Somebody took my Bible and I
had to look frantically for it. Don took it and gave it to Wyatt
and Wyatt opened it up and saw my notes in it. I was just flipping
out because sometimes I could forego notes. This is not one
of the mornings. We're going to begin a study
of the book of Galatians. We haven't been in the Bible
study in a New Testament epistle for over 20 years. And so, Galatians 1. I just want to read verse six
right now because this could be called the theme of Galatians. I marvel that you are so soon
removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ
unto another gospel. Now, that is what was going on
at the church of Corinth, and this is why Paul is writing this
epistle. Let's pray together. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name, and we're so thankful for the salvation that's
in your son. We're so thankful for the acceptance
we have in the beloved. And Lord, we ask in Christ's
name that you would use this and bless it to. Give us a. Stronger faith in Christ, and
if we have no faith, we ask that you would give us faith. Lord,
we're so thankful that you're on the throne. We're so thankful
for all your glorious attributes. May we be found in your son.
Lord, we pray for our friends that are sick. We pray for your
great blessing upon them for Christ's sake. Be with all your
people wherever they meet together. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. The theme of the book of Galatians
is the recovery of the gospel. They had had the gospel preached
to them by the Apostle Paul. Paul founded these churches in
Galatia. You can read about this in Acts
chapters 11 through 14 on his first missionary journey. The
church at Antioch, the church at Lystra, Derbe, Attila, his
first missionary journey. And I think the church at Antioch,
as we read in Acts chapter 11, they were first called Christians.
at Antioch. Now these people had believed
the gospel and Paul says to them, I'm stunned. I'm amazed that
you're so soon removed from him that called you to the grace
of Christ and to another gospel. Now what had taken place in this
church that created this environment? What we read about in Acts chapter
15, if you'll turn with me there. Acts chapter 15. This is what
had taken place. Verse one. And certain men, which came down
from Judea, Now this is talking about the church in Jerusalem.
This is the church that the Lord's brother James pastored. And it,
I suppose, was probably the only numerically large church in the
New Testament. You'll remember that when Peter
preached on Pentecost, 3,000 people were brought to a saving
knowledge of Christ. And then just a few days later,
another 5,000 people were added. And so this might've had 10,000
people in it. And there's no other churches like this recorded
in the scripture. This was a huge church and these
men came down from this church. And here's what they were doing.
They taught the brethren and said, except you be circumcised
after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. Here is the error that was being
propagated. Christ plus. That's a simple
enough way to look at it, isn't it? Christ plus. Except you be circumcised after
the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. Christ plus circumcision,
Christ plus obedience to the law, Christ plus anything is
the Galatian heresy. Christ and. Verse two. Somebody says, why were they
coming from the church of Jerusalem? I don't know. I can't really
answer that question, but it can happen anywhere. Wherever
you have men, you have problems. And whether you have a group
of people, it's never everybody's saved. There's always going to
be someone that doesn't really know the gospel that's trying
to propagate some kind of error. And that is what is going on
here. Verse two, when therefore Paul
and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with him. Now
there was an argument that took place. And it was no small argument. Paul and Barnabas were very upset.
over what was taking place. They determined that Paul and
Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem
and to the apostles and elders about this question, is there
any room for Christ plus? Now, Paul knew there wasn't.
He wasn't going to get the affirmation of the apostles, as we're going
to see. The Lord taught him the gospel directly, and he had been
taught of God, and he knew the gospel, and he knew there's no
room for Christ plus anything. But these people from this church
wanted them to go to talk to the apostles about this in Jerusalem.
After all, this air came out of Jerusalem. Are they promoting
this? Are the apostles promoting this?
Verse three, and being brought on their way by the church, they
passed through The Nicene and Samaria declaring the conversion
of the Gentiles, and they caused great joy unto all the brethren,
telling them about the conversion of the Gentiles. And when they
were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church and
of the apostles and elders. And they declared all the things
that God had done with them, but, here's the problem, but,
there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed. Now, hold on just a minute. Why is this mentioned certain
of the sect of the Pharisees which believed? Why doesn't it
just say they believe certain that believed? Well, these people
had never really left the sect of the Pharisees. This was man's
natural religion. They were still in it. If they
would have believed truly, they would have repudiated and rejected
the religion of the Pharisees as false religion. But they're
still here. And this is what were learning,
but there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees, which
believed, saying that it was needful. It was necessary to
add something to Christ, to circumcise them and to command them to keep
the law of Moses. Now, yes, you're saved by Christ,
but you also need to do this. You also need to do that. There's
a Christ plus something. That was the error of the Galatians. Christ and." Verse 6, and the apostles and
elders came together for to consider this matter. Now remember this
was going on in the church at Antioch, and they came to Jerusalem
about this, and when there had been much disputing, Peter rose
up. and said unto them, Men and brethren,
you know how that a good while ago God made choice among us
that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel
and believe. And God which knoweth the hearts,
bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did
unto us. And he put no difference between us and them, purifying
their hearts by faith. We're to say the same way. Now,
therefore, why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of
the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we are able to
bear. Now why are you trying to bring them under the law when
you can't handle it? What are you doing? We failed, they failed. There's no salvation in law keeping. There's no salvation in Christ
plus. Why are you doing this? Now look what Peter says, and
this is the statement of faith of every believer. We believe
that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be
saved, even as they." He doesn't say they'll be saved the way
we will. We will be saved like the Gentiles
will, by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, Paul says
to the Galatians, evidently, they didn't catch on. And Paul
says to the Galatians, they didn't leave this error, I'm amazed. I remember one time hearing Henry
Mahan comment on this verse, it always struck me. He said to the church, I wouldn't
be amazed by anything I hear with regard to anything that
takes place in this church. I wouldn't be amazed. It wouldn't
surprise me. Disappointed, perhaps, but not
amazed. But I would be amazed if anybody here would depart
from the gospel of God's grace. And that is what he's saying
to the Galatians, I marvel that you're so soon removed from him
that called you to the grace of Christ unto another gospel. Now, I think it's very interesting
if you look in every other epistle but Galatians, Paul begins with
a commendation. I thank the Lord for you. He
even did this with the church of Corinth. You talk about a
church that was fraught with problems. Look in 1 Corinthians
chapter one, and this is true of every other epistle. He says in verse four of 1 Corinthians
1, I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God,
which is given you by Jesus Christ, that in everything you're enriched
by him in all utterance and in all knowledge, even as the testimony
of Christ was confirmed in you so that you came behind to no
gift waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now look
at the way he begins by commending this church. What an encouragement. But you
know, Galatians is the only epistle where there is no commendation. He begins, I marvel that you're
so soon removed. And this ought to scare me and
you. Now I want to have confidence in Christ, I realize that, but
I don't want to be like the Galatians, by the grace of God. These people
came down from the church of Jerusalem and did this. It can
happen anywhere. And here Paul says to this assembly,
or this group of churches that he himself had founded. I mean,
he loved these people. He was the one that brought the
gospel to them, these Gentile churches in his very first missionary
journey. I marvel that you're so soon
removed from him that called you to the grace of Christ and
to another gospel. Now, I love the fact that he
called the gospel the grace of Christ. That's the message of
the scripture. The grace of Christ. There are
not two more important words in all of language than this. The grace of Christ. The Christ. God's Christ. God's prophet. God's priest. God's king. Oh, how I need him
in all of his offices. I need him as my prophet to bring
me the word of God. I need him as my priest to represent
me before God. I need him as my king to cause
me to do his will. How we need him as prophet, priest,
and king. Oh, the grace of Christ. I think
of when Paul said to the Corinthians, you know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. that though he was rich, yet
for your sakes he became poor." It's talking about what took
place on the cross. That you, through his poverty,
might be rich. Now, grace. Grace of Christ. We quite often define grace as
unmerited favor, and I suppose in some respects that's a good
definition of it. But really, it's more than unmerited
favor. It's the favor of God that we
have for Christ's sake. To where God favors us, sees us as beautiful, as perfect. in Christ, God's favor. The favor God has toward Christ
is the favor he has towards those in Christ. And I love speaking
of grace this way. The only way you and I can define
the grace of God is by putting every attribute of God as its
description. It's holy grace. It's righteous
grace. It's sovereign grace. It's all
powerful grace. It's independent grace. That
means it doesn't need me or you to do something before it can
operate. It's all wise grace. It's immutable grace. It's eternal
grace. It never had a beginning. If,
when I hear the grace of God expounded and it's contrary to
any of the attributes of God, I'm hearing of a pseudo grace,
a false grace. A grace that does not save. God's grace is who he is. And that is why we can only define
it with really every attribute of God. So remember that when
you hear of grace, if it's contrary, if what I'm hearing is contrary
to any of the attributes of God, it's not the grace of God. Now,
Paul says to these people that he loved, I marvel that you're
so soon removed from him that called you to the grace of Christ
to another gospel." Now, I want to look at quite a number of
scriptures in Galatians just in this introduction to show
us what's going on. Look what he says in verse seven.
Well, let's read verses six through eight together. I marvel that
you're so soon removed from him that called you unto the grace
of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another. There's
only one gospel. But there be some that trouble
you, who would pervert, who would change the gospel of Christ. But the we, or an angel from
heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have
preached unto you. Let him be accursed. Let him
be damned. Let him be anathematized. Now was Paul speaking harshly
or unlovingly when he said this? No. No, not in any way. And he says in verse nine, as
we said before, just in case you didn't hear me, so say I
now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than
that which you've received, let him be Accursed. Look in verse 11. I certify you, brethren, I assure
you that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. It's not derived from any human
source. Remember, Paul was brought into
the third heavens and taught the gospel directly by Jesus
Christ. The gospel which was preached
of me is not after man, is not derived from men, for I neither
received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation
of Jesus Christ." He's talking about the Lord's direct revelation
of his gospel to him. Look in verse 14 of the same
chapter. He said, I profited in the Jews'
religion above that Phariseeism that, you know, remember the
Pharisees which believed? Well, that's the religion I was
in, Paul says. I profited in the Jews' religion
above many my equals in my own nation, being more exceedingly
zealous of the traditions of my fathers, 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. I didn't need to have a man explain
to me whether or not what I was saying was true. I didn't have
to go to the apostles to check out my message and see if it's
what they believe. God revealed this to me. This is talking about
the authority he had in bringing up the gospel. Neither when I
went up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me.
I didn't go to John or Peter and say, I want to check out
my message and see if it's right. He said, I didn't need to do
that. But I went into Arabia and returned unto Damascus. Look in chapter 2, verse 6. He's telling how he didn't need
affirmation, but of those who seem to be somewhat whatsoever
they were maketh no matter to me. God accepts no man's person,
for they seem to be somewhat in conference, added nothing
to me. He's talking about the apostles. They didn't add anything
to my message. They didn't take anything away
from my message. But contrarywise, when they saw that the gospel
of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the
circumcision was unto Peter, for he that wrought effectually
in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was
mighty in me toward the Gentiles. And when James, Cephas, James
is the Lord's brother, the pastor at Jerusalem. When James, Cephas,
and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace of God that
was given me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of
fellowship, that we should go unto the heathen and they unto
the circumcision. You see, we have the same message. And they
gave him the right hand of fellowship. Look in chapter three, verse
one. Oh foolish Galatians, Who hath
bewitched you? Now what a way to speak to these
people. Oh foolish Galatians, you've
been bewitched. That you should not obey the
truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set
forth, crucified. Look in verse seven. Know ye therefore that they which
are of faith the same are the children of Abraham. Look in
chapter four, verse eight. How be it when you knew not God?
You did service, you served unto them which by nature know God,
false gods, but now after thee you've known God. And I love
the way he corrects himself, or rather are known of God. I
want to know God, but here's something that's even more important,
I want him to know me. If he knows me, everything's
fine. How turn you again to the weak
and beggarly elements, whereunto you desire again to be in bondage. You observe days and months and
times and years. I'm afraid of you, lest I have
bestowed upon you labor in vain." I'm afraid that me going there
and you professing to believe was all a dream. I'm afraid I've
bestowed labor upon you in vain. Look in verse 15. You see, they quit a steaming
pole. Verse 15, where is then the blessedness
you speak of? For I bear you record that if
it had been possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes
and given them to me. Where's that blessedness? Verse
17, they, these people in Acts chapter 15 that came down in
Christ plus, they zealously affect you, but not well. Yea, they
would exclude you that you might affect them. Verse 19 of chapter four. My
little children of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be
formed in you. I desire to be present with you
now and to change my voice. For I stand in doubt of you.
Tell me you the desire to be under the law. Don't you hear
what the law says? Chapter five, verse one. Stand fast in the liberty wherewith
Christ has made us free and be not entangled again with that
yoke of bondage. Look at verse seven. You did
run well. Who did hinder you that you should
not obey the truth? This persuasion that you're espousing
cometh not of him that calleth you. A little leaven leavens
the whole lump. You put one work in salvation,
you make it all of works. A little leaven leavens the whole
lump. Look in verse 10. He says, I have confidence in
you through the Lord, not in you, but through the Lord that
you will be none otherwise minded. But he that troubleth you shall
bear his judgment, whosoever he be. And I, brethren, if I
yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution?
Then, as the offense of the cross ceased, I would that they were
even cut off which trouble you." Now, look at that language. He
says, these people that want you to be circumcised, I wish
they were emasculated. Now, somebody is saying, is that
right for Paul to think that way? Well, evidently, because
this is inspired by God the Holy Spirit, and this is what he says
regarding This issue, I would that they were even cut off,
which trouble you. Verse 15 of Galatians chapter
five. But if you bite and devour one another, and this is where
works leads us. Biting and devouring, competing,
judging, crushing one another. But if you bite and devour one
another, take heed that you be not consumed one of another. Look in Galatians chapter six,
verse 12. He says, as many as desire to
make a fair show in the flesh, and that's what religion is,
isn't it? A fair show in the flesh. I want to show you how
good I am. I want to show you how I've got
a little bit over you. A fair show in the flesh. I want
to demonstrate to men, as many as desire to make a fair show
in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised. only lest
they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. That's
the real motive. For neither they themselves who
are circumcised keep the law. They tell you to keep the law,
but they don't. Pure hypocrisy. They're calling
on you to do something that they don't do. They don't keep the
law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may
glory in your flesh. See how I've influenced this
person for good. See what good I have done with regard to this
person. But God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I want to close with this
thought. Turn to Galatians chapter two. There are two events that took
place in this chapter. And in these two events, there
is something called the truth of the gospel that was at stake. Now, I want you to think of that
phrase, the truth of the gospel. Verse. Three, but neither Titus,
who is with me being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. And that because of false brethren
unawares brought in. These are these, what he calls
these people in Acts chapter 15 that came into the church,
he calls them false brethren, not brothers who are in error
and they mean right. No, he calls them false brethren
brought in unawares. who came in privilege to spy
out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus, they might bring
us into bondage to whom we gave place by subjection, no, not
for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with
you." We would not let Titus be circumcised as they said he
needed to be for this reason. So the truth of the gospel would
continue. Now look at this other Verse
11, but when Peter was come to Antioch, that's where these false
prophets had come, I withstood him to the face because he was
to be blamed for before that certain came from James. This
is talking about what happened in Acts chapter 15, for before
the certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles.
But when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing
them, which were the circumcision. And other Jews dissembled likewise
with him in so much that Barnabas also was carried away with their
dissimulation or their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they walked
not uprightly according, and here's that phrase, to the truth
of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, if you being
a Jew live after the manner of the Gentiles and not as do the
Jews, why do you compel the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? Now,
Peter didn't say anything. When the men from Jerusalem came,
these false brethren, he was so intimidated, he left the table
of the Gentiles where he'd been having fellowship with them.
And he knew that this would displease these men. He felt, I don't know
what all he felt, but without saying a word, he got up and
walked across the room and sat down at the Jewish table. And
by that action, He was saying, Christ is not all in salvation. There's something you can do
that will be a little more pleasing to God by being over here with
the Jews rather than the Gentiles. And Paul publicly reprimanded
him. And I'm sure people were thinking,
Paul, that's a little harsh, isn't it? Well, Paul didn't think
so. He publicly reprimanded him for this thing because it was
taking away from the truth of the gospel. And Paul says, if
I didn't do this, the truth of the gospel wouldn't have remained.
Now that gives us, I think, some idea of what's going on in this
book. And we'll start on the verse
by verse next Sunday, Lord willing. Okay.