Culver Community Church
Pastor Chris Sweeney
Sermon Notes
July 14, 2019
Galatians 1:1-7 – The Gospel of Grace Affirmed!
To understand the purpose of this great, great letter we have to understand the background or history of the churches in this area. In the book of Acts we see Paul’s story. He began on the fast track to becoming one of the preeminent Pharisees in Jerusalem, even holding the coats for those who stoned Stephen, the first martyr. While persecuting the believers God stopped Paul dead in his tracks on the road to Damascus. After his conversion, the church leaders stashed Paul away in Tarsus but as the church expanded, Barnabas retrieved him and in time they were selected out by the Holy Spirit for a special work – the first missionary journey - preaching the gospel to all of the known world – following the Great Commission! On the first of those journeys, Paul came to some cities in the province of Galatia (what we would call Southern Turkey or Asia Minor today). For those who have gone through the book of Acts some of these cities will sound familiar! (First Missionary Journey found in Acts 13-14)
Paul would come into a town, minister and before long persecution drove him off. Shortly after the missionaries left, Jewish ‘believers’ who claimed Christ but wanted to remain in the ways of the Old Covenant, called Judaizers or the Party of Circumcision would come in and confuse the church. What God has planted, Satan always desires to cut down. We will see they wanted to add to the good news that Christ has purchased our salvation, stealing the gift of God and forcing these Christians into a works-based religion. In Christ we have a relationship, not a religion – Christ gave but religion says ‘do!’ and ‘don’t do’ to please god and earn favor. Galatians has been called the "Declaration of Independence of Christian liberty" or “little Romans” because the two books share the same theme. The great reformer Martin Luther especially loved this letter, calling it by his wife’s name because, he said, "I am married to it." This book is a defense of the Gospel, written before the gospels and epistles that make up the New Testament (except for the book of James) – although all dating is approximate and some scholars disagree, it is believed that this is Paul’s first letter, written a year or two before or after 50 A.D. The faith was very young – Christ rose from the dead about fifteen years ago and Paul was converted about two years after that! These first gentile churches were in danger and the man God called to missionary service to plant them was now coming to defend the truth he had brought them! Like a father, zealous to defend his children – Paul is passionate in this letter!
{vs. 1-2} Now this is similar to the opening of all of Paul’s epistles and the normal form for a letter in this age. It begins with the address information, the from (Paul, an Apostle) and then the to (the churches in Galatia). However, for this letter in particular it has a much more important purpose – here Paul states his credentials (which he will go into further in the body of the letter). It is crucial that they remember that it is not Paul’s message, it is the message (the gospel) of God who has sent Paul as His messenger. That is what Apostle means; it is Greek for messenger. It carries the same connotation of our word ‘ambassador’ – someone sent with power to speak and act on the authority of another. This ties us right back to the Great Commission – “All authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:18-20) This opening traces the line of authority directly from God (who raised Christ) to Jesus to the Apostles (capital A). Those trying to confuse the Galatians also denied his Apostleship (authority).
Here Paul is confirming that no man is responsible for sending him, not even the Apostles in Jerusalem, not the ‘church’ etc. This is important for the recipients because many of these Judaizers who were throwing them into confusion claimed to be sent by the home church in Jerusalem, James, the leader of that church or the Apostles who walked with Christ and were chosen to be Apostles. By doing this, they claimed a sort of delegated apostolic authority. Many today will claim that they are in a long line of succession; the Apostles laid hands on successors, who did the same - right down to them! This is not valid!
There is a difference between capital A, Apostles and little a apostles! Christ chose the twelve, one deserted and he was replaced (Acts 1) and then God added by personal decree and special dispensation Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). This is not a title that is inherited nor a job that is filled! The qualifications of this type of apostle were: 1) to have been a witness of the resurrected Christ (1 Corinthians 9:1); 2) to have been chosen by the Holy Spirit for the position (Acts 9:15); and 3) to have the power to perform signs and wonders (Acts 2:43; 2 Corinthians 12:12) – all believers can be used in this way but the Apostles had a special gifting. These men were responsible for laying the foundation of the church (with Christ as the cornerstone) – sharing the message and writing the New Testament (by the Holy Spirit’s inspiration). Little a apostles describes every believer – those saved unto good works (Ephesians 2:10), who are always ready to give a defense of the hope we have in Christ (1 Peter 3:15).
This means that we too are ‘sent ones’, messengers and ambassadors, and like Paul – it is not our message! We cannot chose to give it to those we like or withhold it from those we don’t! We are not at liberty to change the message, to add to or subtract from it! Times may change, but God and His Word (and His gospel) are eternal, unchanging and the moment someone tries to tweak, update or soften the Truth – it becomes a lie. The gospel is just that, the Truth – Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son in the flesh; and any change (to any degree) makes it no gospel at all as Paul will argue in this letter!
{vs. 3-5} After the from and the to (the heading), the next thing would be the greeting: Grace and peace to you. Beyond it theological significance, this was a combination of the common greetings of the Greeks (charis) and Jews (shalom). Paul uses this in his writings and no doubt used it in everyday life! Peter uses it in the closing of his epistles and John uses it in the book of Revelation. How beautiful, so much more expressive than a simple ‘Hi’ or ‘Hello’. At its simplest, it is a wish for the one greeted to have God’s favor, the tangible evidence of God’s delight in or approval of the person (that is what grace is) and peace (completeness, total wellbeing, security and harmony)! In other words may you be whole, without problems and enjoying God’s blessings! It is a shorthand way to express a large blessing!
This grace and peace (blessing) can only come from God (the Father, Son and Holy Spirit – although Paul neglects to mention the third person of the Trinity). This is not something that Paul or any other man, group or government can offer – it covers all areas of life, especially the Spiritual! We see that it is by the work of Christ on the Cross that we have grace (spiritually), that we are no longer enemies of God (rebels) but are adopted, well-loved and favored children at peace with Him! The peace with our creator and the forgiveness granted allows us to quiet our own consciences making peace with ourselves possible (some believers will take little advantage of this, but it is freely available because of Christ!) There is now no condemnation in Christ Jesus – we have been forgiven, given favor (God sees Christ Himself when He looks at us because we have exchanged our filthy rags for the Righteousness of Christ!
In this way, it is God’s unmerited favor (grace) that provides our peace and that is why you always (always, always, always) see these two in this order – grace before peace! Without grace, there is and can be no real peace (that’s why people who seem to have it all lie awake at night, end up in rehab or worse), but when grace is ours, peace must follow along! Together, grace and peace describe Christianity, the condition of the believer! And here is an important take away for all of us as believers – do we in our daily life exhibit both grace and peace? Or do we run around like chickens with our heads cut off, worrying about things God has promised to take care of? This is something we must all grow in – God’s grace is ours - - - so don’t tell the world that you are having a horrible day, a season of trials or that the devil is coming against you (hard pressing) – God is in control, He cares for you more than you can ever know and He is working all things out for His glory and your good! His favor is upon us – no matter what we face today! Whatever could be wrong in our lives? What can affect our peace and undisturbed composure, which Isaiah speaks prophetically about in Isaiah 54:13? We should all be able to proudly declare “Nothing!” because God is good, All the time and all the time, God is good!
{vs. 6-7} This unlike other letters from Paul, has no commendation, thanksgiving, etc. – he gets right to the point. In fact, as we’ve seen he’s been to the point already – in the heading of the letter! Paul is passionate, he is astonished (a strong word of disbelief) – because they came to know the truth of God and have allowed someone to come in and steal if from them. Such a wonderful truth, the very secret of all life – the ability to be delivered from the curse of sin and death and be brought into fellowship with God, our Creator! This truth is the Truth, Jesus Christ – the Son of God and His sacrifice (the ultimate price paid for us). Paul is incredulous at the idea that they would let such treasure be so easily taken. This loss of truth, deception or confusion – whatever you want to call it, is no little thing. Paul will go on to remind us that Salvation is solely a work of God’s grace through faith (the reformers cry!) If you add anything to grace it is no longer grace – if you tinker with this formula - - - it won’t work!