Transcription
Introduction
Well, good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I want to invite you, if you will, to open in your New Testament to Galatians chapter 1. Galatians chapter 1. And if you will take a moment and just put a marker there and turn to Proverbs chapter 23. We’re going to look at a couple of passages. uh one of them just kind of as an intro, you know, a way of introducing things. Uh the other we’ll spend more time in. Both of them have come from the reading schedule within the last few days.
And uh so we’re going to try to tie them together a little bit here in Proverbs chapter 23. Somewhere in the neighborhood of about 3,000 years ago, the wise man would say down in verse 23, “By truth and do not sell it. By wisdom, instruction, and understanding.” If you haven’t read today’s reading schedule, it comes from today’s uh just one verse in Proverbs in that and that is the verse Solomon’s counsel there in Proverbs 23 pictures truth as a possession that’s worth any price to acquire.
But I want you to notice what comes on the other side of that command. Once you buy the truth, it’s then not for sale. It’s not something you trade away when another offer comes along or when you keep or or when keeping it cost you something or when it makes people uncomfortable or any other number of things that might come up. You buy it at whatever the price and then you keep it. And that is precisely what makes the the situation in the churches of Galatia in Galatians chapter 1 so tragic.
There were pe they were people who had in a very real sense bought the truth. The gospel of Christ was was preached to them. They had obeyed the gospel. They’d been saved by it. They had built their lives upon it. And yet, when other voices came offering something different, they began to trade away the message that they had heard and that they had accepted. And in essence, they were they were selling what Solomon said should never be be sold. Although there’s a couple of different possibilities.
I don’t know how well you’ll be able to see this map, but uh more than one possibility, but it seems likely to me that the churches that Paul wrote to in the letter that we call Galatians uh were written to churches in the the southern province of what we call, you know, the Roman province of Galatia, which means that they were the churches that that Paul and Barnabas had established on what we would typically refer to as his first missionary journey.
And so it would be in places like Antioch and Iconium and Lististra and Derby that you read about in Acts chapter 13 and chapter 14. And if that’s true, then it’s also likely that the letter to the Galatians was one of the first letters that Paul wrote that we have available to us in the New Testament, if not the very first. I mean, we don’t know, you know, for sure, but it’s at least one of the first, if not the first that Paul wrote. And so Paul wrote to these churches in Galatia because of some of the problems that had arisen among them in his absence.
And in some ways it’s not entirely shocking that the churches of Galatia would experience problems following Paul’s departure. If you read what is said in the book of Acts, what you find is that these churches were brought into existence in the midst of challenges to the truth of the gospel. And contrary to to what you might expect, the Galatians though were not giving up or not, you know, tempted to give up their faith because of things like or or just, you know, going back to worldly things, they were tempted to give it up because of things like persecution.
They weren’t giving it up because of that. They were compromising though their faith at least in part to avoid those challenges, to avoid the persecution that might come from that. And so, one way or another, the the outcome was the same, a rejection of the gospel of Christ. And one thing you find when you read through this letter is that that Paul really didn’t mince words, you see that even in the beginning of what he says at the start of the letter, in almost every other letter that Paul wrote, after greeting the recipients of the letter, he would then thank God for them and he would mention something praiseworthy about them.
1. Deserting Him Who Called You
But in this letter, there’s no thanksgiving and no praise. In fact, uh, not only is that kind of thing missing here, Paul actually replaces it with a rebuke. And so, he began dealing with the problem immediately. And so, look at verse six. He says, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel. Not that there’s another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. And so Paul was shocked by how unstable and how disloyal the Christians of Galatia had been in succumbing to the false teachers who were troubling them. Again, he says, “I’m astonished that you’re so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel.”
And the word Paul used in this verse, the word that’s translated deserting in the translation I’m using this morning, it’s it’s an interesting word has to do with transferring one’s allegiance. It’s the word that would have been used of soldiers in the army who revolted or who deserted and of people who who changed sides in either politics or philosophy. They went to the other team, so to speak. And so Paul was making it clear that this isn’t just a small difference that he’s talking about.
This was a change of allegiance. They were guilty of spiritual desertion. They were turning away from the one who had called them in the grace of Christ. And when we think of someone turning away from God, more often than not, we probably think of people who just completely walk away. People who go back to living the life that they lived before they became Christians or or something along those lines. And obviously that would qualify as turning away from God.
2. Other Ways to Turn From God Just as Serious
And we do need and we do read about those kinds of things in the pages of the New Testament. For example, in second Peter chapter 2 and verses 20 and 21, Peter would say there that if uh for if after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.
That that kind of thing does happen. You see that and it’s unfortunate and that’s certainly a challenge that we face. There’s no telling how many people have been lost through the years because of something like that. But passages like the one we’re looking at this morning in Galatians tell us that there are other ways to turn from God that are just as serious. And so Paul will later say in this letter in Galatians 5 and verse4 he would say to them you are severed from Christ you who would be justified by the law you have fallen away from grace.
That’s serious isn’t it? And so when Paul had said to them back in chapter 1 and verse 6 I’m astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel. What he had in mind there is this concept of being justified by the law. And what Paul was telling them is that you can seek to be justified uh by the law. You or that you can’t seek to be justified by the law without being severed from Christ, falling away from grace.
3. You Can’t Add Something to the Gospel of Christ
That’s not possible to do. And I think it’s I think it’s important for us to recognize that these people, they didn’t deny that Jesus was the Christ or anything like that. That’s not what they were doing. In fact, if you were to ask them, I’m confident they would have claimed to believe the basics of the gospel. You remember what Paul would say about that in first Corinth or in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, the first few verses there, he would remind the Corinthians, he says, of the gospel he preached among them, which they had received, and which they stood and by which they were being saved, if they held fast the word that he preached, lest they believed in vain.
He says in verse three, he says, I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received. Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures. And there’s no indication that anyone among the churches of Galatia was denying those facts. They said, you know, we we were turning from that. We don’t believe that anymore. And what that tells us though is that you can accept the most basic tenants of the gospel of Christ, the things that are of first importance, and yet still be guilty of turning to a different gospel.
Isn’t that frightening a little bit? I don’t know that there are many people who recognize that in our society, but that’s what this tells us. You can’t add something to the gospel of Christ and yet still have the gospel of Christ. When you add something to the gospel of Christ, what you end up with is another gospel, one that’s not good news at all. And so, the false teachers among the churches of Galatia, they were what we often refer to as Judaizing teachers.
And their gospel, quote unquote, is summarized, I think, really well in in Acts chapter 15 and verse one and verse 5. You see the the basic tenants of what they would have been saying in verse one. Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. Or in verse 5 of Acts 15, unless you are circumci or in verse 5, it is necessary to circumcise them, that is the Gentiles, and to order them to keep the law of Moses. That’s basically, I believe, what was being said in Ga in the churches of Galatia as well.
In other words, if Gentiles really want to become part of the family of God, they’ll basically have to become Jews. They were adding the law of Moses to the gospel of Christ. And and I don’t know that there are many people today who would make that the same claims as these false teachers who were troubling the churches of Galatia. I don’t know many people who would come out and say the same exact things. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t people who make in essence the same mistake. You know, one way or another, we are not free to add anything to the gospel.
4. Bound in Heaven: Not Allowed to Require or Permit
We’re not allowed to require something that God doesn’t require. And we need to be careful about that. Let me ask you this. Do you think we recognize just how serious it is to bind something on other people that God has not bound? Before we do that, we ought to look at the kind of people whose company that puts us in. You ever notice that Jesus saved some of his harshest rebukes for people who did that kind of stuff? People who went beyond what God commanded. For example, in Matthew chapter 23 and verse4 when Jesus warned about the scribes and the Pharisees, one thing he would say there in verse four of Matthew 23 is that they tie up heavy burdens hard to bear and lay them on people’s shoulders.
It’s wrong to require of people what God doesn’t require. But I think we need to recognize that it’s also wrong to permit or to approve something that God doesn’t permit or approve. And that’s not really admittedly what Paul’s dealing with here in his letter to the Galatians. But that also was a problem in the first century just as it’s a problem today. And so for example in 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse three when when Paul wrote to to Timothy he said that the times coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to to suit their own desires.
Tell me what I want to hear. And the implication of that is that there will be teachers who are willing to tell people that very thing. What do you want to know? What do you want to h how do you want it? I I’ll give it to you in that way. And if that means telling people that God permits something or that God approves of something that he doesn’t, that’s what they’ll do. But here’s the thing, we can’t do that. Let me ask you this. Do you remember how Jesus responded when Peter confessed that he was the Christ?
Jesus would say among other things in Matthew 16 and verse 19, he would say to him, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. And sometimes I think people misunderstood exactly what Jesus was saying there. And the reason I bring it up is because I think it speaks to what we’re talking about this morning. And so Jesus was using language there in Matthew chapter 16 that was that was familiar to the people of his day.
When the Jewish rabbis talked about binding and loosing, they were referring to either allowing or forbidding things. And so Jesus was saying that Peter was going to play a role in communicating to people what is allowed and what is forbidden. Other passages make it clear that it’s not just Peter. He doesn’t have that kind of special position. Uh, for example, in chapter 18, Jesus is going to use that same language of others as well. And so, when you look at the the way these words are are rendered in some translations, it kind of makes it sound like Peter and these other uh the apostles are going to they’re going to bind or loose.
That is, they’re either going to forbid or they’re going to permit something and then God’s going to respond by that to that by doing the same thing in heaven. You know, you do it and then I’ll respond by doing that in heaven. Almost kind of sounds like that, doesn’t it? Look again at verse 19. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. And so it kind of looks like heaven’s going to respond to whatever is done by these men, doesn’t it?
But I don’t think that’s what Jesus was saying to Peter and to the other apostles. He wasn’t saying that they are going to permit things or they’re going to forbid things and then God’s going to respond to that. What he was saying is that God will have already done that. That’s where it originates is in heaven. If if I were to say to you, come on over to the house, we’ll be there. What do I mean by that? That you come to the house and then we will come and we’ll be there after the fact?
No, I don’t mean that at all. I would mean that come over to the house and we will be there already. We’ll be there when you get there. And that’s similar to what Jesus meant when he said, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. And whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Other translations make that even clearer, I think. For example, the Christian Standard puts it this way. It says, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.”
The New American Standard, I think, does the same kind of thing. And so the job of those who preach the gospel is to be faithful to the message that has come from God that’s already bound in heaven. To forbid what God has already forbidden to permit uh you know what God has has not permitted. That’s not something we can do. That’s not that’s not the kind of changes we’re not we’re not allowed to make any changes along those lines. Not something that changes with time or circumstance. The message doesn’t. You know, in the short letter that Jude wrote in Jude verse 3, Jude would talk about the fact that we need to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
5. Let Him Be Accursed
And in essence, you know, Paul’s dealing with the same principle here when he writes to the churches of Galatia, when he says there, for example, in verses 8 and N, but even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preach to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. And obviously obviously that places a serious responsibility on the shoulders of those who would preach or teach.
If someone is preaching or or teaching something that doesn’t line up with the message that was revealed to the apostles and prophets by the Holy Spirit, Paul says, “Let him be accursed.” or as a different translation puts it, let that person be condemned. And that word there that’s translated either accursed or condemned. You may have heard it before. It’s a Greek word, but it it’s thrown around sometimes. It’s the word anathema. It’s a word that was used uh in the Greek Old Testament for the curse of God that rested upon anyone or anything that had been set apart by God for destruction.
And so, for example, take just a moment. Let’s go back to to Joshua chapter 6. I want to read uh a little bit from Joshua chapter 6. You know, Joshua warned the people about certain things that were devoted to destruction. And so, the people were to go to Jericho and and they were to march around the city. They they would march six times. And then in verse 16, it says, “And at the seventh time,” they were to do it seven total. When the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city.
And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live because she hid the messengers whom whom we sent. But you keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have uh lest when you have devoted them, you take uh any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel a thing for destruction and bring trouble upon it. Stay away from it because if you don’t stay away from it, it’s going to cause problems for you.
6. On Guard Against Those Who Distort the Gospel
And basically what Paul was saying is that people who distort the gospel, they deserve to be under God’s curse. They are set apart by him for destruction. But I think there may even be more to what Paul was saying than that. Although he seems to have been focusing on the one who preaches in these verses, his words imply something about those who listen and and the responsibility that we have in that as well. You know, in the Old Testament, when something was devoted to destruction, you know, what was the responsibility of the Israelites?
Again, you you stay away from that. You keep yourselves from the things devoted from d from destruction. Other passages are even clearer about that. at Deuteronomy 7 and 26. You shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction like it. That’s the trouble that you bring on yourself. You shall utterly detest and abhore it, for it is devoted to destruction. Don’t have anything to do with it, Moses was saying. Now, I can’t promise you that Paul had passages like these in mind when he wrote what he did to the churches of Galatia, but I’ll tell you what, he’s basically saying the same thing.
He’s dealing with the same principle. And we see that same principle in other passages in the New Testament as well. For example, in the short letter that John wrote, second John, John would would say about those who fail to abide in the teaching of Christ, he would say in verse nine of that short letter, everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have God. All right, that says something about the teacher. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the father and the son. And then look at what he says in verse 10.
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting. For whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works. And what all of that says is that we need to be on guard against those who would distort the gospel of Christ. And we need to make sure that we are people who are committed to the gospel. It’s not a message that can be altered whether by adding to it or subtracting from it. You can’t do that without radically changing its character.
Conclusion
And the message that was preached by the apostles and prophets in the first century is the message that needs to be preached today. that doesn’t change with the with the turning of years or or centuries or millennia. It’s a message we need to receive as well. We need to take this to heart that it’s really only good news if it’s actually the gospel of Christ. And so, as we bring things to a close this morning, let I want to go back to the passage that we began with. .
Buy truth and do not sell it. You see, Solomon’s words turn out to be more than a fitting way to to just open the lesson. You know, ultimately, they’re they’re the standard by which the churches of Galatia were measured. There was a point in time when they had bought the truth, but Paul was warning them because they stood on the verge of selling it for a message that could not save them. And I’ll just tell you, that’s the same danger that every generation faces, including our own generation.
That the gospel we’ve received isn’t ours to renegotiate or to change or to try to fit into the times in which we live. It isn’t a possession to trade when keeping it grows costly or unpopular. It was bought at a price for us, actually. And our only faithful response is to hold on to it. to do that without addition, to do that without subtraction, and to do that without compromise, for as long as we live. Is that a commitment you’re willing to make? I just go ahead and tell you, it’s going to be costly. It’s going to require some things of us, but God expects nothing less.
If you are here this morning and you’ve never obeyed the gospel of Christ, we want to we want to appeal to you. Want you to open up the New Testament. We want you to to look at what it says, not what anybody says about it. What the New Testament says and just do that. You there are a lot of people who will give you a different message than the one that’s presented in the New Testament. doesn’t help you. If you believe that Jesus is the son of God, if you believe that he is Lord and you’re willing to live like it, to turn from your sins, to to confess his name before others, then we want to encourage you this morning to come and to be buried with Christ, to be raised up through faith in the powerful working of God who raised him from the dead.
You have a brand new start. as a child of God, sins forgiven. That’s the only way to do it. There’s not a plan B for that. Or if you owe some other duty to God, if we can help you along those lines, we we want to do that. That’s why we’re here. So, if we can help you, we ask you to come as we stand and as we sing. I am