclaim the
gospel, to proclaim Christ, which he does in this epistle written
to the churches of Galatia. And so in the beginning, he stresses
a few things to them, which we see in these parentheses in verse
one. Paul an apostle, now here's open
parentheses, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and
God the Father who raised him from the dead. So Paul here first
stresses to them that he's an apostle, not of men, neither
by man. And the way he says it, implies
to us, seems to imply to us that take that in every way that you
can understand it. That he's been ordained not of
men, neither by man. Take it every way that you can
understand it. So, first with the Jews, right? The Jews, they had a group of
men. They assembled themselves where
they would interpret the law and write the law or interpret
the law to the people based on their traditions. and based on
their interpretation, said in such a way so as to make them
appear righteous before men. Righteous and accepted to men.
And these men were called the Sanhedrin. They were men who
took that law of God and interpreted it in such a way so as to look
good before other men. And what Paul is saying is, I
preach the gospel not according to man's tradition, but I declare
unto you that which God has given to me. What God has given to
me. Paul, we know, also was taught
the way of the Pharisees before he knew the Lord, before he was
called. He was taught by a man named Gamaliel, also a preeminent
Pharisee, one very respected among the Jews. And after Paul
was saved by the Lord, after the Lord called him and delivered
him, he counted all his religion, all his practices and his works,
he counted them dumb as having no bearing, no merit for his
salvation, no merit with God. God didn't look at those things
or choose him because of those things. Now, look down in Galatians
1, verse 11 and 12. Paul says, I certify you, brethren,
I am telling you the truth, that the gospel which was preached
of me is not after man. For I neither received it of
man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus
Christ. Second, regarding his apostleship,
not of men, neither by man. When Judas was replaced, having
taken his own life for betraying Christ, how was it done? Verse 26, that the apostles met
together with the other men. And they discussed it. They had
a meeting together saying, well, this needs to happen. We need
to have another take his place. And we're told that they cast
lots. And out of two men, Justice, one called Justice and another,
Matthias, it was Matthias that the lot fell to. And he was chosen
to be the replacement of Judas. It says there in Acts 126, they
gave forth their lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias. And he
was numbered with the 11 apostles. That couldn't be said of Paul.
Paul was not chosen or selected by men. He was chosen and ordained
by God, who called him and ordained him an apostle and put him into
service of our Lord. to give himself to lay down his
life according to the power and witness of the spirit given to
him as an apostle. So men didn't select Paul. No man chose Paul. God chose
Paul. And he replaced Judas with Paul. Paul. And third, another way
we can see this is that no man taught Paul the gospel. He didn't
require man to teach him the gospel. He didn't require the
sanction of others to confirm his gospel. He knew the gospel
as it was revealed to him, and he preached it and declared the
gospel to the people, teaching them as one having authority
of God to say what he said, to reveal what he revealed concerning
Christ. Look at Galatians 1, verse 15
through 17. But when it pleased God, who
separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace
to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the
heathen, Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood, neither
went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me.
But I went into Arabia and returned again unto Damascus." And so
Paul is saying here that he has full authority to address the
churches of Galatia as one who's been taught of God and has this
authority. And he's writing them, what he's
doing here is that there's many brethren who were departing,
but he also brings to bear in verse two, if you look at that,
he brings to bear the fact that there are many brethren who do
agree with him, who have having the spirit testify that the spirit
by which Paul speaks is the spirit of God. He didn't need their
sanction, but he's letting them know there's many. who believe
this gospel that he preaches. Verse two there, Galatians 1.2,
all the brethren which are with me unto the churches of Galatia,
saying that all those with me agree with these things that
I'm declaring unto you. All right, so now back in our
text, verse one, all an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but
by Jesus Christ and God the Father. And here he says, who raised
him from the dead. So there was a serious, a deadly
serious situation that had arisen in the churches of Galatia that
was dividing the men over the gospel. It was dividing them
and trying to separate them from that gospel which Paul preached. And these churches were being
influenced by craftily worded arguments of men to turn them
away from Christ, away from the hope that they had in Christ,
and to be turned to their own works and the works of the law. They didn't seek the peace of
the brethren in there, they were trying to establish a name for
themselves and taking unto them honor and authority which God
had not given to them. And so these sought to bring
the brethren there into the bondage of legalism. the bondage of legalism. They were saying, yes, this Jesus
of Nazareth is the Christ sent of God, but now you must come
under the yoke of the law. You must follow the law like
us Jews. And so they were trying to take
the heathen, the Gentiles, and Judaize them. meaning to bring
them under the religion established at Mount Sinai for the Jewish
nation. The Jewish nation, because they
didn't understand. They didn't hear the law. They didn't understand
that the law was a broadening revelation of Adam's fall in
the garden. And the law makes known to us
just how sinful we are. It makes known just how corrupt
and vile and wicked we are. But the law doesn't make anyone
righteous. No one trying to keep the law
makes themselves righteous. In fact, it shows us that we
only fall short of God's holiness and righteousness and glory. And so Paul is setting forth
in this epistle, as he does in all the churches, the single
reason, the single hope that God has given to us, the perfect
hope, the complete salvation in the person and work of his
son, Jesus, the Christ. whom God has sent to save His
people, to deliver His people from the condemnation that we
are already under in Adam, having no life in ourselves. And so we declare, brethren,
we declare this gospel, which Paul declared, holding up the
Christ, the Redeemer, who poured out his blood to wash us clean
of our sins and to put that sin away, that we would be reconciled
to our God so that we're justified by him. Paul says, and to the
Romans 4.25, Christ who was delivered for our offenses and raised for
our justification. We preach Him. We preach salvation
through the blood. And so Christ by Himself, having
the authority of God established for us, the covenant of grace,
so that God receives us not based on the merits of our works by
the law, but by the merit of Jesus Christ, the merit of His
blood, the merit of His work. God is satisfied, well pleased
with His Son. And all who come to the Father
through Jesus Christ, the Son, God is well pleased with them. For we come trusting that one
whom God the Father trusted, and put all his confidence in
him, gave it all to Christ. And so we then, by the power
and glory of our God, through the preaching of the gospel,
are given life by the Spirit. who makes us to hear the voice
of Christ, who makes us to know the will and mind of our God
toward us in the Lord Jesus Christ, and gives us life that we should
have newness of life, that we should have newness of life by
the Spirit of God being born of his Spirit, being born of
that spiritual birth of Christ's seed. And so during his salutation
to the churches, He says he is called by Jesus Christ and God
the Father. And he adds, who raised him from
the dead. So that little statement right
there sets the whole tone, the tone for the whole letter. Because
he brings immediately to their eyes, immediately to their attention,
that Jesus Christ was crucified to put away our sin. And Jesus
Christ was raised from the dead. God testifying that in Him we
are justified. We need no other work. We need
no other salvation. We need nothing else. Christ
is all. Christ is sufficient for your
salvation. so that you and I, even in this
day, would be comforted and assured that Christ is all and that we
come being accepted of God through Jesus Christ. We don't need to
look to any other salvation. We don't continue to look for
other things to make us feel comforted and whole and have
a hope in God that he'll receive us. Christ is all. And that's
what Paul is stressing here to these people. We're not turned
to the flesh. We're not looking for something
more. As he said so eloquently in Galatians
3 verse 3, are ye so foolish? Having begun in the spirit, are
ye now made perfect by the flesh? No, we're not. We stay in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And so he's declaring to us here. What's so wonderful here is that
he's declaring to us our liberty from the bondage of the law,
where the forefathers labored under a sense of fear and threat
of punishment, labored under a fear of wrath of God against
them. because they were not perfect,
and because they could not keep the law, Christ has come to reveal
our liberty in him, that he is our righteousness, and that he
by faith dwells in us, and we're led by him, we're led by the
spirit, so that when we see all in Christ, that's when we rightly
understand the law. That's when we rightly see and
understand the giving of the law. It's to turn us away from
self and to enable us to see our all in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so this epistle is about
our freedom from the law. It doesn't mean that we have
license to sin and to blaspheme our God or to harm others, to
walk in a manner that isn't loving or kind to others. That's not
what it's saying. What it is saying is that we
have been made righteous in Christ and are free from the law, that
we may serve our God in newness of spirit. having no worry, no
fears about the law and the wrath of God coming down upon us. We're
set free from it. We're dead to the law. We're
married to another, even Jesus Christ the righteous. And so
by his spirit, we are led by the spirit and we do good and
do that which is right. by the Spirit, in joy, in peace,
in gladness. As he says at the end in Galatians
5, 22 and 23, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such, there is no law. And you need no law to tell you
that because you have the Spirit of God who teaches you and instructs
you and keeps you in the way of Christ. That's what Paul is
saying there in the opening of his letter there. Brethren, stay
in Christ. Don't be turned away to another
gospel. Don't look for any other work
for your salvation. Christ is all. He's sufficient. He's the one whom the Father
delights in. He's the one whom the Father provided, and he assures
us in his word by the prophets and by the apostles, confirming
Jesus Christ, spoken of in the law, the Psalms, and the prophets,
and in the words of the apostles, it's Christ is all. So I pray
he bless that word and I pray that he'll bless our study as
we go through this letter to see our freedom and our deliverance
from the bondage of this flesh and the bondage of the law being
set free in the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Let's close in prayer. Our gracious Lord, we thank you,
Father, for your grace. We thank you, Lord, for your
power and your spirit, which teaches us and testifies to these
words which declare to us the Lord Jesus Christ in whom your
people are saved. Lord, we pray that you would
keep us. We see how in this flesh we wander, we go astray, We are
deceived, and in this flesh is nothing but darkness and evil
and unbelief. But Lord, in the new man, in
that spirit which you've given to us, in that creation of the
Lord Jesus Christ, being born of his seed, Lord, we know you
there. We know you and believe you and
understand your work and your salvation. And Lord, we believe
that Christ is all. Keep us ever in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Keep us ever looking to him.
Lord, lead us and guide us and keep our hearts focused on Christ. Loving you, our God, and loving
our brethren. Lord, thank you for this grace.
Thank you for this liberty. It's in Christ's name we pray
and give thanks. Amen. All right, brethren.