Subject 15 : The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the GALATIANS
[Chapter 1-7] Legalistic Life of Faith Brings Only Curses (Galatians 1:1-24)
(Galatians 1:1-24)
“Paul,
an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and
God the Father who raised Him from the dead), and all the brethren who
are with me,
To the churches of Galatia:
Grace
to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who
gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present
evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory
forever and ever. Amen.
I
marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the
grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there
are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But
even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than
what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said
before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you
than what you have received, let him be accursed.
For
do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I
still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
But
I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me
is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I
taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
For
you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the
church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. And I advanced in
Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more
exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
But
when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called
me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him
among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood,
nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I
went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
Then
after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained
with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except
James, the Lord’s brother. (Now concerning the things which I write to
you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.)
Afterward
I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was unknown by face
to the churches of Judea which were in Christ. But they were hearing
only, ‘He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he
once tried to destroy.’ And they glorified God in me.”
The
number of visitors to our website continues to increase. On average, we
have more than 4,000 visitors a day, and we expect this number to
increase into the near future. Lately, we have had visitors not just
from the English-speaking world, but people speaking different languages
from all over the world, including Third World countries from Asia,
Africa, and Latin America. So I am that much more thankful to God.
Although there were a few disappointments from time to time, I am still
rejoiced to see how God has born the fruit of evangelism and blessed
us.
Also,
new books designed to nurture our fellow believers continue to be
published. Now, the sermon series on Genesis is about to be updated in
its e-book format, but I hope that even more books will be published
soon. I believe that we will then get nearer and nearer to the day when
people all over the world find the gospel of the water and the Spirit
through our website.
The Purpose for Which Paul Wrote This Epistle
Paul
sent his epistle to the saints in the region of Galatia in order to
correct their faith. In this epistle, Paul wrote about his faith,
describing what kind of faith it was.
In
Galatians 1:1, he wrote, “Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through
man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the
dead),” and down below in verse 12, he wrote, “For I neither received
it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of
Jesus Christ.”
The
Apostle Paul wrote this epistle to warn against the teachings of the
circumcisionists, who had thrown the churches of Galatia into confusion
at that time. Instead of believing in the gospel of the water and the
Spirit, the gospel preached by the Apostle Paul, the circumcisionists
considered something else—that is, physical circumcision—to be more
important than the real gospel. In other words, there were some people
in the churches of Galatia teaching that the believers could become
God’s people not by their faith in the baptism of Jesus Christ and His
blood on the Cross, but by keeping the Law of God and receiving physical
circumcision.
That
is why the Apostle Paul said, “I marvel that you are turning away so
soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different
gospel” (Galatians 1:6). And he then rebuked the circumcisionists’
schemes, saying, “Which is not another; but there are some who trouble
you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.”
There
could be no other gospel in this world other than the God-given gospel
of the water and the Spirit. Yet despite this, the Galatian Christians
preferred physical circumcision and were more fond of it. It can
therefore be concluded that they had followed the lust of their flesh
with their legalistic faith.
The
Apostle Paul was so enraged at the legalists that he said to them, “But
even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you
than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8).
First of all, we need to realize here what exactly was the content of
the gospel preached by the legalists that it compelled the Apostle Paul
to say that if anyone preached “any other gospel to you than what we
have preached to you, let him be accursed.”
The
most terrifying words to hear in this world is the damnation to be
cursed by God, and it was such damning words that the Galatian saints
heard from Paul. The reason for this is because they had forsaken the
gospel of the water and the Spirit to lay far greater emphasis on
physical circumcision. That is why Paul’s heart was inevitably aroused
to righteous anger.
The
“other gospel” here does not mean that there is another gospel apart
from the gospel of the water and the Spirit, but it refers to a false
gospel claiming that we can become God’s people only if we keep the Law.
In other words, the other gospel was demanding a legalistic faith from
the Galatian saints.
What,
then, was this legalistic faith before God? It was one that stressed
the importance of the Sabbath and also demanded physical circumcision.
As a result, the saints of the churches of Galatia came to emphasize
their legalistic faith more than their faith in the gospel of the water
and the Spirit. “If you want to believe in Jesus and be saved, you must
also be circumcised in your flesh just like any Abraham’s descendants,
keep the Sabbath, and live according to the Law. And you must not eat
any animal that does not have cloven hooves, nor should you eat any
animal that was hung to death, nor can you eat any animal that died of
natural causes, but you must eat every food discriminatingly according
to the statutes of the Law.” It was this kind of useless belief that
they were advocating.
In
reality, if you and I were to turn away from the gospel of the water
and the Spirit to live a legalistic life of faith, then we would also be
accursed by God. Can we become God’s children through our legalistic
faith? No, even for us, who believe in the gospel of the water and the
Spirit, if we end up relapsing back to the legalistic life of faith,
then we would also die spiritually.
Does
this then mean that it is wrong to be so zealous to keep the Law? One
should be eager to know the real Truth and to serve this Truth; if one
is devoted to just about anything without even knowing the gospel Truth
of the water and the Spirit, then this itself is practicing even more
wickedness.
No
legalistic faith can ever be approved by God. Those who have such faith
interpret the Bible literally—for instance, where the Word commands us
not to work on the Sabbath, they believe this by the letter, and so they
don’t even cook from the sunset on Friday to the sunset on Saturday,
eating what they had already prepared instead. They don’t even travel on
the Sabbath, since according to the Law, they are not supposed to step
outside home beyond a few steps. In doing so, they take their strict
obedience to the Law as their own righteousness. Such an attempt to
establish their own rightfulness by faithfully keeping not only the Law,
but even the traditions passed down orally from their ancestors, is to
live a life of faith that rejects the blessings of the God-given grace,
and instead piles up God’s wrath on their own heads.
A
representative gathering that tries to keep the Law literally is the
Seventh-day Adventist Church. The Adventists always raise the issue of
when the Sabbath is at first. They argue that the Sabbath is from the
sunset on Friday to the sunset on Saturday, and that one must keep the
specific day and hours exactly. Also, since no one is supposed to work
on the Sabbath, it’s said that they had a big argument amongst
themselves over whether or not they should turn on the light during
their worship hour on the Sabbath. That’s because there were some people
who argued that turning on the light was indirectly responsible for
making the power plant’s employees work, and so they shouldn’t turn on
the light during the worship service. If this is the case, then they
would have to use no electricity whatsoever even at home, and for tap
water as well, they would have to use what they had stored beforehand.
It’s completely laughable.
Faith
in the real Truth is not a legalistic faith, but is one that believes
in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Yet many Christian
denominations do not realize this. That is why their followers are so
much more zealous to keep the Law. But still, even now, they must
believe with their hearts that the Son of God has perfectly saved them
from their sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. They
must believe in God the Father, they must believe in the salvation of
love coming through His Son, and they must thereby receive God’s
blessings and glorify Him.
The Reason Why God Gave Us the Law of Justice
My
fellow believers, why did God give us the Law? God gave us the Law so
that we would realize and know our sins (Romans 3:19-20). For these
Galatian saints, however, it wasn’t enough to just keep the Law in
everyday life, but they taught that anyone who wants to be one of God’s
people must be physically circumcised. When people came to the Galatian
churches to believe in Jesus as the Savior, they were taught that they
had to be physically circumcised first.
These
false prophets ruthlessly denounced any believers who were not
physically circumcised, arguing that they could not become God’s people
unless they were physically circumcised. They rebuked the new believers,
saying, “God commanded all the people of Abraham to be circumcised. So
how can you refuse to be circumcised, just because you believe in Jesus?
Are you then greater than Abraham?” So given this, it was inevitable
that the faith of the Galatian saints would be spiritually corrupted. As
a result, they eventually came to assign more importance to another
gospel insisting on the necessity of circumcision, and so now it became
meaningless to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, even
though they had believed in this true gospel at first.
Is
it then really only when we keep the Law of God that we are saved from
all our sins to become God’s people? There are 613 commandments and
statutes in the Law of God. In fact, the Jewish people have not only
these 613 statutes of the Law, but they also have thousands of
traditional commandments passed down from their ancestors. But can
anyone really keep all these statutes? No, no one can ever live by the
Law. Mankind is absolutely incapable of keeping the Law. That is why the
Bible says, “If there had been a law given which could have given life,
truly righteousness would have been by the law” (Galatians 3:21).
Therefore, the fact that the believers of the Galatian churches were
quarrelling over the issue of whether one should be physically
circumcised or not is the very evidence of the fact that they were now
no longer following the Truth. So you can imagine just what was going on
in the churches of Galatia.
The
Apostle Paul felt the acute need to reestablish the faith of the
Galatian saints on the Word of Truth. So, to remind them of his faith he
had delivered to them, Paul said, “Paul, an apostle (not from men nor
through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him
from the dead)” (Galatians 1:1). Paul said here that the gospel he
believed in was not from men. Indeed, this gospel was not through man,
but it was the gospel of the water and the Spirit that came from the
Lord.
The
gospel believed and preached by the Apostle Paul was not learnt from
man. John 1:17 says, “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and
truth came through Jesus Christ.” Through whom was the Law given to us?
God spoke it to Moses and Moses relayed it to the people of Israel.
This Law of God was given so that people would realize and know their
sins (Romans 3:19-20).
Grace
and truth, on the other hand, came through Jesus Christ. The grace of
God here means His gift, indicating that the Truth of real salvation was
given to us as a gift through Jesus Christ. That is why the Apostle
Paul said, “The gospel which I preached to you was not learnt from man,
nor did it come through man, but it came through the revelation of Jesus
Christ.” Paul made it clear here that it was because Jesus had shown it
to him and spoke it to him that he knew and believed in this gospel. In
other words, Paul received the remission of all his sins by believing
that Jesus Christ had saved him by being baptized for him, dying on the
Cross, and rising from the dead again.
Paul
therefore admonished the Galatian saints earnestly, saying, “That is
why I preach the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit to people. Why,
then, are you preaching a gospel different from the gospel of the water
and the Spirit preached by me? Do you realize what a fallacious
teaching it is to say that one is saved from sin only if he both
believes in Jesus and keeps the Law as well? Why are you preaching a
different gospel other than the gospel of the water and the Spirit? You
will then be cursed by God. You should never preach any other gospel.”
Paul said this because he had so much pity for the Galatian believers,
as they were heading straight to hell by themselves.
Even
for those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, if
they fall into a legalistic faith, then they will also perish away
spiritually. There is no exception here. Do you think there is any other
cause for the spiritual death of a Christian? One will perish for sure
when he tries to be saved by believing in another teaching apart from
the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Nothing is complicated here. If
one emphasizes the Law and leans toward legalism, then this itself is to
believe in another gospel, and its end is death.
There
is no other gospel in this world. The true gospel is the gospel of the
water and the Spirit, and there cannot be any other gospel. All other
gospels other than the gospel of the water and the Spirit, on the other
hand, are teachings that invariably require the acts of mankind as a
condition of salvation. Is this how you believe: “Although I have
received the remission of my sins by believing in the gospel of the
water and the Spirit, I still have to keep the Law, and I also have to
try hard not to commit sin. If I sin by any chance, then I have to wash
it away through my prayers of repentance”? None other than this belief
is to believe in another gospel. Everyone who believes like this will
face his spiritual death without exception.
If
indeed we have to keep all the Law, then we would also have to practice
Passover rituals. Once every year, we would have to kill a lamb and put
its blood on the lintel of the door. And every time we sin, we would
have to give sin offerings, and we would also have to eat only what is
allowed by the statutes of the Law. Yet these are only the tip of the
iceberg; there are far many more statues that we would have to keep. So
given this, how could we possibly keep all these requirements? It’s
impossible, and that is precisely why the Lord said, “For the law was
given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ”
(John 1:17).
The
Apostle Paul said that his gospel was “not from men nor through man.”
In other words, Paul was saying: “My gospel is neither from men nor
through man. It is not by keeping the Law given by Moses that I have
been saved. If I could have attained my salvation just by keeping this
Law, then I would have achieved it all long ago. My forefathers received
the Law given by Moses, and I myself was originally a legalist. And I
was thoroughly trained under Gamaliel, a great scholar of the Law. So
judged on this merit alone, would your knowledge of the Law be even
comparable to mine? Yet it is not by keeping the Law that I have become a
righteous man. It is by meeting Jesus Christ, and by believing that He
has saved me through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, that I have
reached my salvation. And I have preached this to you. So you must not
fall into a legalistic life of faith, or otherwise you will be cursed by
God.” This is what the Apostle Paul was saying.
The
gospel of the water and the Spirit is the gospel that Paul believed in.
Paul confessed his faith by saying, “I have been crucified with Christ;
it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).
How was he able to be crucified with Christ? He could be crucified with
Jesus because he had united with Him by believing in His baptism. As
such, the death of Jesus on the Cross essentially means the death of
your sinful selves and my sinful self.
By
being baptized, Jesus shouldered your sins and mine; by being crucified
and shedding His blood to death, He bore all the condemnation of our
sins; and by rising from the dead again, He has given us new life. Then
how fallacious is it to say that despite all this, it’s not enough to
believe in Jesus Christ who has saved us through the gospel of the water
and the Spirit, but we have to keep the Law, receive physical
circumcision, and faithfully keep the Sabbath? We would end up becoming
just like the Christians of Galatian churches, who had thrown away the
gospel of the water and the Spirit and tried to be perfect before God on
their own.
The
same principle applies to our faith today. We, too, are remitted from
all our sins and reach our salvation by believing in the gospel of the
water and the Spirit. There is nothing else for us to do but only
believe in this gospel of Truth and be grateful for it. And once we
receive the remission of our sins, we are to carry out all our tasks by
faith as God’s instruments to preach this gospel that He has given us
thankfully. In other words, we do not try to keep the Law to attain our
salvation any more. Rather, we are now leading our lives of faith united
with the Church to defend this gospel Word of Truth and preach it to
others by faith, since we have already been saved by believing in the
gospel of the water and the Spirit. Is the gospel of the water and the
Spirit somehow imperfect that you would seek to compliment it by keeping
the Law? No, anyone who tries to be more perfect superficially is
clearly someone who has not been born again yet, and who is still under
the curse.
How
about today’s Christians then? Even though they believe that Jesus has
saved them through His blood on the Cross, they still claim that they
have to give their prayers of repentance diligently to be sanctified.
This very notion that one has to be diligent with something on his own
in order to be saved is nothing else but a legalistic faith. They say
that one has to stay up all night praying, offer prayers in some remote
mountains, and fast while praying.
But
does God not answer us unless we fast and pray? Does He not hear us
unless we stay up all night praying? If indeed one is saved from sin
only by keeping all the Law and living a holy life, who could possibly
be saved from his sins? No one, not even a single person, can ever be
saved in this way. The only way to reach salvation is to believe in the
gospel of the water and the Spirit; there is absolutely no other way.
Grace and Truth came from Jesus Christ. That is why our lives of faith
must also be led by trusting in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
We must lead our lives of faith by believing in the gospel of the water
and the Spirit, by our faith in God’s Word of Truth.
The
churches in Galatia were spiritually confused, plagued by spiritual
scoundrels gathered there. Do you think that God’s Church is completely
devoid of any spiritual swindlers? No, even God’s Church has rascals.
Mistakenly thinking that salvation was attained by keeping the Law, the
scoundrels at the Galatian churches came to teach that one must be
physically circumcised in addition to his faith in the gospel. The
Apostle Paul had gone through great sufferings to preach the gospel to
them, and yet even after they accepted the gospel of the water and the
Spirit, they betrayed him treacherously by accepting and preaching a
different gospel, arguing that they must keep the Law.
Grace and Truth Came through Jesus Christ
Jesus
has saved you and me from sin through the gospel of the water and the
Spirit. He has blotted out our sins and given us the gift of salvation.
That He has saved us by coming to this earth, being baptized, dying on
the Cross, and rising from the dead is the indisputable Truth. It is
absolutely not a lie. There is not other law of salvation but this law,
that Jesus Christ has saved us through the gospel of the water and the
Spirit.
No
human being can ever save another human being from his sins. Jesus
Christ is the Son of God and God Himself. Because it is God Himself who
has saved us by becoming a creature for a while, all the works He
fulfilled is perfect. To dismiss today the divinity of Jesus and say
that He is just a Son of Man is a claim espoused by spiritual
scoundrels. That’s because no man can save another man from all his
sins.
Through
this Word of Galatians, we should know what the true gospel is, and we
should live according to it. Only the gospel of the water and the Spirit
is the real Truth, and apart from following it by faith, anything else
that emphasizes one’s own good deeds or the Law is lawlessness. To
believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, serve the gospel, and
live for this gospel is to do what is right. Unless we live for the
gospel of the water and the Spirit, our lives would be meaningless and
worthless.
Only
when we believe in and follow the gospel of the water and the Spirit
with our hearts can we continue to receive God’s love and blessings. No
matter how virtuous we might be in our deeds, if our hearts have no
faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, then it is all over for
us. God loves those who believe in the gospel of the water and the
Spirit with their hearts, and who live their lives according to it.
Through Galatians chapter one, we were able to see just how precious the
gospel is, and how accursed legalistic faith is.
Many
people fall into legalistic faith precisely because they do not believe
in the true gospel with their hearts, but unlike them, you have to set
your hearts’ determination steadfast by placing your faith in the gospel
of the water and the Spirit. You must believe that legalistic faith
will ultimately bring only curses.
I thank the Lord for His grace that has allowed us to live blessed lives, with our hearts immersed in God’s true gospel.
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