https://www.gotquestions.org/Gods-timing.html

The first thing we need to understand about God’s timing is that it is perfect, just as all of God’s ways are perfect (Psalm 18:30; Galatians 4:4). God’s timing is never early, and it’s never been late. In fact, from before our birth until the moment we take our last earthly breath, our sovereign God is accomplishing His divine purposes in our lifetimes. He is in complete control of everything and everyone from everlasting to everlasting. No event in history has put so much as a wrinkle in the timing of God’s eternal plan, which He designed before the foundation of the world.

Patience is a spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:22), and Scripture makes it clear that God is pleased with us when we display this virtue: “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him” (Psalm 37:7), for God is good to those who wait for Him (Lamentations 3:25). And our patience often reveals the degree of trust we have in God’s timing. We must remember that God operates according to His perfect and foreordained eternal schedule, not ours. We should take great comfort in knowing that, when we wait on the LORD, we receive divine energy and strength: “But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31). The psalmist reiterates: “Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!” (Psalm 27:14).

When we question God’s timing, it is often because we are looking for guidance or deliverance from a difficult situation. We can rest assured, however, that our heavenly Father knows exactly where we are in our lives at every moment. He either put us there or is allowing us to be there, all for His own perfect purpose. In fact, God often uses trials to strengthen our patience, allowing our Christian faith to mature and become complete (James 1:3-4). And we know that all things – including these difficult trials – work out for the good of those who love God (Romans 8:28). God does indeed hear the cries of His children and will answer those cries according to His perfect will and timing. “A righteous man may have many troubles; the LORD delivers him from them all” (Psalm 34:19). The plans God has for His children are good plans – to help us, not hurt us (Jeremiah 29:11).

What is God’s Grace?

https://www.christianity.com/wiki/god/what-is-gods-grace.html

We experience God’s grace because God is gracious. In Exodus 34:6, when God is showing himself to Moses, we read “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.” Gracious is used here as an adjective describing God. It is one of his attributes.

Gracious, the Hebrew word channun, in its verb form, means to be considerate, to show favor. That God is gracious would mean that he is favorably inclined toward us. That he wants to show favor to us. To do what is best for us.

God is gracious. Graciousness is not something that he puts on and takes off depending on the situation. He is always gracious. He does not decide to show us grace. Rather it is just who he is. Because he is gracious he demonstrates grace in everything he does.

Grace is the Hebrew word chanan or the Greek word charis, meaning “the state of kindness and favor toward someone, often with a focus on a benefit given to the object.” (Strong’s Greek 5485).

Grace is what God does because he is gracious. Every action of God toward us involves his grace. His creation, his providence, his conviction of the sinner, his gift of salvation, his equipping of the saints, and the future he has prepared for us. All of this is due to God’s grace.

It is impossible to discuss adequately God’s grace without also mentioning love and mercy. These three attributes are closely related. And it is common to see them used together.

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5).

Because of his love, God, who is rich in mercy, saved us by his grace. Where does love end and mercy start? Or mercy end and grace begin? I don’t believe you can really draw a line between them. They are not really three different attributes. All three are simply different ways that we as humans see God.

The Unfathomable Riches of Christ

https://bible.org/article/believer%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2%84%A2s-unfathomable-riches-christ

When anyone accepts Jesus Christ as their personal Savior they are instantaneously enriched with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Eph. 1:3) and declared to be complete in Christ (Col. 2:10). In fact, the Apostle Paul refers to these blessings as “the unfathomable riches of Christ” in Ephesians 3:8. “Unfathomable” is the Greek anexichniastos which means “past finding out, unsearchable, not to be tracked out.” The idea is that the believer’s blessings in Christ are “too deep to be measured.” Many of these blessings, however, are clearly defined for us in the Bible.

• In the eternal plan of God: Rom 8:29
• Reconciled: 2 Cor 5:18-19
• Redeemed: Col 1:14
• No condemnation: Rom 8:1
• Related to God through propitiation (the satisfaction of God’s holiness): Rom 3:24-26
• All sins removed by His efficacious blood: 1 Peter 2:24
• Vitally joined together in Christ for judgment of the old self “unto a new walk”: Rom 6:6
• Free from the law: Rom 7:4
• Children of GOd: 1 John 3:7
• Adopted (placed as adult sons): rom 8:15
• Acceptable to God by Jesus Christ: Rom 3:22
• Justified: Rom 5:1
• Forgiven all trespasses: Col 1:14
• Made near: Eph 2:13
• Delivered from the powers of darkness: Col 2:13-15
• Translated into the kingdom: Col 1:13
• A gift from God the Father to Christ: John 10.29
• Partakers of the holy and royal priesthood: 1 Pet 2:5
• Chosen generation, a holy nation, and a people of God’s own possession: 1 Pet 2:9
• Have access to God: Eph 2:18
• WIthin the “much more” care of God: Rom 5:9-10
• His inheritance: Eph 1:18
• Our inheritance: 1 Pet 1:4
• A heavenly association: Eph 2:6
• Heavenly citizens: Phil 3:20
• Of the family and household of God: Eph 2:19
• Light in the Lord: Eph 5:8
• Vitally united to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit: 1 Thess 1:1
• Blessed with the “first-fruits” and the “earnest” of the Holy Spirit: John 3:6
• Glorified: Rom 8:30
• Complete in Him: Col 2:10
• Possessing “every spiritual blessing”: Eph 1:3

The Sovereignty of God

https://www.thegospelcoalition.com/essay/the-sovereignty-of-god/

The sovereignty of God is the same as the lordship of God, for God is the sovereign over all of creation. The major components of God’s lordship are his control, authority, and covenantal presence.

The sovereignty of God is the fact that he is the Lord over creation; as sovereign, he exercises his rule. This rule is exercised through God’s authority as king, his control over all things, and his presence with his covenantal people and throughout his creation. The divine name, Yahweh, expresses this sovereign rule over against the claims of human kings, such as Pharaoh (Exod. 3:14). Because God is tri-personal, however, his sovereign control is not impersonal or mechanical, but is the loving and gracious oversight of the king of creation and redemption.

His control means that everything happens according to his plan and intention. Authority means that all his commands ought to be obeyed. Presence means that we encounter God’s control and authority in all our experience, so that we cannot escape from his justice or from his love. When theologians talk about “divine sovereignty,” they usually have the first of these in mind, his control. Indeed, the Bible teaches that God controls all things. He has an eternal plan for all of nature and history (Eph. 1:9–11).

So even though Scripture teaches that God controls everything, we should not think of his sovereignty as an impersonal, mechanical determinism. God’s sovereign lordship is deeply personal. As Lord, God not only controls everything (efficaciously, universally), but also utters commands, words of life, that graciously govern the ongoing life of his creatures. And as Lord he has made a sovereign commitment to be “with” those who are his. Indeed, God’s sovereignty is a broad concept, including all that God is and all that he does, even embracing his love.

The Power of Our Praise and Worship

https://www.biblewaymag.com/the-power-of-your-praise-and-worship

The word praise means “the offering of grateful homage in words or song, as an act of worship: a hymn of praise to God”

Worship on the other hand in the New Testament the Greek word most often translated “worship” (proskuneo) is “to fall down before” or “bow down before.” Worship is a state (an attitude) of spirit. The nature of Christian worship is from the inside out and has two equally important parts. We must worship “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24).

Worship is a deeper form of praise. Everyone can praise God, but not everyone can truly worship as when you worship every part of you is involve: your mind, body and spirit. You get personal with God as you come from the outer court to the holy of holies where you physically or spiritual prostrate before God

1. Worship pulls down the glory of God. When you worship God the Bible says he inhabits the praises of his people, or he sits enthroned on the praises of his people (Psalms 22:3). What this means is that when you starts to praise God he comes down in your midst and inhabits your praises.
2. Praise and worship breaks yokes and brings deliverance. One of the first thing the enemy does when we are facing difficulties are going through our trials is to play with your mind as our mind is where the battle is either won or lost. He will come and play with your mind, tell you that you’re worthless, you cannot accomplish this or that or he will come and remind you of what you are currently facing. He loves when you focus on your problems, what someone said or did to you and not upon God as that is when he can infiltrate your mind and put thoughts in it that will hold you captive. That is why the Bible says that the weapons God has given us or not of this world, they are not carnal, weak or powerless but they are powerful spiritual weapons given to us by God to “…demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ”– 2 Corinthians 10:5. What this is saying that when a thought comes we should not sit idle and sup every thought that comes into our mind but we should hold them captive to see if they are God or not. If they are not of God we should destroy them, not to mediate upon them not even for a second but destroy them. ‘No devil I will not accept this thought. I am the head and not the tail’.
3. We receive breakthrough by praising and worshiping God. One of the power or effect of our worship is that we can receive breakthroughs in our lives when we learn to worship and praise God despite what we may be facing. Sometimes the enemy will stand as a fortress before us stopping us from receiving breakthroughs in our finances, relationship, ministry, job and so forth. The enemy is not our friend and his job is to stop us from receiving what the Lord has for us, but God is raising up on army that will not accept defeat or let the enemy robs them of what is theirs but will worship him for their breakthrough.

We Can Live Victorious Lives

We do not have to live defeated, but we can live a victorious life. Praise and worship is one of the most powerful weapon God has given us against the enemy. When we worship God even demons tremble and yokes began to be broken.

That is why the Satan is afraid of a worshiper because he cannot sit on a worshiper very long as when a worshiper gets into the presence of God he have to take his leave. Worship is so powerful that it can bring healing to the physical body, mind and spirit. Sometimes there are yokes on you, things not happening in your life and you need a breakthrough, you are weak in the spirit or body, spirit of heaviness is upon you, depression holds you captive and so forth, you can be free from them by praising and worshiping God.

Chapter 30 – Questions

1. Pg 228: Share what dreams /desires that you have put in God’s hand and you are waiting on His timing.
2. Ephesians 5:20: “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
   • What are you thankful for?
   • Have you ever really meditated on this verse
   • Have you ever continually praised God all day long !!
3. Read the following verses , then discuss the blessings found in the verses.
   • Eph 1:3-14
   • Romans 5:1-11
   • Romans 6:1-23
   • Romans 8:1-31
4. Share thoughts on the sovereignty of God.
5. Share your experience / or thoughts on how worship is a spiritual battle.

In Gal 4:21-31, Paul refers to a well-known Old Testament story about Hagar and Sarah. He then draws theological implications from the story, and finally applies it to us today. He says that in a manner of speaking,  all of mankind can be classified as spiritual descendants of one of two mothers – Hagar and Sarah. He then goes on to talk about the implications of this in Gal 5:1-12. We who believe the gospel are the ones who are Sarah’s spiritual descendants, and it means we are completely free in Christ. However, if we try to earn favor with God, we automatically forfeit all the benefits of the gospel. The gospel is exclusive. We need to either accept it as a free gift from God in Christ Jesus, or we would be “fallen from grace” and “severed from Christ”. The implications are very serious. This is the main reason Paul wrote this letter to the Galatians.

The Example of Sarah and Hagar (Gal 4:21-31)

He starts off by facing the false teachers directly. “Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you listen to the law”? (Gal 4:21). We can ask: who are those “who desire to be under the law”? Certainly it applies to Jews, and to the Judaizers who had infiltrated the church. But it also applies to every person alive today who thinks we need to do something to earn favor with God – basically every one of us, before we knew Christ. So let us see what Paul has to say!

To make his point, Paul first looks at the historical situation, then makes a theological argument, and finally applies it to us today.

The History (Gal 4:22-23)

Paul is drawing extensively on Old Testament History here. This was well known to the Jewish readers in Galatia. However, for those who are not familiar with the Bible, this can be very confusing. So let us walk through the Old Testament story of Abraham that is being referenced here. We will look at the incidents of Abraham’s life according to his age at the time they occurred.

Abraham at 75: God calls Abraham to go to Canaan, and promises him many children – too many to even count. At this time, Sarah is barren (Gen 12:1-9). In obedience, Abraham packs his bags and leaves, trusting God in faith (see Heb 11:8).

Abraham at 85: 10 years later, the promised son still hasn’t arrived. Sarah becomes impatient, and tells Abraham to have a child through her Egyptian slave maid Hagar. Abraham agrees and thus they both take matters into their own hands because they do not trust that God will fulfill His promise without some help (Gen 16:1-3)!

Abraham at 86: Hagar gets pregnant, and Sarah becomes jealous. We may think we can do things better than God, but the outcome may not turn out the way we planned, and it can be painful. It gets so hard for Hagar that she runs away. God intervenes and sends Hagar back, promising to take care of her. Then she bears a son, who Abraham names Ishmael (Gen 16:4-16).

Abraham at 99: 13 years later, God appears to Abraham and promises him a son through Sarah and tells him to name that son Isaac  (Gen 17:15-19)! Sarah is past the age of child-bearing at this point. Later God makes the same promise to Sarah (Gen 18:9-11). She laughs at the thought, but lies about it when confronted by God (Gen 18:12-15). Sarah laughed, because she knew that it would need a miracle for this child of promise to be born. Things got even more complicated at this time when Abraham again acts in fear and lies to King Abimelek that Sarah was his sister. Abimelek takes Sarah to his harem, but God graciously intervenes and prevents the king from touching Sarah, and warns the king to return Sarah to Abraham immediately (Gen 20:1-18). Do not miss that fact that God waited 24 years after he made his promise to Abraham. In fact, God waited until Abraham and Sarah were “as good as dead” (Rom 4:19). 

Abraham at 100: Exactly as promised, Sarah bears a son, who they call Isaac (Gen 21:1-3). He was the son of promise, and God accomplished this promise through humanly impossible odds.

Abraham at 103: There is a celebration after Isaac is weaned at age 3. At this time Ishmael who is now 17, mocks Isaac. Sarah sees only one solution to this problem but this is a costly one. Both the slave Hagar and her son Ishmael should be cast out of the family. This breaks Abraham’s heart, but God confirms that Abraham should do this and both Hagar and Ishmael are “cast out” (Gen 21:8-14).

Reading this, it just appears to be the story of a family problem. However, beneath the surface are meanings of tremendous spiritual implications. Abraham, the two mothers Hagar and Sarah, and the two sons Ishmael and Isaac, represent two different spiritual realities, as Paul will go on to explain.

One of the things that caused Jews most pride was that Abraham was the father of their race. God had made a divine covenant with Abraham and his descendants, so Jews thought they were eternally and irrevocably safe. This is why John the baptist warned them: “Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father’. For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise children to Abraham” (Luke 3:8). Similarly, when Jesus taught the Jews: “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32), they responded: “Abraham is our father, and we have never been enslaved to anyone” (John 8:33,39). Jesus then said that their actions proved that spiritually they were not children of Abraham, but children of the Devil (see John 8:39, 44).

Paul elaborates on what John the Baptist and Jesus had taught. He said that true descendants of Abraham could be either a Jew or a Gentile. “If you are Christ’s then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise” (Gal 3:14).

So there is a double-descent from Abraham. The false and the true. Paul sees this illustrated in Abraham’s two sons Ishmael and Isaac. Both had Abraham as their father. But there are two important differences between them.

• One was the son of a slave, the other of a free woman. Ishmael and Isaac took after their mothers. So one was a slave, the other was free.
• In a sense Ishmael was born “of the flesh”. His birth was done completely apart from God in a totally natural way. On the other hand, Isaac was born because of God’s promise. His father was 100 years old, and his mother who was barren, was 90 and past the age of child-bearing. Ishmael was born according to nature. Isaac was born against nature, supernaturally, because of an exceptional promise of God.

Allegorical interpretation (Gal 4:24-27)

Although this was a human story, there is a deep spiritual meaning to it. The two women Hagar and Sarah, stand for two covenants – the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.

It is hard to understand the bIble without an understanding of the two covenants. After all, the bible is divided into two parts – the Old and the New Testaments, meaning the Old and the New Covenants. A covenant is a solemn agreement between God and men. God established the Old Covenant through Moses, and the New Covenant through Jesus. Remember how Jesus said during the last supper: “This is my blood of the New Covenant …” (1 Cor 11:25). The people under the Old Covenant were Jews, but the people under the New Covenant are Christians. The law was given at Mount Sinai in Arabia representing the present Jerusalem (Gal 4:25), but Christians worship in the “Jerusalem from above” (Gal 4:26), or the New Jerusalem that the book of Revelations talks about (Rev 21:2).

Let us see what the apostle writes about the two women Hagar and Sarah.

Hagar is the mother who bore her son in slavery, and this stands for those under the Old Covenant of the Mosaic law. She also represents the present Jerusalem, for “she is in slavery with her children” (Gal 4:25). 

Sarah is different. She is our spiritual mother, representing those from the “Jerusalem above” (Gal 4:16). As Christians we are under the New Covenant. Our citizenship in this New Jerusalem is not bondage but freedom.

Paul then goes on to quote from Isaiah: “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband” (Isa 54:1). This prophecy was made to the Israelites who had been driven away from their land in exile. The prophet likens them to a barren woman whose husband has turned away. He says that the future state will be a restoration to a fruitful mother with more children than ever. In other words, God promises that his people will be more numerous after their return than they were before. This did not happen when the Jews returned from exile. Paul is saying that the real fulfillment was spiritual. He is saying that the growth of the Christian church is the true fulfillment of the promise, and that Christians are the true spiritual descendants of Abraham.

I would like to make a small, but important digression here, so that we can spend some time digesting the significance of this quote from the Old Testament. God is promising to add children into His family from the far reaches of the world. This means that there is something far more significant than bearing physical children. If we are believers, then sharing the gospel and adding new “children” into God’s family is better than having physical children. Paul, for example, called the Galatians “my little children” (Gal 4:19), and the apostle John says: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in truth” (3 John 1:3). This is good news for married couples who have not been able to have children and also for single men and women, including those who are divorced or widowed. They also can play a significant role in God’s Kingdom by adding spiritual children or by discipling them. This is why Isaiah says: “Rejoice, O barren one” (Isa 54:1). Everything radically changed after Jesus came. Remember that when his family came to take him home thinking he was mad, he looked around at his disciples and said, “here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God is my mother and brother and sister” (Mark 3:34-35). In a sense our “real” family is no longer our physical families, but our eternal, spiritual one. As adopted children of God, we have a much larger group of brothers and sisters – and they constitute our “real” family. If you struggle because you have not been able to have children, or if God has called you to be single for whatever reason, or if you are still waiting for God to show you the right person to marry, take heart. Invest your lives in fulfilling the Great Commission, and your lives will be truly significant and fulfilling. Jesus was single and was the most complete human being who ever lived. We don’t know if the apostle Paul was ever married, but we do know that he was single when God called him, and that he remained single for the rest of his life. Yet God used him in such a powerful way spread the gospel in the first generation, and 2000 years later we are also the fruit of his labor.

Anyway, let us get back to Paul’s argument. Paul has used the story of Sarah and Hagar to illustrate freedom in Christ and bondage apart from Christ. Both Isaac and Ishmael were sons of Abraham, however they were very different. Similarly, Paul is saying that the real question spiritually is: who is our mother. Is it Hagar or is it Sarah?

Practical Implications (Gal 4:28-31)

Having drawn the parallel between the historical story of Hagar and Sarah with Jews and Christians, Paul goes on to elaborate on the consequences by way of application.

Namely, if we are Isaac’s descendants, we can expect to be treated the way Isaac was treated. The treatment that Isaac got from his half-brother Ishmael is the treatment Isaac’s descendants can expect from Ishmael’s descendants. And the treatment that Isaac got from his father Abraham is the treatment that Isaac’s descendants can expect from God (Gal 4:28).

We must expect Persecution (Gal 4:29): Isaac was weaned and was a boy of 3 years old. Ishmael was 17. We do not know the details of exactly how Ishmael persecuted Isaac, because we only read that he “laughed” or “mocked” Isaac (Gen 21:9). Yet it is clear that Isaac was the subject of Ishmael’s scorn and derision.

We must expect the same. The persecution of the true spiritual descendants of Abraham is not always from the world, who are strangers and unrelated to us. It can come from our half-brothers – religious people, those who are just nominally in the church. Jesus was bitterly opposed and ultimately killed, by His own people the Jews. The fiercest opponents of the Apostle Paul also came from the Jews. The greatest enemies of Christians today are not unbelievers. Many of them embrace the gospel when they hear it. The greatest enemies often come from within the church itself. So let us not be surprised when we experience such things, but rather as Jesus said, let us “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matt 5:12).

We will receive an inheritance (Gal 4:30-31). There was a time Abraham wanted Ishmael to have his inheritance, but God said it would be Isaac (Gen 17:8-21). Paul quotes the verse: “Cast out the slave woman and her son” (Gal 4:30, quoting Gen 21:10). Jews had traditionally interpreted this as God’s rejection of the Gentiles. However, Paul boldly asserts that in reality it is “the law rejecting the law”. i.e., the exclusion of unbelieving Jews from the inheritance.

This then is the double-lot of the Isaacs. The pain of persecution on the one hand, and the privilege of an inheritance on the other. This is the paradox of the Christian experience, that Paul describes elsewhere that our lives are “through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything” (2 Cor 6:8-10).

For Freedom Christ Has Set Us Free (Gal 5:1-12)

Paul summarizes the entire section of chapters 3 and 4 of Galatians with this comment: “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal 5:1). If you think about Paul’s teaching so far, it echoes the words of Jesus: “The slave [i.e., those apart from Christ] does not remain in the house forever; the son [i.e., those in Christ] remains forever. So if the Son [Jesus] sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:35-36). As often happens, you see a seed in the teaching of Jesus, and it is expanded and explained when we read the rest of the New Testament! After making this statement, Paul reminds his hearers that this freedom is exclusive. We cannot have one leg on both sides. He gives his warning in three ways

Slave: Don’t Lose Your Freedom (Gal 5:1)

The freedom Paul is describing is not so much to set us free from the bondage of sin (at least, not yet), but to set our conscience free from the guilt of sin. It is not freedom from sin, but freedom from legalism. It is freedom from the dreadful struggle of trying to be good enough to be accepted by God. So he is encouraging his Galatian readers as he is encouraging us today – don’t lose your freedom and become enslaved again.

Debtor: Don’t Lose Your Spiritual Wealth (Gal 5:2-4)

As we have seen, the false teachers were insisting that Christian converts needed to be circumcised. Why is Paul making such a big deal about it? Circumcision is a pretty superficial, minor surgery. However, it has deep theological significance. The issue represented a particular type of religion, namely – salvation by good works. Thus they were declaring Jesus to be insufficient for salvation. So Paul says that if they did this, then “Christ will be of no advantage to you” (Gal 5:2). He goes on to say that to rely on good works brings them back to square one. They would need to keep the entire law perfectly (see also James 2:10). They will be “severed from Christ” and “fallen away from grace” (Gal 5:4).

You cannot have it both ways. It is impossible to receive Christ and thereby acknowledge that you cannot save yourself, and then go back to circumcision, thereby claiming that you can. You have to choose between a religion of law and a religion of grace.

So what is the true gospel? Paul summarizes it in Gal 5:5-6.  It involves faith given to us by the Holy Spirit, that enables us to trust God’s promises that the death of Jesus is sufficient payment for all of our sin, and for our acceptance before God. That is our hope. It is a “hope of righteousness” (Gal 5:5) – a hope that even as today we have a right standing before God, one day we will be completely cleansed and holy and stand in God’s presence forever. Therefore Paul says that this salvation has nothing to do with whether we are circumcised or not, but involves faith that works through love (Gal 5:6).

Paul makes it clear that the freedom in Christ does not give us a license to live any way we please. Our lives are lived “through the Holy Spirit” (Gal 5:5), and it is “working through love” (Gal 5:6). What he is saying is that our righteousness is not obtained by external controls and rules, but by something God does inside us.

Runner: Don’t Lose Your Direction (Gal 5:5-12)

He starts this section by saying “You were running well. Who hindered you … “ (Gal 5:7)? The picture is that of a great race. They started well, but someone had cut into their lane, and they started running in a different direction.

Here are 3 things Paul says about the false teaching:

• • Its origin was “not from Him who calls you” (Gal 5:8)
  • Its effect was that they were being hindered in their race (Gal 5:8). Also, Paul describes it as the false teachers were “troubling” them (Gal 5:9), and that they were being “unsettled” (Gal 5:12). Paul also said that this false teaching was contagious. “A little leaven leavens the whole lump” (Gal 5:9).
  • Its end: There would be punishment. The false teachers would “bear the penalty, whoever he is” (Gal 5:10).

Paul then turned to them. It appears that the false teachers had dared to even say that Paul was supporting them in what they taught. Paul denies it. “If I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted” (Gal 5:11)? He has already pointed out that the true children of promise would be persecuted. If Paul was preaching circumcision, he would be saying that people could save themselves by their own good works. If that were so, why was the cross even necessary? “In that case, the offense of the cross has been removed” (Gal 5:11). If there was nothing offensive, he would not be persecuted, so clearly the false teachers were misrepresenting Paul. So he finally says”I wish those who unsettle you will emasculate themselves” (Gal 5:12).

Persecution or opposition is the mark of every true Christian preacher. As we saw in chapter 4, the “Isaacs” of this world are always persecuted by the “Ishmaels”. The Old Testament prophets experienced it, and so did the apostles. To this day, Christian preachers who refuse to dilute the gospel have had to suffer for their faithfulness.

Application

The good news of the “cross of Christ” is still a scandal. It is a deep assault against the self-sufficiency of man. It tells people that they are sinners and rebels, under the wrath and condemnation of God, and that they can do nothing to secure their salvation. However, Jesus came to die and to take that condemnation on Himself, and only through Christ crucified can they be saved. The only way to be popular and avoid offending people would be if we preach “circumcision”, i.e., if we teach morality rather than the gospel. This is often tempting, because morality is never offensive and has universal appeal. On the other hand, if we preach the gospel, we will arouse ridicule and opposition.

Today we are living in an age of tolerance. We love to have the best of both worlds. However, the gospel forces us to choose. We have to be decisive. Is it the free salvation offered by God through Jesus Christ or is it us trying to add our own good works and merit to gain acceptance before God? The one represents human achievement, while the gospel speaks of divine achievement. The one means bondage, while the gospel means grace, faith and freedom. Each of us must choose. It is impossible to try to do both. By attempting to add good works, we are forfeiting all that we could have gained through Jesus Christ.

Jesus + Nothing = Everything

Jesus + Anything = Nothing

Behind all of this is our attitudes and motives. Under the law we flatter and praise ourselves for our goodness. Under Christ we humble ourselves in our helplessness.

The History

Paul takes us back to Abraham, who lived 2000 years before Jesus. If you recall, God called him out of the land of Ur of the Chaldees to make an almost 1600km journey to Canaan. He gave him an unconditional promise in the 12th chapter of Genesis: “I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen 12:2-4). God confirmed it through an unconditional covenant in the 15th, 17th and once again in the 22nd chapter of Genesis: “I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Gen 22:17-18). 

Abraham had a son as promised by God, named Isaac. God confirmed his promise to Isaac: “I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen 26:3-4).

Isaac had a son Jacob, to whom also God confirmed his covenant with Abraham. “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Gen 28:13-14).

Notice the repeated phrase in God’s promise: “in your offspring shall all the nations/families of the earth be blessed”. Paul uses this phrase in his argument.

As we trace Jacob’s life, we find that Jacob died in Egypt and not in the promised land. He and his descendants continued to live in Egypt for 430 years (Exodus 12:40-41).  The Israelites grew into a great nation but they were enslaved in Egypt until the time of Moses, where God miraculously delivered them out of Egypt. He led them through the wilderness to Mount Sinai where He gave them the law through Moses. They eventually possessed the promised land.

The Theology

The key point to note is that God’s dealings with Abraham and with Moses were based on completely different principles. To Abraham it was a promise, and to Moses it was the law.

Paul is going to convincingly demonstrate  that Christianity is based on the way God dealt with Abraham (promise), not the way God dealt with the Israelites through Moses (law).

God’s Covenant with Abraham was By a Promise (Gal 3:15-18)

Paul makes a volley of points here.

1. In verses 15-18, Paul uses the example of a “Last Will and Testament” that a person makes (the word “covenant” in some translations could be better rendered “will” in this context). Such a will can never be modified once it has been established. In fact in ancient Greek Law, it could not be modified even when the person making the will was still alive. So if this is true for a human will, how much more immutable would be a promise made by God. It can never be rescinded. When God gives the law through Moses 430 years later, Paul’s point is that this can never annul the promise God made earlier to Abraham and make it void (Gal 3:17). The covenant with Moses would imply that the inheritance comes by the law. But if so, it no longer comes by a promise, but God gave it to Abraham through a promise (Gal 3:18).
2. Paul makes a note that the promise of the blessing of the nations would be through Abraham’s offspring (singular) and not “offsprings” – plural (Gal 3:16). This points to a single future Savior, who Paul identifies as Jesus Christ.
3. The promise was made directly by God, but the law came “third-hand” to the Israelites. It was delivered through God’s angelic agents to Moses the mediator and then to the people (see Acts 7:53 and Heb 2:2). I.e., God -> the angels -> Moses the mediator -> the People (Gal 3:19-20). How could something which was delivered “third-hand” to the people be more important than something that was given directly and was also given hundreds of years earlier?

Paul Answers Objections (Gal 3:19-22)

You can almost imagine the Judaizers bristling with indignation with Paul’s passionate arguments here. This was the cause for Paul’s arrest that was instigated by the Jews in Jerusalem: “This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place” (Acts 21:28). They would blurt out in indignation: “Paul, you have made a direct leap from Abraham all the way to Jesus and have completely skipped over Moses and the law. According to you, what is the purpose of the law”?

So Paul answers these objections

1. Why then the law? (Gal 3:19). Paul’s answer is: “It was added because of transgressions”. This is hard to understand as it stands, but most likely it means that the law was necessary to define sin. It is explained in more detail in Paul’s letter to the Romans: “through the law comes the knowledge of sin” (Rom 3:20). He also says: “Where there is no law there is no transgression” (Rom 4:15). And he then gives himself as an example to say: “If it were not for the law, I should not have known sin” (Rom 7:7)
2. Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? (Gal 3:21). This is Paul taking on the offensive, and asking this question of his detractors. He then goes on to say that they were being very theoretical. They were saying “keep the law and you will gain life”. So Paul shoots back: “if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law” (Gal 3:21). However, in practice no one can keep the law. So rather than giving life, “Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise of faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe” (Gal 3:22).

Under the Law and In Christ (Gal 3:23-29)

Paul has now given us a survey of 2000 years of history. Having answered anyone among the Judaizers who might have objected, he now completes his thought by contrasting two groups of people. Those who are “in Christ”, and those who are “under the law”.

The reason Paul says that the law held us captive and imprisoned us (Gal 3:23) is that those under the law have no way of escape. Since we cannot keep the law, we are sinners, and can never please God. This is our prison. We are under condemnation  apart from Christ. This is why John says: “Whoever believes the Son is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already” (John 3:18). Many of us are familiar with John 3:16, which speaks of God’s love for the world which was so great that He sent His only Son. However, John goes on to say that those who do not believe in this Son, Jesus are “condemned already”. Everyone is already in a state of condemnation apart from Jesus. This is the prison every human being is in, and their only hope is Jesus.

Paul also says the law was our guardian (Gal 3:24-25). It provided some level of protection against anarchy until the time of Christ, when the promise was fulfilled. There were also punishments when the law was not kept. Transgression needs punishment. But once Jesus came, this guardian is no longer necessary.

Paul goes on to say, “In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith” (Gal 3:26). Please note that Paul says “sons” and not “children” because in that culture sons received the father’s inheritance. This is not a sexist comment. Legally we are like “sons” before God. The word applies to both men and women in that all those who believe in Jesus are heirs of God as His sons. Paul makes this crystal clear a few verses later, in Gal 3:28.

God is no longer the judge who through the law has imprisoned us and condemned us.  God is no longer our guardian, who through the law restrains and chastises us. God is now our Father who has accepted us and forgiven us in Christ. We no longer fear Him, dreading the punishment we deserve, but love Him with deep devotion. We are neither prisoners awaiting our final judgment, nor are we minors constrained by a guardian, but we are now adult sons of God and heirs of His glorious inheritance.

Here is another opportunity we have to address some wrong thinking in our culture and also among Christians. God is not a universal Father. That concept is foreign to the Bible. He is the universal Creator who brought all things to existence, and He is also the universal King who rules the entire universe that He created. But He is only the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ and of those who are adopted into His family through faith in Jesus Christ. He is Father to the believer, and Judge to the unbeliever. He accepts the believer with great love as our Father, and condemns unbelievers to hell as the absolutely righteous Judge. Let us not squander any of the precious promises of God that are only for His children, to those who do not believe in Him. Those promises do not apply to them. J I Packer says that being a child of God is one of the distinctive characteristics of being a Christian, and our greatest privilege. More on this in our next study.

Paul then says we have “put on” Christ in baptism (Gal 3:27). He is saying that when the believers identified with Christ in baptism, they had in a sense “put on” Christ.

Paul then goes on to draw the logical conclusion if we are all sons of God:

1. We are one (Gal 3:28)
2. We are heirs, and Abraham’s true offspring  (Gal 3:29)

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28).

• There is no distinction of race
• There is no distinction of rank
• There is no distinction of social class
• There is no distinction of sex

In Jesus Christ we are all brothers and sisters, and this supersedes every conceivable human boundary possible.

And Paul concludes this thought with a flourish. Those who are in Christ are Abraham’s true offspring, and also heirs of God according to promise (Gal 3:29).

Application

Paul has made a grand sweep of human history in today’s text. It is a powerful antidote to the “philosophy of meaningless” in today’s culture. Today it is fashionable to say (or believe) life has no meaning or purpose. If this were true, what is there to live for? An increasing number of people identify themselves with the “no religious affiliation” category. Such people have no goal in life and are headed nowhere. In biblical terminology, such people are “lost”. They do not realize that this life is not all there is. They will one day have to face their Creator as their Judge, and will be condemned to spend an eternity in Hell, away from fellowship with God forever.

However, in Christ we find ourselves. We have a significant place in eternity. This gives us infinite three-dimensional significance:

• Height – we are children of God and heirs with Christ of the promise
• Breadth – the gospel breaks every possible barrier between human beings.
• Length – we join the vast line of believers through the entire history of the human race in this relationship with God.

So let me ask each of you here. Are you “in Christ”? As you can see, the chasm between those in Christ and those who are not, is very, very wide.

I would like us to look at these truths through two lenses. One which looks at the grand purposes of God, and the other that looks at why we are here.

The grand purposes of God: Some people seem to think the Bible is a vast trackless jungle, very confusing and full of contradictions. However, the glory of the Bible is that it is extremely coherent. The whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation tells the story of God’s sovereign purpose of grace. It reveals His master-plan of salvation through Christ. This is why God created the world. He wanted to display his glory to the fullest extent possible to a group of people who were made in His image. This is our inheritance – to know the infinite God of the universe as our Father and enjoy Him and His creation, completely free of any limitations for all of eternity.

What we studied today, sweeps through the entire Old Testament and into the New Testament. He brings together Abraham, Moses and Jesus and spans a period of about 2000 years. This is a satellite survey of the entire Old Testament landscape. There are some mountain peaks like Abraham and Moses. Then there is mount Everest – who is Jesus Christ, who towers over all of Scripture. God’s promise to Abraham was confirmed by Moses, and fulfilled by Jesus Christ. It shows us the unity of the entire Bible.

There is a great need today, for us to have a biblical view of ourselves and of history. We get so distracted with our current problems in the 21st century that we do not care much about the past or the future. We need to take a step back and view the whole counsel of God. His everlasting purpose was to redeem a people for Himself through Jesus Christ. We need to look back. Even before Abraham was Adam through whom sin and judgment entered the world. We also need to look forward to the final consummation when Jesus returns with power and great glory to reign forever. Our God is systematically working out His plan. And through the Bible, he allows us to have a glimpse of it, and invites us to become a part of it.

Why do we exist? After God gave the promise through Abraham, He gave the law through Moses. Why? Because He needed to allow things to get worse before they could get better. The law exposed sin, provoked sin and condemned sin. The purpose of the law was to unmask our veneer of respectability and expose what we are really like underneath – sinful, rebellious, guilty, under the judgment of God and completely helpless to save ourselves.

The law must be allowed to complete its God-given duty. One of the faults of the contemporary church is to soft-pedal sin and judgment. This does people a great disservice. It is only when we know we are sick that we recognize our need for healing and seek it. It is only when we know that we stand guilty and condemned before God that we know that we are hopeless apart from our Savior. We must never bypass the law and come straight to the gospel. To do so goes against God’s own plan of biblical history.

This is why the gospel is so unappreciated today. Some ignore it, and others ridicule it. It is only in the inky blackness of the night sky that stars appear. No one has appreciated the beauty of the gospel until the law has exposed his own sin. It is only in the background of sin and judgment that the glory of the gospel shines forth.

We see this truth in the parable of the Prodigal Son. There were two sons. Both were lost in different ways. The first by open rebellion against the father, and the second who expected to earn his father’s approval by being good. The story ends with the father embracing the prodigal son (Luke 15:22-24), while the older son is angry and resentful (Luke 15:25-32). He never experienced the depth of his father’s mercy and love, because he thought he was self-sufficient. This truth is also illustrated by Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14).. The Pharisee prayed: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get” (Luke 18:11-12). But the tax collector “stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner’: (Luke 18:13). Jesus ends by saying: “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. (Luke 18:14). Remember, we saw that the word “justified” means that God’s verdict on this man was “righteous, not guilty”. The tax collector understood his sin and his desperate need of God, and therefore God was delighted to declare him righteous and to save him. That is the power of the gospel!

“Not until the law has bruised and smitten us will we admit our need of the gospel to bind up our wounds. Not until the law has arrested and imprisoned us will we pine for Christ to set us free. Not until the law has condemned and killed us will we call upon Christ for justification and life. Not until the law has driven us to despair of ourselves will we ever believe in Jesus. Not until the law has humbled us even to hell, will we turn to the gospel to raise us to heaven” (John Stott).

Note: I was very blessed, and have liberally used content from John Stott’s commentary on Galatians, “Essential Freedom” (IVP, 1988)

Coming to today’s text we will look at Galatians 3:1-14. Paul could have concluded his letter at the end of chapter 2. He has made his point, that justification is by faith alone. But thinking about the Galatian Christians, his feelings overwhelm him as they did in Gal 1:6, and he begins a whole new section for the next two chapters to buttress his statement of the gospel with theology. We will see the first few of his arguments here.

1. An appeal to their own experience (Gal 3:1-5)
2. The example of Abraham (Gal 3:6-10)
3. Two roads leading to two destinies (Gal 3:11-14)

“O Foolish Galatians! Who has Bewitched You”? (Gal 3:1)

Here is an interesting question. How could the Judaizers ever convince the Galatian Christians that the way of the law was better than the way of grace? Paul asks them “Who bewitched you”, or “Who cast a spell on you”? 

Of course Paul knows who deceived them. It was the Judaizers. However, there is a subtle hint here, that there is more going on. There is a spiritual battle being waged against their souls (1 Peter 5:8) which is being masterminded by Satan. Behind the false teachers, Paul sees the activity of the devil himself, whom Jesus calls a “liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

The reason this was so astonishing to Paul, is that it was “before [their] eyes that Jesus was publicly portrayed as crucified” (Gal 3:1). The word could be translated “placarded”, as in announced in a poster and waved in public. In other words, Paul is saying that “the message of Jesus as Messiah who died on the cross was plastered up in bill-boards before your very eyes” (Cole). Paul had preached about the death of Jesus with crystal clarity. Remember, Paul preached in Galatia exactly the way he did at Corinth, where he said, “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2). Paul did not allow his preaching to get distracted from the single point of the death of Jesus on the cross. So let us ask ourselves. Is this the focus of the preaching we often hear today? If not, we may possibly be listening to a false gospel.

Why is the gospel of works so enticing? Because it panders to our old nature. It enables us to compare ourselves with others, and to feel proud. It enables us to have a sense of superiority to others. This is why we are always tempted to add to the gospel. But to yield to that temptation is deadly, and our eternal destiny could be at stake.

When Paul says Jesus was publicly portrayed as “crucified”, the word is in the perfect participle. This means it was a once-for-all event, but the benefits of Jesus’ crucifixion are forever valid and fresh. The death of Jesus was completed, and it achieved its purpose perfectly. The gospel is not good advice for men, but good news about Christ. It is not an invitation to do anything, but a declaration about what God has done. It is not a demand but an offer.

This is why Paul is saying that if the Galatians had grasped the gospel of Christ crucified – that everything necessary for our salvation was accomplished by the death of Jesus on the cross, they should have resisted the spell of whoever was bewitching them. They were enticed because they did not carefully think through the implications.

Here is a sobering truth. The gospel needs to be grasped by our minds and not just by our hearts and our emotions. We need to think deeply and process its truth and make it our own. This is how we grow deep spiritual roots. Cole says “theology is nothing more than the ordinary rules of grammar and logic applied to the text of Scripture”. This is the gift that our education gives us as Christians. We can use all our study of language and grammar to help us understand the deep truths of God. Ultimately the only purpose of education is to help us understand God more. Everything else is chaff that will pass away and has no eternal value.

Was All This in Vain? (Gal 3:2-5)

Paul first appeals to the Galatians’ own experience. Usually it is dangerous to depend on our experience, so Paul will not stop here. This is a launching pad for him to buttress all his assertions from Scripture.

He asks them how they initially received the Holy Spirit. Paul is making an implicit assumption here that he states explicitly elsewhere. To have new life in Jesus Christ is to receive the Holy Spirit in our lives (see Rom 8:14). This is a good place for me to point out another false teaching that is prevalent among us today. There are some who teach that after accepting Jesus, we need to live a life of purity and seek after a “second blessing” called the baptism of the Holy Spirit that is evidenced by tongue speaking. Here Paul is clearly stating that our conversion is marked by our reception of the Holy Spirit. I would like you to keep this false teaching of the second blessing in the back of your mind as we go through today’s study, and evaluate it in the light of what the Bible says here.

Paul goes on to say “Did you suffer (or experience) so many things in vain – if indeed it was in vain?” (Gal 3:4). He is basically saying that if they go back to semi-Judaism, all that they experienced will be worthless. I.e. They will not be saved. Another way of looking at it, they “began in the Spirit” (Gal 3:3). That is they were “born again”. They had a new spiritual life. How can they feed that spiritual life by trying to be “perfected in the flesh” (Gal 3:3)? That does not make sense. They need to continue in the same way that they started. They cannot go back to what would only gratify their old natures.

Once Saved, Always Saved?

Clearly, Paul sees the possibility that all that the Galatians experienced could have been “in vain” (Gal 3:4). This is why he also says, “I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.” (Gal 5:3-4). He also says, “I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you: (Gal 4:19). So regarding the maxim: “Once saved always saved”; is it true? By this, if we are asking, “Can a professing Christian fall away”? The Bible’s answer is clear. “Yes”.

The reason this is not necessarily the full story is because God makes certain promises, e.g. John 3:16. All those who believe “will not perish but have eternal life”. Jesus promises that He will not cast away anyone who comes to Him (John 6:37). He promises that “no one can snatch us from His hand” (John 10:28). Everyone who is “justified” will also be “glorified” (Romans 8:30). So those who look at this question from the standpoint of what is called “Reformed Theology”, point out that if God is true to His Word, He is promising to take the responsibility of keeping all those who come to Him in faith and are “justified”. Jesus is the good Shepherd who keeps His sheep (John 10:9).

But if that is true, how can a professing Christian fall away? Here is how we reconcile both these strands of biblical teaching. We have already seen from Galatians, that it is possible to “come to Christ” without putting our entire trust in Him. In today’s society, it is possible to come to Christ for the sake of all the blessings we think we will get if we become Christians. There are people who come to Christ because they think God will become their “bartender” who will give them whatever they want, be it health, wealth or prosperity. There are many reasons people may “accept Christ” but may not really understand the gospel, who do not come solely trusting the finished work of Christ. Sometimes I have heard preachers preach that if we come to Christ, God will take care of our problems, and our lives will become very fulfilled. That is not the gospel. If they give an altar call with such a message, many may come forward without really understanding the true gospel at all. Therefore, there could be many of us who think we are Christians, but in reality have believed a false gospel and are not saved at all. We may then attend Bible studies, go to church regularly, read the Bible and pray, and yet still not be saved. Then when difficulties come, we get disillusioned with God and lose our faith. This is what happened to the seeds that fell on rocky soil and among thorns. Both started to grow, but never bore fruit. Their growth was external without penetrating into their hearts. I.e. they appeared to be saved, but never were and so they fell away. This is why we sometimes see those who appeared to be strong Christians, preachers even, who have walked away from their faith. There is no guarantee that apart from repentance they will be accepted by Jesus on the final judgment.

Then how can we know we are saved? Never 100%. The Bible uses the term “assurance” of salvation. It is not a guarantee, but a gift given to us by the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit testifies with our spirits that we are the children of God” (Rom 8:16). When we are walking with God our assurance is strong. When we stop walking with God, He withdraws our assurance, along with the sense of His Presence, to draw us back to Him. This is God’s gift to His children, to draw them back to Him through this unease that they feel. Those who subscribe to the reformed view will go as far as to say the evidence of true salvation is that a person remains faithful to Christ until death. We may wander, but God will draw us back. Those who fall away and never come back have most likely demonstrated that they were never saved. “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:19). While we are on earth, we need to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” (because eternity is at stake) (Phil 2:12). We need to battle against sin because our passions “wage war against our souls” (1 Peter 2:11) and because Satan seeks to devour us and destroy us like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8). Please note, only God knows who really belongs to Him. He sometimes disciplines sinning believers with death, but that does not necessarily mean they were not saved (see 1 Cor 11:30). If you have a loved one who accepted Christ and then walked away, and is now no more, only God knows if that person had really put his or her trust in Jesus. We cannot see the heart. For ourselves however, we are warned to keep watch over our own souls.

So in summary, is “once saved, always saved” true? There are some who would say “no”. Others would say “yes” and “no”. “Yes” is from God’s standpoint. God knows those who are His, and He will preserve them and keep them in His fold (2 Tim 2:19). However in either case, from a human standpoint, the evidence of our salvation is by the fact that we remain in the faith and bear the fruit of the Spirit (Matt 24:13). It is dangerous to just look back to a time in the past when we “accepted Christ”, and be confident we will be saved. Many will say to Him on the last day: “Lord, Lord, did we not do x, y and z” (Matt 7:22), and He will say “Depart from me, I never knew you, you who practice lawlessness” (Matt 7:23). It doesn’t matter what we professed in the past, or even profess now. If there is no evidence of new life in us, we need to heed Christ’s warning. Let us not be lulled into a false sense of security. Regardless of which view we hold, we can only be confident of our salvation to the extent we are walking with God. This sense of assurance sometimes waxes and wanes as we live our lives, and that is God’s way of making us “work out our salvation with fear and trembling”.

However we cannot face sin, trials or truly love if we are stunted by fear, because our motivation for doing such things will be wrong. We won’t seek God for His own sake. If you lack assurance of your salvation, you will question His care for you. So if you are wrestling with doubt, spend time studying the BIble, praising God and filling your mind with Scripture. Does this make you saved? No because these are works (see Eph 2:8-9). But doing this will remind you of the gospel. We need to be constantly reminded of Who God is, and what He has done – that we are saved by grace, not works! Don’t rely on your feelings. Trust His promises.

Abraham Become Righteous By His Faith (Gal 3:6-9)

Paul then points out that Abraham became righteous while he was still a “kind of Gentile”. Let us recall the story. Abraham was an old man. Although he had no children, God promised him a son. One day he took him outside on a clear night’s sky and showed him the stars and said “so shall your descendants be” (Gen 15:5). The bible then records “And he believed the Lord and He counted it to him as righteous (Gen 15:6). Remember what we said about “justification” last week. It is a declaration by God that we are “not guilty” and have a right standing before God. This verse indicates that Abraham was “justified” in this sense at that very moment. This was well before Isaac was born, and definitely well before God instituted circumcision as the sign of His covenant with Israel. Paul is therefore pointing out that Abraham was justified by faith, and not by works.

Paul then takes this a step further. He says that Abraham is the “father of the faithful”. He takes us back to an even earlier promise God made to Abraham. “In you shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Gal 3:8, referring Gen 12:3). Paul says this was the gospel that was first preached to Abraham. Everyone who has faith in God are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith (Gal 3:9).

Two Roads, Two Destinies (Gal 3:10-14)

Paul explains this further by providing two alternatives to the Galatians, both from the Old Testament.

1. “The one who does [the deeds of the law] shall live by them” (Gal 3:12 quoting Lev 18:5)
2. “The righteous shall live by faith” (Gal 3:11, quoting Hab 2:4)

These are two completely different paths, but both offer eternal life. Do you remember Jesus’ answer when the rich young man came to Jesus with the question “What must I do to obtain eternal life” (Mark 10:17)? Jesus answered the question. “You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother” (Mark 10:19). God’s promise with regards to keeping the commandments was “do this and you will live” (Luke 10:28). The problem is, that no human being besides Jesus has ever kept all the commandments perfectly. And God’s promise of life through the law has a flip side. “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all the things written in the book of the Law and do them” (Gal 3:10, quoting Deut 27:26). This means every one who tries to please God by obeying the law is under God’s curse.

Then Paul goes on to say that Jesus took on our curse on Himself. He does this by pointing to the fact that by hanging on the cross Jesus was cursed, according to Deut 21:32 which says “a hanged man is cursed by God”. This was the same curse we are under because we cannot keep the law. Jesus was cursed by God because of our inability to please God. This is why Jesus cried out from the cross “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me” (Mark 15:34)? He Himself bore God’s curse for our sins. This is why we are saved when we put our trust in Jesus. Our sins have been accounted for and we have been set free or “redeemed”.

Paul says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by being a curse for us” (Gal 3:13). Redemption always has the connotation of being “bought with a price”. It is used for slaves who were purchased, or prisoners who were set free. The actual price that obtains redemption is called the ranson. Paul is saying that Jesus purchased our salvation through his death on the cross. Jesus said: “The Son of Man did not come to serve but to be served, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). The apostle Peter says it beautifully: “you were ransomed … not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:19). His blood was “precious”. Our redemption was costly. Yet Jesus did this for us.

Paul also says Jesus became a curse “for us” (Gal 3:13). This has the idea of substitution. Jesus’ gave up his life as a substitute for mine. He died the death we deserved. He took our place and bore our punishment. We deserve God’s curse for our sin and Jesus bore that curse in our place. Therefore, when we put our trust in Him we are no longer under that curse. The penalty of sin has been paid. We are free!

So Paul is challenging the Galatians, just as he is challenging us today. Which road should we take? One, where the price is paid in full, and our freedom from the curse of the law has been secured in Christ? Or do we think we can help God by working for our salvation? If we do, we remain under God’s curse, and are not saved. This was what is at stake for the Galatians, and what is at stake for us, if we do not rely wholly on the cross of Jesus for our salvation.

Application

What the gospel is. The gospel is Christ crucified. It is His finished work on the cross. To preach the gospel is to publicly portray Jesus Christ as crucified. The gospel is not primarily a baby in a manger or the teachings of a wise teacher, or even just the empty tomb. The gospel contains Christ on the cross. Only when Christ is seen “publicly portrayed as crucified (Gal 3:1) is the gospel being preached. This was not just a historic event that happened 2000 years ago. It has relevance today, because Jesus bought our salvation on that cross. He died as our substitute, and faced God’s curse in our stead. We need to be confronted with this crucified Jesus, and we need to come to this crucified Christ for our salvation.

What the gospel offers. The gospel offers great blessing. God’s promise to Abraham was “in you all the nations of the earth will be blessed”. What was this blessing? First it was “justification” (Gal 3:8). Second, it is the gift of the Holy Spirit (Gal 3:5). These two gifts are interdependent. Both come together . Everyone who is justified get the gift of the Holy Spirit. This marks the beginning of new life in Jesus Christ – a life that bears the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). It is a life that lasts forever, where we will spend all our days in the Presence of the One who redeemed us as a people to Himself.

Although the gospel is free for us, it came at a terrible price. Paul says to the Corinthian Christians: “You were bought with a price, therefore glorify God with your bodies” (1 Cor 6:20). Jesus paid the ultimate price to redeem us. The ransom was His very life blood, that He shed for us. Let us not take this lightly, but let us bow down in gratitude and worship before this God who was willing to pay so much to set us free.

What the gospel requires. The gospel offers blessing. What must we do to receive it? Nothing. Just believe that it has already been won for us by Jesus who died on our cross to procure it for us. This is the gospel of both the Old and the New Testaments. It unifies all people of faith in the history of the world. One day we will all celebrate this gospel together with Jesus. A gospel of grace, through and through! What a blessing this is!

Part of the life of the early church was that they participated in a communal meal called an “Agape Feast”, or “Love Feast”. Here the whole congregation came together to share a meal prepared from them pooling whatever resources they had. For some slaves, this may have been the only nice meal they had all week. It was a powerful statement of the togetherness of Christians in a very special way.

This is all very good. However, we must not forget that there were Jews who had very strict food laws and ceremonial laws, and that Gentiles who did not have these constraints. Jews literally believed (and it was true under the Old Covenant) that God only accepted people who identified with the Jewish people and submitted to their laws. A strict Jew was forbidden even to do business with a Gentile. So in Antioch, this posed a problem because the church had both Jews and Gentiles. If the old law was obeyed it would be impossible for Jews and Gentiles to sit together and eat a common meal.

When Peter first visited Antioch, he completely disregarded the old taboos in the glory of the new faith. But later some people came from the Jewish party in Jerusalem in James’ name. It is important that this does not imply that these people shared James’ views, or were actually sent by James. In fact, James says he did not send them. He says, “We have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instruction” (Acts 15:24).

Out of fear of them, Peter withdrew from the common meal. Then other Jews also followed Peter’s example, including even their pastor Barnabas. However, it gets worse. This meal probably ended with the Lord’s supper. If Peter joined the Gentiles during the meal, then surely he also participated in their remembrance of the Lord’s death by celebrating the Lord’s Supper together. So by not joining the Gentiles during the meal, he was also withdrawing from fellowship with them over the Lord’s Supper.

Peter should have known better. He heard directly from Jesus Himself, that the food we eat cannot defile us, because it just goes through our bodies and comes out again later. Jesus taught that true defilement originates in the heart, not in external things (Mark 7:14-23). Then he had another revelation from God regarding this, that prompted him to share the gospel with the Roman Gentile, Cornelius (Act 10:9-29). He later defended his actions with full conviction (Acts 11:1-18). This is why when Peter first went to Antioch he had no qualms eating with the Gentiles. However, because he was “fearing the circumcision party he withdrew and mingled only with the Jews (Gal 2:12).

Considering Barnabas, remember that he was the one who introduced Paul to the apostles in Jerusalem (Acts 9:27), and Barnabas invited Paul to minister in the church at Antioch, which began Paul’s public ministry (Acts 11:25). Yet here, “even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy (Gal 2:13). Most likely for Barnabas it was a matter of love. He did not want to grieve the people who came from Jerusalem. But for Paul that was “peace at any price”. And Paul was not willing to buy peace on those terms.

Paul Confronts Peter and Barnabas (Gal 2:14)

At this point Paul decided to act very firmly and decisively, because he saw that a church ceases to be Christian if it contains class distinctions. If we are all children of God, then we need to be able to fellowship together. Paul considers the situation serious enough that he needed to deal with this in public. Paul was willing to oppose Peter as well as his friend because the truth of the gospel was at stake. Interestingly, Paul calls Peter “Cephas” here (his old name prior to being renamed by Jesus). This is a subtle reminder that Peter was not living in the light of his new life.

Peter may not have realized it, but by withdrawing from the Gentiles, he was implicitly saying that Jews were superior to Gentiles. In some ways the Gentiles lacked something the Jews had. Otherwise why would they separate? Now, if you pressed Peter to this point, he would no doubt have denied it. But Peter’s actions asserted it. Just because Peter did not do it consciously or deliberately, did not make it ok. His actions had serious consequences and he needed to be held accountable for his behavior.

Paul starts off by pointing out the basic inconsistency in Peter’s behavior. First Peter did not follow Jewish ceremonial law and ate with the Gentiles, thus “living like a Gentile”. Then by associating with the circumcision party, he was tacitly agreeing with them that in order to be a true Christian, Gentiles must live like Jews (Gal 2:14). But worse than inconsistency, Paul points out that this is hypocrisy. And Peter’s actions were not just personal, but he was misleading others as well.

In addition to using this incident as a means of showing how important the true gospel is, Paul was also showing through this that he was independent of the other apostles, and also had apostolic authority.

This is probably one of the watershed incidents in the history of the church, that God used to preserve the purity of the gospel to us. Imagine what would have happened if Peter and Barnabas’ actions won out. The church at Antioch would have stopped being a “missionary church”. They would have sent out their “missionaries” from the circumcision party that would have either consumed or divided the early church. But this issue did not become a crisis because of Paul’s swift intervention. We may not be here today, if Paul had not defended the integrity of the gospel so vigorously.

Peter’s Response

How did Peter respond to this confrontation? The Bible does not say. However it has to be that Peter acknowledged his sin and was restored to fellowship. When we read Peter’s two epistles you see that Peter teaches exactly the same gospel of grace in God as Paul does. The word “grace” is found in every chapter of Peter’s letter. Peter also makes it a point to say that he and Paul were in complete agreement (2 Peter 3:15-16). In fact, Peter calls Paul’s letters “Scripture” that “unstable people distort”. This is the highest praise for Paul by the apostle Peter, showing that this incident did not destroy their friendship and unity in Christ, but rather, strengthened it.

Why This Issue Was So Serious: Gal 2:15-21

This section continues with Paul’s confrontation with Peter, and we don’t know exactly when it becomes general teaching from Paul. It contains key words (“sin”, “works”, “justification”, “grace”, “the cross”, “faith”, “union with Christ”) which comprise the heart of the gospel. Here Paul first outlines the gospel, and then spends Galatians chapters 3 and 4, defending it.

Paul gives three arguments explaining why the integrity of the gospel was at stake.

1. The basis of our justification before God
2. Freedom from the law
3. The reason Jesus needed to die.

Justification by Faith (2:15-16)

This is the first appearance of an important word in this letter. “Justification by Faith” was the slogan of the Reformation, and we need to understand what “justification” means. Many of these thoughts have been taken from Theodore Epp’s commentary on Galatians.

Job asked: “How can a person be just before God” (Job 9:2)? God’s answer is “The just shall live by his faith (Hab 2:4). This truth liberated Martin Luther from religious bondage.

Justification is “The act of God, whereby he declares a believing sinner righteous in Jesus Christ”. It is a one-time act, not a process. No one christian is more “justified” than another. God is the one who justifies (Rom 8:33). By obeying the works of the law, no one can be justified. Paul explains later in this letter that the law’s purpose is to reveal sin, not to redeem us from sin.

In justification, God “declares” a person righteous. He does not “make” the person righteous. Of course justification leads to a changed life, which is what James 2 was all about. But justification is an act of God. Before a person was “guilty” before God, but the moment he trusts in Christ he is “not guilty”, and he can never be called “guilty” again!

Justification is more than “forgiveness”. If a person is simply forgiven and let go, he can do wrong again, and become guilty all over again. But once you have been justified by faith, you can never be held guilty before God.

Justification is also more than just “pardon”. A pardoned criminal still has a record. However, in God’s sight God no longer holds our sins on record (see Psa 32:102, Rom 4:1-8).

Finally, God justifies “sinners”, not good people. Paul says that God justifies “the ungodly” (Rom 4:5). The reason most sinners are not justified is only that they will not admit that they are sinners, or come to Christ. It is only such people who can be saved by Jesus.

This is why when Peter separated himself, implicitly implying that Jews were better, he was undermining the truth that all Christians stand equally justified before God due to no merit of their own.

Freedom From the Law (Gal 2:17-18)

The apostle Peter calls the Mosaic law a “a yoke that neither we or our ancestors were able to bear” (Acts 15:10). Here by his actions he was going under that yoke of bondage again.

Paul therefore says, “But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor” (Gal 2:17-18).

This sounds complicated, but he is basically saying: “Peter, you and I did not find salvation through the law. We found it through faith in Christ. But now after being saved you are going back to the law. This means Christ alone did not save you, otherwise you would not have needed to go back to the law. Further, when you preached the gospel to both Jews and Gentiles you told them they were saved by faith and not by keeping the law. Now by going back to legalism, you are building up what you yourself had torn down. So by tearing it down you were also sinning. And this would lead us to conclude that Jesus caused you to sin, making Jesus a ‘servant of sin’”.

Putting it another way, Paul is reminding Peter of his own experience of the grace of God in his life. To now go back to Moses is to deny everything God had done for him.

“Crucified With Christ” (Gal 2:19-20)

For Paul, the “once-for-allness” of his conversion will not allow him to turn back. The law had taken him to the gates of death. He was a condemned criminal without any hope. In turning to Christ the darkness left him symbolized by his regaining his sight, and the light streamed in. So he was happy to let his past reliance on the law die. And he would never go back there.

He then says something very precious in Gal 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me”.

This is a powerful statement for the total sufficiency and efficacy of the work of Christ. The cross was for Jesus, a complete break from life. Paul is using this metaphor. In putting his faith in Jesus, he had died to his old way of life by trying to please God by following the law. He is dead to all claims that would commend him by way of the law. There went all his hopes. A lifetime of accumulation of “merit” was wasted. In a sense the old Paul died.

But Paul goes on to say something positive. “I have been crucified … yet I live”. Live in what sense? It is Christ living in him now. Every moment he lives in constant dependence on Him. He looks to Jesus for everything. This is a life that matters, and Paul cannot even consider the thought of going back.

He then says something absolutely mind blowing: He says Jesus “loved me, and gave Himself up for me”. This is so fantastic we fail to really believe it. Jesus’ love is intensely personal. Jesus did not die for the world in general. He looked through the portals of time, and saw you and me, and when He gave up His life, it was for “me”, personally. He set Paul apart before he even was born. He has done the same for us who know Christ. He has loved us even before we existed. Think about it. Put your name alongside the “me” in this verse. “The life I now live … I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me, Peter, and gave Himself up for me, Peter”! Think of the magnitude of that love. Jesus saw you and me, and chose to give up His own life to save us!

Why Did Jesus Have to Die (Gal 2:21)?

Paul gives one final argument in this section. He just asks a simple question, namely this. If it is possible to please God by doing good things and being obedient, then why did Jesus have to die in the first place? This is beautifully captured in the song by the band Mercy Me called “Best News Ever”. Some of the lyrics go like this:

Some say, “He’s keeping score”
So try hard then try a little more
But hold up, if this were true
Explain to me what the cross is for

Think about it. Even before the incarnation, Jesus was the Lord of creation. He ruled the universe, and He chose to step down and be humiliated and mistreated, and cruelly murdered on a shameful cross. Remember in Gethsemane, He cried out to His Father that if it was at all possible that God would remove this “cup” from Him (Mark 14:36)? The Father did not remove that cup. This means the death of Jesus was absolutely necessary for our salvation.

When we think we can earn God’s favor, we are effectively insulting all that Jesus did for us and “nullifying the grace of God” (Gal 2:21). The fact that earning God’s favor is impossible is why Jesus came. He came because we couldn’t help ourselves. He came because we were horribly guilty and there was nothing we could do about it. So He chose to take away our guilt by bearing it on Himself. If we put our trust in Him, God looks at us and declares that we are “Not Guilty”. The transaction is completed. It is done. Nothing can change this. Is this good news or what!

Application

Have I been saved by the grace of God? This is a question we need to ask ourselves. Grace is “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense”. Am I trusting in myself for my salvation? My morality? My good works? My religion? If so, I am not a Christian. A true Christian is one who trusts in Christ alone for salvation. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God – not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph 2:8-9).

Am I trying to mix law and grace? Law means I must do something to earn favor with God. Grace means God has already done everything for me through the finished work of Jesus Christ. Salvation is not by faith plus something. Salvation is by faith alone. While attending church and other religious activities have their place as good expressions of our faith in Jesus, they can never be added on to our faith to secure our eternal salvation. “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace” (Rom 11:6).

Do I really believe that I have been justified in Christ? It has been said “justified” means “just as if I had never sinned”. This is correct. We have a right standing before God, and God does not hold us guilty for any of our sin. “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psa 103:12). We need never fear judgment, because our sins were already judged on the cross. “There is therefore now no condemnation for us in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1). Do we really believe this? This is tremendously liberating.

Even Christian leaders can seriously sin. This incident about the apostle Peter shows that even though he was the leader of the Jerusalem Church, he also had feet of clay. This should be an encouragement to us. If Peter could make such a serious mistake and be restored, then there is hope for us. The gospel is tremendously freeing in this way. It frees us from the guilt and burden of sin.

I need to respond well to confrontation. Peter’s humility in response is also good for us to think about. He did not hide behind his reputation or his position in the church. The fact that Paul and Peter had a good relationship with each other after this says something about Peter’s humility. This is also a consequence of the freedom available to us in the gospel. We can allow ourselves to be vulnerable and acknowledge when we do wrong. We are fully “justified” before God, so there is nothing for us to prove. This security frees us to be vulnerable.

My relation with other Christians. Let us now think in terms of Christian fellowship. When we refuse to eat at the Lord’s table with one whom we yet acknowledge to be a fellow Christian, it can only be because we think we have something that the other has not. Whether it be membership of a certain denomination, or the mode of baptism, or apostolic succession or some other theological doctrine. This is what Paul opposed so strongly, because he will point out presently that our standing before God is only by faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross, and on nothing else.

Am I willing to defend the truth at all costs? On the flip side of this, when the fundamental truth of the gospel is being compromised by someone we know, “peace at any cost” is not worth the price. This was Barnabas’ approach. This incident also shows us the power of loving confrontation when a fellow believer is seen to be sinning. A Christian who loves God, will be grateful to receive criticism, because he sees it as God’s way of showing him things in his life that he may be blinded to. The Bible says, “The kisses of an enemy are profuse, but faithful are the wounds of a friend” (Proverbs 27:6). Let us learn to encourage correction from Christians we trust. This is a tremendous tool God uses to help us grow in sanctification.

Relationship between faith and good works

So a question came up about why Jesus condemns people in Matthew chapter 25 based on their absence of good works: “I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me” (Matt 25:42-43). 

Here is an illustration to help us understand the point.

We will be seeing from Paul’s letter to the Galatians that the gospel has a very strong foundation that goes all the way back to a promise God made to Abraham. The entire gospel is God’s outworking of that promise, that reached its climax in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Gentiles (and that includes us) became “grafted” into faith because the Jews rejected Jesus and were “cut-off”. The universal church has grown out of that solid foundation of the apostles and the prophets and we are a part of it. There is no other gospel that can save us.

Our faith is the instrument of our salvation, and the outworking of our salvation is the “fruit of the spirit” as we will see later in this book, and “good works” that glorify Christ. Without new life through faith in Christ, “all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” (Isa 64:6). If there is genuine faith, the works will follow. Thus James says “faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:17) i.e., it was not faith at all. So Jesus can look at our lives for fruit. If he does not see any, He can say “Depart from me, I never knew you” (Matt 25:41). If there is no fruit, we are not part of the tree that comes from the one true gospel, and we will justly fall under Christ’s condemnation at the final judgment.

Early Life of Paul After his Conversion

In today’s passage, Paul is going to show us how he was taught by God Himself. Let us now turn to Gal 1:11-24. Paul says three things about himself here.

People were questioning his authority, and the source of Paul’s teaching. They were accusing him of not preaching the same gospel as was preached by the apostles in Jerusalem. There were trouble-makers following Paul and discrediting Paul’s teaching, and saying Gentiles needed to be circumcised. So Paul explains why his teaching is from God, and also consistent with that of the other apostles.

Paul Was a Persecutor

Paul was a very learned “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee … as for righteousness based on the law, faultless” (Phil 3:5-6). He was “brought up … at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God” (Acts 22:3).

Paul approved of the execution of Stephen (Acts 8:1) and was “ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison” (Acts 8:3). Luke says that during this time he was “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord” (Acts 9:1), and at this time he “went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem” (Acts 9:1-2).

Then something unbelievable happened! Saul of Tarsus the persecutor of the church became Paul the Apostle, the preacher of the gospel. This change was not gradual. While he was on the way to Damascus, He met Jesus who stopped him in his tracks (Acts 9:3-6). The glory of Jesus blinded him temporarily, and his heart made a full turn. The man who was so zealous in persecuting the church was instantly transformed into a man who would expend his life teaching and building up the church, undergoing much suffering, and paying the ultimate price for doing so.

How did this change come about? Could his fellow jews have caused it? No, they were the ones encouraging him in his rampage.  Was it caused by the Christians he was persecuting? No! They were terrified to come near Paul when he went to Damascus. So if it was neither the Jews nor the Christians, who caused it? It had to have come about by God!

Paul Became a Believer

Thus Paul became a believer in Jesus. In Galatians he says several key facts about his conversion.

1. God did it (Gal 1:15)
2. Personally to Paul (Gal 1:16). God had “set Paul apart before he was born (Gal 1:15). God set His love on Paul and set Paul apart. God does this for each one of us as well. His love to us is not general but personal.
3. By grace (Gal 1:15). Paul did not deserve this revelation, but God gave it to him by His grace. Out of that grace, God “called” Paul. The effective call of God always comes because of the grace of God. The two go together.
4. Through Christ (Gal 1:16). Paul was changed because God “was pleased to reveal His Son in me”. To accept the gospel is to see Jesus clearly. Paul saw Jesus by physical revelation. We see Jesus with clarity in His Word through the illumination of the Holy Spirit by disciplined study.
5. For the sake of others (Gal 1:16). God did not change Paul just to save Paul, but also that he would be God’s instrument in saving others.
6. For God’s glory (Gal 1:24). Any true work of God will result not in praise of a person but in God being given glory.

Let us now ask a different question. Paul was an ardent student of the Old Testament, as we know. How had he completely missed the boat regarding Jesus until Jesus appeared to him?

Paul, just like all unbelieving Jews, had “a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge” (Rom 10:2). He says in 2 Cor 3:14 of all unbelieving Jews including himself, that whenever he read the Old Testament there was a veil over his face that blinded him from seeing the truth.

The veil that prevented Paul from seeing the truth was instantly stripped away from his heart. Suddenly the Bible of his day came alive to him in a way that it had never been before. So what do you think Paul did? He went away to Arabia for 3 years (Gal 1:17). Why? He wanted to sit at the feet of Jesus. Jesus told Paul on that Damascus road that he was to “witness to the things in which [he] had seen [Jesus] and to those in which [Jesus] would appear to [him]” (Acts 26:16). Did Jesus physically appear to him and teach him as is possibly indicated from Acts 26:16? We do not know for sure. However, that is not necessary for what followed. Do you remember one of the last things Jesus said to his disciples?  “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:12-13). So in Arabia, Paul unlearned all that he had learned, and relearned the truth through the Holy Spirit, along with some new revelations. And boy! Learn he did! And you know what? None of this came from any human being, but directly from God Himself (Gal 1:16-17).

God used Paul’s brilliant mind as well as his intimate knowledge of the Old Testament to help him understand and clearly formulate what it really meant. Remember, Jesus said the Pharisees had failed to recognize Jesus even though a proper reading of the Old Testament should have made it obvious? “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote of Me” (John 5:46). Paul gets to clearly understand God’s grand plan of redemption spanning the history of humanity, completely harmonizing with the Old Testament. This is the wealth that we get when we study Paul’s writings in the New Testament, as we are doing now.

Paul is Now a Preacher

Let us now create a brief timeline of the initial 15 odd years of Paul’s life after his conversion.

• Initial preaching in Damascus (Acts 9:20-22).
• Deep private study in Arabia for 3 years (Gal 1:17).
• Brief visit to Damascus, then Jerusalem. He spent only 15 days in Jerusalem meeting Peter and James, being introduced by Barnabas. Likely the other apostles were too afraid of him to meet him. During these 15 days, he also did a lot of preaching (Gal 1:18-20, Acts 9:26-28). He did not have much time with Peter and James for them to have been able to teach him the “whole counsel of God”. 
• Back to Syria and Cicilia. He may have preached on the way there. Tarsus is in Cicilia. He remained in Tarsus for 7 years working privately and not preaching much. He apparently did not want to impose himself, but to allow God to confirm his calling through others. Being so far from Jerusalem, not many Christians knew him, other than rumors “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy” (Gal 1:23).
• Persecution drove Christians out of Jerusalem, and some of them witnessed in Antioch, and many people became Christians (Acts 11:20). The church in Jerusalem sends Barnabas to pastor the new church in Antioch. Barnabas remembered Paul, and went to Tarsus looking for him and brought him to Antioch as its co-pastor (Acts 11:25-26). This is when Paul’s ministry as an Apostle officially began.
• Paul and Barnabas collect relief to the poor in Jerusalem due to their losses after the famine and persecution (Acts 11:30).
• Antioch church commissions him and Barnabas on their first missionary journey (Acts 13:2).
• Paul and Barnabas visit southern Galatia in his first missionary journey founding these churches in Southern Galatia – Antioch in Pisidia (Acts 13:13-52), Iconium (Acts 14:1-7), Lystra (Acts 14:8-19) and Derbe (Acts 14:20-23).
• Paul and Barnabas return to Antioch and give a report of their journey (Acts 14:24-26).

Paul Endorsed by the Apostles (Gal 2:1-10)

So Paul and Barnabas are back in their local church Antioch. However, some of the Judaizers go there and cause trouble, saying that Gentiles must be circumcised (Acts 15:1). There is a big conflict and debate between them and also Paul and Barnabas, and they are sent to Jerusalem to figure it out. They take Titus, a gentile Christian with them (Gal 2:1).

Paul meets the apostles privately to make sure they were all on the same page (Gal 2:2). There was some conflict because of “false brothers” who infiltrated the meeting (Gal 2:4), but Paul and Barnabas did not “did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved” (Gal 2:5). The results were huge. Titus was not forced to be circumcised (Gal 2:3). The apostles found nothing lacking or wrong in Paul’s teaching (Gal 2:6-8), and extended fellowship to them. Even more than that, they endorse Paul going to the Gentiles. The only thing they asked was that Paul was not just about theology but also about compassion (Gal 2:10), and that was exactly what Paul and Barnabas were already doing in Antioch (Acts 11:30).

Application

Zeal is Not Sufficient for Salvation. Paul said that Jews are lost apart from Christ, even though they have “zeal without knowledge”. Let us note that if this was true for Jews, it is also true for every non-Christian friend we have, even the most sincere, zealous ones. It is possible to be very sincere and very zealous and not be saved. Every one of our friends needs the gospel, or they will be eternally lost.

The entire Bible is the Word of God. Let us not think that the “red letters” in our Bible, which are the words of Jesus have more value than the rest of the Bible. Paul makes it clear that everything he has said came directly from God Himself. His words are no less inspired than the words of Jesus. What we have in the books of the New Testament after the four gospels, are the things Jesus knew His disciples could not bear at the time they were with Him, and promised that the Holy Spirit would remind them of his words (John 14:26). He would also reveal to them the things Jesus could not tell them yet (John 16:12-13). This covers Acts and all the epistles. The Holy Spirit would also reveal to them things to come (John 16:13). This includes the Book of Revelation. So if you have had questions about how we know that the New Testament is inspired, here it is!

The miracle that happened to Paul happens to everyone who becomes a Christian. All of us were spiritually blind before we knew Christ. The Bible says the gospel “is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor 4:3-4). However, the Bible says: “when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed” (2 Cor 3:16). This is what Jesus calls being born again. It is a supernatural miracle that God performs in our hearts. So suddenly it is as if the lights are turned on. Paul likens this miracle to that when God said “Let there be light” during creation. “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor 4:6).

We See God’s Glory in Scripture With “Unveiled Faces”. Once this miracle happens in our hearts, Paul says “we all, with unveiled faces” are “beholding the glory of the Lord” (2 Cor 2:18), through the illumination of God the Holy Spirit. This is why you are all here in this Bible Study. The Holy Spirit is giving you glimpses of the glory of God and you are hungry for more. And as He satisfies that hunger while you gaze at the picture of the glory of Christ as revealed in Scripture, each of you “are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor 3:18) through the power of the Holy Spirit! What a privilege each of us have to encounter God in this way!

I would like to encourage each of you who are not seeing these glimpses of the glory of God from His Word, the way I have just described. The indwelling Holy Spirit makes His Word alive to all whose hearts have been touched by Jesus Christ. So if you find the Bible to be a dry book, ask God to open your eyes, and to touch your heart. What happened to Paul happens to us – just as miraculously if not as dramatically! Jesus can really reveal Himself to you from his Word, and this is the most precious gift He gives us as believers – the unspeakable privilege of being taught the meaning of the Word of God by the Holy Spirit to enable us to grow in our knowledge and love of God.

A few families are gathered in the living room.  They welcome us warmly.  The worship begins.  There is no organ here to lead us in our singing. But the praise songs are just as sweet and come from the heart. As in the other church, a leader leads us in prayer and Bible reading. Another gives the message. After the service, we have a happy time visiting with our brothers and sisters in this church.

You may wonder ‘what is a church?’  The church of the Lord Jesus is not a building. Each church is the people who meet together in the Lord’s name.  As a family of believers, we love and care for each other, pray and support each other and serve each other. Then, the Bible says, there is one church in the whole world!  What does that mean? The Christians all over the world, who have put their faith in the Lord Jesus and have decided to follow only Him, form this church. The Lord Jesus is the ‘Head’ of this church.  This church is called the ‘Body of Christ’. He breathes his life into his church and cares for us.  We are his very own.

 The Bible says: “Christ is the Head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior.” As you are reading this, wherever you may be in the world, whatever your culture and language maybe if you are a follower of Jesus, you belong to the world-wide church of our Lord. And you are my brother or sister in Christ.  Isn’t this wonderful?! I love you and I pray for you. I care about you. Are you glad, my friend, that you came to church with me to worship God with his family today through these pages?

Prayer: “Lord Jesus, thank You for making me a part of your world-wide church family.”