Episode 54 - Galatians - Pt 1

Speaker 1 00:00:07 Hi, and welcome to the unveiling. I'm Tim, one of the hosts, and along with Andre and Mark, we are three guys discussing the one true gospel. We hope you're encouraged by this episode. Let's dive right in. Speaker 1 00:00:22 Hello and welcome or welcome back to the unveiling. We are all here today, and we're glad you are. This is episode 53, and we're titled today Galatians, because that's what we're gonna be studying today. Now, given the study that we've done, we may not be able to make this fit into a single episode, so this might be a part one, but I guess you'll have to come back and check next week. So today we're gonna talk about Galatians, and I wanna just talk about, uh, kind of a little bit of the background, like I tend to do every now and again. The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Galatians. Now, Paul had had a hand in starting these churches on one of his earlier, uh, missionary journeys. Paul's close relationship to these churches helped maybe to explain his extremely strong tone that he took with them from the very beginning of this letter. Speaker 1 00:01:22 Uh, he's more critical of his audience here than in any of his other letters. So Paul wrote this letter because he had received a report that the churches that he had started had fallen into hard times, specifically that they had fallen into error, a group of judaizers. Now, let me just explain that real fast. Judaizers are those who sought to make living under the Mosaic law a requirement of the Christian faith. And these Judaizers had come into the church and had gained an audience in the Galatian churches. Specifically, these false teachers were teaching the Galatians that they were required to be circumcised. The result was division within their church. Paul gave numerous reasons why they should return to the simple truth of the gospel. So Paul's main theme here is that Christ's death had brought in the age of the new Covenant, and that people do not have to become Jews or follow the outward ceremonies of the Mosaic law in order to be Christians to require those things actually denies the heart of the gospel, which is justification by faith alone, not by keeping the works of the law. And in this new edge, Christians are to live in the guidance of the power of the Holy Spirit. So there's my overview Rap guys. Um, let's go ahead and get this discussion started. Mark, do you wanna get us moving? Speaker 2 00:02:50 Sure, yeah, I'd love to. Uh, one of the things I'd like to comment on your excellent opening, Tim, is that Paul, um, some of the theologians and commentaries I read preparing for today, they all talked about Paul's anger that he was angry in this letter, but they also talked about even in his anger, which was justified, he was also gentle with those he loved in the Galatian church. And really most of his anger is directed at, at the people that are coming in and are perverting the gospel here. And he has a lot of emotion in this. He's astonished how quickly they're deserting the one true gospel. And, you know, he gets very, very angry at times when he told the people that were trying to lay circumcision on Dilatations, that why don't they just go all the way and emasculate themselves? <laugh>, that's like bam, you know, getting in this face trash talk. Speaker 2 00:03:49 And I'm, so, one of the reasons I believe is this, my favorite book of the Bible tends to change every year of my life. But right now, this is currently my favorite book, probably for about the last year. And it became even more my favorite preparing for today. But one of the reasons that I love the book so much is it's just so relevant. It's what went on in the Galatian church is almost identical to what goes on in the modern Christian Church. Now. It's not so much nowadays ceremonial Judaism that people are adding to the gospel, but it still works. It's my effort plus the gospel. And it's been that way throughout the ages, in fact, that this book right here, along with Romans, was the reason we had a great reformation. People trying to add works to the gospel. And Paul is just so clear cut in his defense of the gospel in Galatians, that in defending it, he clearly defines what it is and what it isn't. And so that's why it's so surprising to me that anybody, any Christian can read Galatians and then go out and add works to what they just read. It's just so crystal clear here. And if I c can, um, well, I'll, I'll let you guys start reading. Uh, if you, if you wanna start from the beginning, Tim or uh, Jay. Speaker 1 00:05:21 So Mark, uh, we want to go ahead and just start reading through Galatians and, uh, guys, I can see you, even though our audience can't, can't. So raise a hand if we have something we want to add to it. <laugh>, wait, mark, put the hand down guys. Start reading Speaker 2 00:05:37 <laugh>. I can't take a chance on missing my opportunity, so I'm just Speaker 1 00:05:42 <laugh>. All right, so Galatians one starting of course at the first verse, Paul and Apostle sent not from men, nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead, and all the brothers and sisters with me to the churches in Galatia, grace and peace to you from God, our father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Now, mark, I'm gonna throw one out here. I think you've mentioned this in the past, Paul always tends to open up his epistles with grace and peace to you always. Am I if unless I'm wrong, huh? Always grace first. Speaker 2 00:06:31 Right? And as I read Matthew Henry's commentary, he made a great point that without grace you can't have peace if you have not received the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why under the law, you're gonna feel like you're on a hamster wheel or a gebo wheel. You're not gonna have peace cuz you never know if you're doing it well enough. And you have a very sneaking suspicion at the back of your mind that you're not <laugh> the, but once you understand that salvation and sanctification, in fact your entire life is by God's undeserved, unmerited, unearned favor. And that's where peace comes grace and peace to you. And that's Paul's prayer for his church. Speaker 3 00:07:16 Yeah, I just want to mention, and and there just five verses, you know, he laid out the whole gospel in verse two when he mentioned Jesus Christ, um, actually in verse one, Jesus Christ and God or Father who raised him from the dead. And in verse three when he mentioned Jesus Christ, Jesus who gave himself for us sin. So he died for our sins and God raised him up on the third day. That's the gospel. And every time he mentions Lord Jesus Christ, one way or another, you know, he mentions the gospel. You know, gospel is as simple as that. By believing that Christ died for our sins and God raised him from the dead. We are saved Speaker 1 00:07:54 All, all of the grace in five verses. Speaker 2 00:07:57 There's one more thing I wanna point out if I can, that not only has he put the gospel in these first five verses, he's also started his defense of himself already. And he'll go into it in greater detail as we'll see a little later on. But these people that were coming in the Judaizers who Paul referred to as false believers and spies who were sent into infiltrate on the freedom they had in Christ, the way they were doing it was by first of all, badmouthing Paul saying, you know what, we are the original apostles. This, he doesn't have the authority we have. And so Paul is already defending the authority given him by Christ saying, Hey, no man sent me, but Jesus Christ himself has sent me, I am an apostle. And that's what the word apostle means, one who is sent. So I just wanted to add that out cuz it's, you're gonna see it through the text as we move on. Speaker 1 00:08:56 Excellent point, mark. So we jump right back in at verse six, and this is where he starts getting, uh, his dander up, so to speak, <laugh>. Um, in fact, uh, as I was reading through here, uh, this, the, the next several verses are called, uh, our titled in my Bible. Not, these aren't scriptures, but the editing, uh, remarks that are made by the people who translated these bibles. This is called no Other Gospel. And he's very adamant about this. He starts by saying, I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel, which is really no gospel at all. Evidently, some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God's curse as we have already said. So now I say again, if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God's curse. Speaker 2 00:10:06 One of the greatest paragraphs in the Bible, in my opinion, just defining the gospel. And this is it. He's going to the point of saying, I don't care if I change my mind. I don't care if an angel from heaven comes down, which we know that no heavenly being that lives in the face of God is gonna come down and preach a different gospel other than Christ. And there's no way Paul is gonna do that either. But he's making a point with this hyperbole. This is the gospel. We don't mess with it. Anybody messes with it, let them be under a curse. And it's kind of funny that we're told in scripture that the law is a curse. So when you bring the law and try to add it to the gospel, you're actually literally bringing the curse back in as well. Speaker 1 00:10:53 Hi Jay. Do you preach a different gospel? Are you under a curse Speaker 3 00:10:56 <laugh>? Well, not at all. So that's not a good thing. Um, well I think while we are here, I don't know Mark, if you're going to go into that, I'll let you. But uh, it's good to touch on what is the gospel that Paul preached, right? Because here it says, you know, the grace of Christ, uh, living in the grace of Christ is the gospel. But I think we need to double click into that, right? You know, for people grace of Christ mean many things. So I think it's good to go deeper into what it actually means and what is a gospel? I dunno, mark, if you're going to go into that, Speaker 2 00:11:30 We can all go into it. But you, why don't you start us off? Speaker 3 00:11:33 Yeah. So, you know, I think there are a few things, right? I think I first want to again, you know, lay down clearly what the gospel is. It is the gospel itself. Uh, Paul clearly defines right, it's, uh, first Corinthians chapter 15, I think, uh, it is good to clarify, right? Very many people have many things, uh, first current in chapter 15. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel, which I preached unto you that that which also you received and wherein you stand by, which also you're saved. If you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain, for I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for us sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again on the third day according to the scriptures. Speaker 3 00:12:23 And that he was seen of si first then of the 12 after that he was seen of above 500 brothers at once, of whom the greater part remains unto the present, but some fall asleep. I think he goes on to say, and last of all, he was also seen of me. But the gospel here is the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ. That is the gospel. And how are we saved? Right? We are saved by believing the gospel. That's it. We don't add any works. And if you go to Romans chapter 10, this is a famous salvation verse, right? Romans chapter 10, and I believe it's verse nine, it says, if you confess with thout the Lord Jesus, and believe in th in heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. And again, I think I just want to go again, how is grace connected? Speaker 3 00:13:17 Right? You know, if it says the grace of Christ are living the grace of Christ Jesus, a gospel. So we need to clearly understand what grace is. This is my favorite verse, Roman chapter 11, verse six. But I'm going to read five and six even. So then at this present time, also, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no more of works otherwise, grace is no more grace. And if it be of works, then it is no more grace, otherwise, work is no more work. So what it is saying is if you mix work with grace, grace is no longer grace. And the flip side is also true. If you mix grace with works, works is no longer work. So basically what he's saying is, you know, if you are saved by grace, or if you are living in the grace of Lord Jesus Christ, you cannot mix works with grace. Speaker 3 00:14:09 So inefficient chapter, uh, two verse eight, it says, efficient chapter two, and I think it's verse eight. It says, er, for by grace are is saved through faith and not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works slash to amen should bo. So we are saved by grace through faith. So simply by believing the gospel, the death bur and resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ, we are saved and we are justified, we are sanctified, and the Holy Spirit comes to live in us. Everything happens simply by believing the gospel and we don't add any work to it. Speaker 1 00:14:47 So it, when we talk about grace, if we talk about adding anything to it, what we're doing is we're, we are doing what de judaizers were doing in Galatia at that time. We're adding, we're mixing the gospel of grace and works, and we're add, trying to add something as if we could add anything to the already perfect salvation and sanctification given to us by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Speaker 3 00:15:13 Yep. Speaker 2 00:15:14 Yep. And in, uh, in Galatians one, seven here, Paul calls that perverting the gospel of Christ. So don't be a pervert. All right, <laugh>, Speaker 3 00:15:26 You know, for some reason, I think for us, our, we are so much, uh, you know, always in the performance mindset right from the beginning, uh, lies is ingrained in us even from birth because everything we do, we get based on our doing our performance. And you know, there's a saying, there's no free lunch. That is so true, right? No matter in this worldly system, nobody gives you anything for free. Only beggars get something that two leftovers. But beyond that, nobody gives anything for free. So we are always accustomed to earning something. So it is very hard for us to believe that, you know, God gives us so great of a salvation, right? He gives us everything for free. It is so hard to believe. So what we do is even like for our peace, right? <laugh>, even though God is giving free, you know, we add something, okay? Speaker 3 00:16:16 Gospel is free, but you have to do this one thing. That one thing could be anything. You know, you can rep, you have to repent off your sins. You have to confess, you have to feel sorry. You know, there is no, um, there is no limit to that list. But the funny thing is, everyone places a different condition. Somebody says, you know, you have to stop sin. Somebody says, you have to do your best to keep the law. And someone says, you have to confess your sin. And someone says, you know, you have to go to the church and do some of these rituals and penance and all that. But very, very, very rarely we hear the gospel where he says, you know, where they say it's all free, it's yours for the taking. Speaker 2 00:16:51 Yeah. One of the, I mean, Paul defines the gospel many, many times. And one Corinthians two, he says that it's Jesus Christ and him crucified. And that I've got four or five other scriptures where Paul says, it's the message of God's grace. In Acts 2024, Paul says that he considered everything else all the good things he'd experienced in life up until that point. He considered them a loss. That his only goal, his only race he was trying to finish, was the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace. But I gotta say, this is probably my favorite, one favorite, um, encapsulation of the gospel here because it's comprehensive. He says, I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel, which is really no gospel at all. Speaker 2 00:17:50 So he's saying, living in the grace of Christ, any other gospel is no gospel. It's not good news. And what I love about this is there's a large segment of the church that believe we are saved by the grace of Christ. But as Tim likes to put it, now that you became a Christian, you need to pull your bootstraps up and get to work because we're not sanctified by grace. We're only saved by grace. And he's saying, wait a minute, living in the grace that encapsulates everything from salvation to sanctification, all growing in grace, being transformed in the image of Christ, it's all by grace our entire life. And I love, that's what I love about this description of it, Speaker 1 00:18:37 An excellent, excellent summation on that Mark. Um, let's go ahead and keep reading a little bit. I'm going to read this one very small section that's like one verse, uh, before I go to the next section. First 10, am I now trying to win the approval of human beings or of God, or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. Now the reason I'm stopping here is this next section goes into kind of a whole different tangent, and I wanted to make sure you guys, uh, had a chance to say anything else you wanted to about what we've read to this point before we move on. Speaker 2 00:19:15 Let me comment on 10 real quickly because it seems kinda like outta left field, but if you read a little further on, Paul says that the people that are trying to pervert the gospel and win the Galatians over to follow them and their way of thinking, they're doing it that way because they're afraid of being persecuted for the true gospel. They're trying to please the leaders of the Judaistic Council in Paul saying, I'm not trying to, uh, to wi uh, you know, I'm not trying to please men, but God, he said, if I wanted, you know, if I didn't wanna be persecuted and I wanted to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ where these people are doing it, not only just to gain followers, but because they're afraid of being persecuted for the one true gospel as Paul was being. Speaker 3 00:20:07 Yeah. So I never fully understood this, but I think it's kind of a click now, and it's kind of a sarcastic, uh, comment. Like in chapter in verse 10, he says, for, do I now persuade men or God? Right? So he's saying like, you know, do I persuade you with the truth of God? Or should I persuade God with your pervert and gospel <laugh>, right? He's saying, do I persuade God or do you persuade men? You know, we persuade men with the truth. We don't persuade God with the perverted gospel. So he is basically saying, you know, I'm not here to please you. Right? I'm here to declare the truth. And, uh, I'm here to persuade you if you're open to persuasion, but I'm not going to, to persuade God with your perverted gospel. Speaker 1 00:20:50 Amen. So this next section, Paul, is about to tell everybody where he gets his authority from. Because of course, anybody who argues ever argue with anybody has run across this argument is called the argument from authority. Well, who's he? He wasn't one of the original 12 disciples, is what I'm envisioning is the kind of thing that they were hurling about him, uh, when they want, didn't wanna debate his, his actual message. So he goes into a little bit of background and talks about where he gets his authority from starting at verse 11. By the way, if, uh, anyone's curious, I am using the niv, the new international version to do this reading. Uh, verse 11, I want you to know, brothers and sisters that the gospel I preached is not a human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it. Speaker 1 00:21:40 Rather I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the Church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my father's. But when God who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his son and me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. I did not go up to Jerusalem to see who were apostles before I was. But I went into Arabia later, I returned to Damascus. Then after three years, I went to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Sifi and stayed with him 15 days. I saw none of the other apostles, only James, the Lord's brother. I assure you before God, that what I am writing to you is no lie. Then I went into Syria and Licia, I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only heard the report, quote, the man who formerly Percu persecuted us, is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy and they praised God because of me. Now, I'm gonna pause there cause that is the end of chapter one. Give you guys a chance to respond to that or tell me to keep reading. Speaker 2 00:23:07 No. Well, I think there's plenty for us to respond here. One of the things that you first started reading is I, when, when Paul said, I want you to know that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I didn't receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, rather I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. So once again, Paul here is defending himself, not because he was trying to boost his own ego and say, Hey, look at me. It's because they were using that questioning of his authority to pervert the gospel and hurt these Galatians eternity hung in the balance for these people here and the preservation of the one true gospel. And he's saying, look, I didn't go to seminary. Not that there's anything wrong with seminary. I wasn't taught it. I didn't go to the original 12 apostles and they didn't teach it to me. I had direct revelation of this gospel from the one who is the gospel, Jesus Christ. And the fact what was different about the other apostles than him was he received his from the resurrection, the resurrected Christ. The rest of them walked with Christ in his earthly ministry and were commissioned in the great commission to go and preach the gospel. He received it from the resurrected Christ and from that point on, from the spirit of Christ in him. Speaker 3 00:24:33 Yeah. So I think Paul, the other thing, other reason I also think is, you know, he, he's establishing the authenticity of the gospel because he wanted to make sure, you know, people follow the true gospel. You know, unless you establish authenticity of something, people will not accept it as a truth. Right. You know, if someone, I mean, even in the, in this world, under the government, you know, if someone says and tells, you know, Hey, you know, this is a new law. You have the land. Like, then if someone randomly says that, you know, we can't believe it, you know, here has to come with the proof certificate of authority. So he's also, you know, for his heart, for the people, he wanted to make sure that, you know, people don't ignore him when he preaches the gospel. So he's establishing the authenticity, saying that, you know, I received from nobody else but got himself directly. Speaker 2 00:25:21 One of the, uh, from 13 to the end of this chapter that, uh, that Tim read, Paul goes into talking about his personal testimony that, uh, just how intensely he was into Judaism, that he was advancing beyond those of his own age. He was extremely zealous for them. In fact, he was a persecutor of the church. He was trying to destroy Christianity. And he came face to face on the road to Damascus, mostly, you probably know that account. And he did a 180 degree turn. And I lo and to me, even from this point, the people said, the churches in Judea said that the man who formally persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy and they praised God because of me. And this is a keynote for me. When I was first starting to research and search out the truth of Christianity before I was a believer, Paul's conversion was huge for me. Here's a person that backed up the things he was preaching by having this going from, basically from death to life, from darkness to light, from trying to kill the gospel to, to dying for the gospel at the end of his life and going through a ton of persecution. So I just, I love the way they praised God because they heard that the enemy of the gospel was now preaching it. Speaker 1 00:26:50 Yep. And this, this gospel was taught to him by Jesus directly, uh, is a result of that, uh, Damascus road con conversion. Um, I honestly feel like this is not scriptural. This is Timmy's opinion. I honestly feel like that was all downloaded into him directly. You know, um, he, he didn't, when he was in Jerusalem, he didn't go seek out the apostles and let them teach him what to say. Lord already gave him the message. He was already ready to go. Yeah. Uh, and he and the Lord gave him his own audience. He didn't, he wasn't there to preach to the Jew Jews in Jerusalem. He was literally to go out and preach to the non-Jews, the Gentiles. Speaker 2 00:27:34 Yeah. He had never met an apostle until he had already been in Damascus, in Syria and Licia preaching the gospel that Christ gave him. Then it says he finally went up and met with safest, who was DE's in the name for Peter the apostle Peter, Simon Peter and James, who was his brother. So three years he was out there putting his life on the line, preaching the gospel of God's grace in Christ Jesus before he even wet to meet. Speaker 3 00:28:03 So I just want to, um, you know, point our attention to verse 16. You know, he says, you know, uh, actually from 15 and 16, but when God who set me apart from my mother's home and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his son in me, see, revealing his son in me. So it's not, gospel is not, it's two things. Right. First in the gospel, God reveals his son to us about the, um, about who Christ is and what he has done. And then when we receive the gospel, right, you know, his son is revealed in us. So we need to, the Christ himself comes to live in us. And I thought, it's an interesting phrase. You know, he says to reveal his son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles. So unless we have an inward revelation and an outward revelation, right, first outward revelation of who Lord Jesus Christ is, and then when we believe the gospel, he's revealed in us, he comes to live in us. And only then, you know, we can preach the gospel to others. Speaker 1 00:29:05 That is also an excellent point, Ajay. Uh, good. Thanks for breaking in there. But I'm gonna jump back to where Mark was. Mark, you had just, uh, this is a good segue to chapter two. You had just mentioned that, uh, Paul had seen James and Sifu, and if I'm not saying that right, you said that you said it's That's right. That's right. Um, that was the only time he met with the apostles until chapter two, when he says, starting in verse one. Then after 14 years, I went again to Jerusalem. This time with Barnabas. I took a Titus along also. I went in response to a revelation and meeting privately with those esteemed leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain. Yet not even Titus who was with me was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. Speaker 1 00:30:04 This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Jesus Christ and to make us slaves. We did not give in to them for a moment so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. So Paul felt after being out in, in amongst the Gentiles for 14 years, that it was time that he went back to Jerusalem to show, tell, tell them, teach them what he was teaching to the Gentiles, because of course, they had been getting reports and there were questions and comments and concerns and things going on, right? Mm-hmm. Speaker 2 00:30:39 <affirmative>, mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And they were like the official church leadership in Jerusalem. So part of their responsibility is to make sure that people that are preaching in the name of Christ are preaching the gospel. But the interesting thing is, it's Paul that's going to them to oppose them and teach them what the real gospel is. Speaker 3 00:31:01 You know, one thing that struck me is, you know, Paul preached the gospel to Gentiles first for 14 years, like you said, Tim, and then he went to Jews. But imagine the Gentiles that were never under the law like us believers right now. We went back and put ourselves under the law reading the World Testament. But look at a pure Gentile who has never, ever read the Old Testament, did not know what the law was, what were the 10 Commandments. And then Paul went and preached the gospel to them. So it would've been so easy for them to, uh, believe the gospel because they were never under the law. But, you know, the Jews were under the law, and then they started perverting the gospel. So for people who were under the law, it becomes harder to accept the gospel. And I think the same thing is happening now, right? Most of the Christians are acting like Jews, even though they're not born Jews. They take the Old Testament, they take the 10 Commandments, and they're act like they're the Jews and they're under the law. And for them, it is hard to, um, accept the gospel. Not only that, right? You know, they're taking this perverted gospel to the pure Gentiles who don't know anything about Christianity or Judaism, but still they're preaching the gospel that is perverted, like adding conditions to the free grace of God. Speaker 2 00:32:16 Yeah, that's an awesome point, aj. It's like people with a clean slate can receive the gospel easier than someone who's lived their entire life by this system. And I would imagine, as you mentioned, it's, it's just like that today. You know, I think you'd be better. So many people think they know the gospel in America, and they've only heard perverted versions of it. So now, when you want to try to bring in the real, real gospel, I would imagine that people that hadn't heard it, but just had a clean slate would be more, more receptive. Cuz so many, you know, think that the gospel is about people yelling at them about their sin. You gotta clean your sin up. You gotta do this rule, do that rule, you know, don't do this, do this. We've talked about this for over a year now, <laugh>, but I, I like that point that thinking about who Paul was going to, that they, they didn't have that same background of being under the law. And that's probably why a lot of the Jews reacted so ve vehemently to him, because this is what they grew up. It was not only their religion, it was their culture and their heritage. And here's someone coming with a different teaching. But what they didn't realize, this teaching wa was not abolishing what they grew up under. It was fulfilling it and completing it. They'd been waiting for the Messiah and here he was, but they were more attached to their, their religion. Speaker 1 00:33:49 Yep. The mixed gospel is very difficult because we as human beings feel like we need to earn things. Like we need to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. So, or we wanna, uh, we want a curry favor in some way or another. And that's, that's why it is so easy for a works mentality to seep back in. Let's go back to the book here still in chapter two, starting at verse six. This is kind of his after action report on the meeting that, uh, he had with the elders in Jerusalem. He says, as for those who were held in high esteem, whatever they were, makes no difference to me. God does not show favoritism. They added nothing to my message. On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised for God who was at work. Speaker 1 00:34:47 And Peter as an apostle to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles, James Sifu and John, those esteemed as pillars gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship. When they recognized the grace given to me, they agreed that we should go to the Gentiles and that they, to the circumcised, all they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along. So it sounds like it went pretty well. They, they accepted that his message was gospel and that it wasn't necessarily meant for the Jews at that time or in that moment, and gave him blessings to continue teaching just with one add. With one caveat. Remember the poor, Speaker 2 00:35:32 Here's something very interesting that as we move on through this book, and in, in a couple other books unfolds, they gave, there's another place that said they gave him the right hand of fellowship, and yet when he went out and left him, they immediately started to badmouth him. Okay? And I love, I can just hear Paul's tone in this. He says, as for those who were held in high esteem, whatever they were, makes no difference to me. And then later he says, uh, those esteemed as pillars, you know, meaning he didn't say they are pillars. He said, those esteemed as pillars, you know, they're, they're held up, they're high. And, and not to be too hard on 'em, they were Jews and they were going to Jewish people. And so it was very natural for them to try to bring Judaism with them. But, and, and I've read a good number of books on this, that if you look through scripture, they're all scriptural. Speaker 2 00:36:27 But it's that when Paul first started going, when he went to meet with Sifi and James, the first time, after three years, he was there 15 days, 14 years later, later he went this time, and he's gonna go throughout his life a number of times when he first went, it was very important to him to keep the unity of the church. He wanted unity with the Jewish Christians. He didn't want divisiveness, but they kept going after him. That's who got sent to Galatia or the Judaizers, false believers. Paul calls him because they're trying to mix the law in with it. And as he went, he became more and more, he didn't first go to oppose them, but you're gonna find out here in this chapter, he says, as he talks about Peter, he, he starts to use words like, oppose, I'm opposing them so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. This book, a as Tim mentioned at the beginning, Paul's got anger than this book, and rightfully so, because people are attacking the most precious thing on the planet, and that's the, the true gospel, and he's hurting people by doing it. People that he cared about, they were hurting. So, Speaker 3 00:37:42 Ah, Jay, yeah, I was just going to point out, you know, then verse six, for those who were held in highest esteem here, Paul was going against people who are held in high esteem. So sometimes, you know, when we look at pastors and preachers, you know, who are from the megachurches or, you know, they're very highly revered. Sometimes they're not scary to go against them. But here, you know, Paul, for the gospel's sake, you know, he went even against those people, you know, who are held in highest esteem. And he also makes a comment that, you know, God does not show favoritism. So here the point is, you know, like even though they're held in high esteem in, uh, people size, you know, in God's size, you know, they're not any special because by nature, you know, God does not show favoritism. So it's also, you know, very comforting to know that, you know, sometimes we feel like, you know, somebody who is more godly or whatever are God's favorites, but there are no, there's no favoritism with God. So imagine, you know, a father sometimes, you know, we as humans do that. Uh, and I've seen people, you know, openly say, I'm with their kids in front of other kids, say, you are my favorite kid in front of other kids, you know, say how hurtful it'll be. Right? So for us, it's not that, you know, you are God's favorite. I'm God's favorite. Everybody is, there's no difference. That's so comforting. Speaker 1 00:39:03 Yeah. For anyone who ever read The Shack, the part of the, that book was that this was not a very highly scriptural book. I read it because I thought it, it offered interesting viewpoints and things, but they weren't, it wasn't theologically sound. But one of the things is, every time the, the characters that play God or Jesus talk about somebody, they go, oh, I'm especially fond of that one. There's no such thing in God. What, you know, I, we follow a couple of different pastors both past and present, uh, present ones being like Joseph Prince and Andrew Farley that we follow, because we believe that their message is the same message Paul taught. And it might be, you know, I'm, we might be tempted occasionally to think of them as higher or better. Uh, if you're gonna measure on the earthly plane, there are certain things about them that are higher and better. There's certainly things about almost everyone in the world that are higher and better than me in some way or another. But we can't do that to ourselves. We can't hold ourselves up to others because God doesn't, he doesn't go, oh, well, you know, Joseph Prince, I'm especially fond of him. Oh, yeah. And over here is aj, mark and him. They're okay, <laugh>. Speaker 2 00:40:16 Well, the value is not in the messenger. It's in the message. Whoever has the Amen. Pure Gospel is the one that has the power of the Spirit in what they're doing. So, Speaker 1 00:40:28 And when you have that pure message, nobody can stand against you. Speaker 3 00:40:32 Tim, I just want to, you know, uh, revisit what you just said, right? You know, when God looks at us or somebody else, you know, he doesn't say time, especially fond of you. Uh, you know, the reason for that is, you know, Bible says, as Jesus is, so are we even in this world. So in God's eyes, when he looks at us, everybody's like our Lord Jesus Christ. So we all are perfect in his eyes. In one way. That statement is still true, because he says that about everybody, you are my favorite. I'm especially fond of you. And, but he says it to everybody. So that is not bad. You know, some parents I know they tell every kid separately, you are my favorite. But they say to everybody just to make them feel special, but in their eyes, they're all equal. Speaker 2 00:41:19 Just so you know, Tim, in the unveiling, you're my favorite, <laugh> Speaker 1 00:41:23 <laugh>. Speaker 2 00:41:25 Hey, guys, uh, can I just take a moment here before we move on to Hearken back to the context of what, uh, you know, that, that Paul is putting these words in. Remember now he is responding to the fact that people have come in and are trying tover the gospel. They're adding circumcision. They're telling the Galatians, you need to keep the ceremonial law. And, and Paul tells you right here, the reason he went there was because the matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. How are they trying to make them slaves by putting them back under the law? And I love that comparison there on the left, on the left side of the sentence, you've got the freedom we have in Christ and on the right is to make us slaves. Speaker 2 00:42:19 And then that's why he went there. But then he says, we didn't give in to them for a moment so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved by for you. And what an important point that is. We would not be walking in freedom now if Paul hadn't opposed them and, and went to a fight for the truth of the gospel. And that reminds me of, uh, Martin Luther at the end of his life, after he and the other, uh, reformers had rediscovered the one true gospel that had been missing for the church, from the church for centuries. He said that whenever you preach the one true gospel, I'm paraphrasing, he said, there will be conflict. He said, but every generation has to take up the, the fight to preserve that gospel. And it's just, it's just a cons, it's constant. Mankind wants to work. Speaker 2 00:43:18 It seems right to him that I need to earn that if I do this, God has to do this. They're trying to control God, trying to live by, by their own abilities, their own flesh. Paul calls it. And that is not the gospel. That's not freedom. When Christ said, whom the Sun sets free is free indeed. There's no way you're ever gonna feel that when you're under the law, because the law does not set you free. It makes you a slave, as Paul says here in two four. And you're gonna see it later on as we go through the book. Speaker 1 00:43:52 Well, guys, we're running out of time. So Mark, I'm gonna use that as your summary for this evening. Um, AJ do you have anything? Do you want to add before I stop us? Speaker 3 00:44:01 Uh, well, you know, he did, uh, introduce that, you know, or say that people are perverting the gospel. And of course, uh, Mark's already said, you know what the perversion is. But so far in the book, we, he, Paul hasn't mentioned, you know, what the perversion is. I think, uh, he will, uh, mention that in the following verses. And I guess, you know, we will talk about it in the next, uh, segment. So as such, I don't have a, uh, uh, well, I guess one summary, uh, from my side is, you know, if you pervert the gospel, you know you're cursed. Uh, so it says, you know, you're doubly cursed, right? You know, he says, you know, two times he says, you know, you'll be cursed. So be careful. You know, sometimes we think, you know, we, if we don't, uh, if we don't obey the law, we are cursed. And of course we are cursed, but Christ has redeemed us from that curse. So if you don't believe the gospel or if you per the gospel, now, you're doubly cursed, cursed by the law, and then cursed again because you didn't believe the gospel. So be careful. Speaker 1 00:45:02 Thank you, aj. Thank you guys. This has been a thrilling discussion tonight. Uh, and thank, thank you AJ, for giving us a sneak peek into what's coming, because next week I think we're gonna pick up where we left off and keep marching our way through Galatians. So everybody listening, we've been glad you've been here to listen today. We hope you've been blessed and, uh, have uplifted and edified by this. And we look forward to talking to you again the next time. Speaker 1 00:45:33 Tim, again, thanks for listening today. We hope you were blessed by today's message. If so, we encourage you to subscribe and share our podcast with your friends and family. Our entire catalog of episodes can be found on our website at www.theunveiledgospel.com. 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