Drew Boswell

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“The Importance of Preserving the Gospel” Part One Galatians 2:1-10

Grace Abounds

A Sermon Series Through the Book of Galatians

“The Importance of Preserving the Gospel”

Part One

Galatians 2:1-10

Introduction

A husband and wife didn’t really love each other. The man was very demanding, so much so that he prepared a list of rules and regulations for his wife to follow. He insisted that she read them over every day and obey them to the letter. Among other things, his “do’s and don’ts” indicated such details as what time she had to get up in the morning, when his breakfast should be served, and how the housework should be done.

After several long years, the husband died. As time passed, the woman fell in love with another man, one who dearly loved her. Soon they were married. This husband did everything he could to make his new wife happy, continually showering her with tokens of his appreciation.

One day as he was cleaning house, she found tucked away in a drawer the list of commands her first husband had drawn up for her. As she looked it over, it dawned on her that even though her present husband hadn’t given her any kind of list, she was doing everything her first husband’s list required anyway. She realized she was so devoted to this man that her deepest desire was to please him out of love, not obligation.

When the Gospel is Preserved There is Unity (vv. 1-2)

Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain.

He went up to Jerusalem to visit with Peter and James (Gal. 1:18-19) to get to know them as fellow apostles but had to escape because people wanted to kill him. “Paul and Barnabas had completed their first missionary tour (Acts 13:1-14:28) and returned to Antioch to report the miracles of Gentile conversion by grace through faith. Jewish legalists in Judea were upset when they heard the report and went to Antioch to teach that Gentiles had to become a Jew before becoming a Christian.”[1]

So here when it says, “I went up again to Jerusalem . . .” it was to resolve this issue. It was in response to a revelation – He had received the gospel directly from Jesus. His calling was a direct revelation from God – so he is not going to Jerusalem, to this meeting, to see if he had it right this whole time. And if he wanted confirmation that he was saying the right thing – why wait 14 years?

Acts 15:1-2 “But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.”

What Paul ends up showing is that there are not three versions of the gospel (the other 12 apostles, (specifically Peter and James), the Jewish false teaching of the law plus Jesus, and Paul’s gospel that he made up – Paul is explaining that he received the gospel through revelation from Jesus directly, and it is the same gospel that the original apostles have already been preaching. He received it independently, but it is identical.

The reason Paul was so concerned about this issue, and why he urgently wrote this letter, was to, “make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. . .” He is not concerned about if his gospel is right or wrong – Paul is concerned about the fruitfulness of his ministry. He is fighting to get the Galatians churches to hold on to sound doctrine. Their was a chance that cultural prejudices would entice them to let other teachers continue to make dangerous claims against the gospel.

If this false group were allowed to continue it would split the church. On one side would be Paul and the gospel – faith in Christ’s work on the cross and it is by grace that we are saved. On the other side would be these teachers saying that if you want to become a Christian you have to become a Jew first (Jesus plus the law).

The gospel unifies all Christians – Look at this quote, “An American Christian has far more in common with a gospel-believer who lives a nomadic existence on the Mongolian plains than they do with a non-believer who lives on their street, drives a similar car, and whose children go to the same school as theirs.”[2]

Christian unity takes no account of cultural distinctives. What gets added to the gospel? baptism, be a member of the church, particular doctrine like predestination. Speaking in tongues, or avoiding behaviors like not drinking alcohol, wearing your hair a particular way, playing cards – if you break these rules then you can’t possibly be a Christian.

The Preservation of the Gospel Requires Effort (vv. 3-5)

3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4 Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— 5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.

Paul says that there are some who have secretly slipped into the church for the purpose of sabotaging and undermining the liberty that true Christians have in Christ. These planted spies want to bring these new believers into the bondage of legalism.

Romans 8:2-3 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.1 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.” The countless regulations for cleanliness in the law of Moses were designed “to show us how impossible it was to make ourselves perfectly acceptable before a holy God.[3]

To resist their argument Paul presents Titus – he was a Christian and he was not circumcised. He did not follow the law, yet received Christ who did all the work for him, and now Titus is in right standing with God (yet without keeping the law). “Gentiles could become full members of the people of God without becoming Jewish in custom or culture.”[4]

Christians preserve the truth of the Gospel

by not allowing customs or culture to get added to it.

 “The price of spiritual freedom is constant vigilance. It is not enough to share the gospel or even preach it. The gospel has to be defended.”[5]

There is a difference between the freedom that comes with the gospel and the bondage that goes with moralistic religion. Those who are on the moralistic religion side press a very specific set of rules and regulations for daily dress and behavior.[6] How is that some church people can be so negative and even cruel while still claiming to love Jesus and His teachings?

Because their religion places so much emphasis on external cultural separation from the world, rather than on internal motive, outlook, and perspective. “I am a good person, let me show you (by how I cut my hair, or the clothes I wear, or where I go and don’t go, who I will be around and will not be around, etc”.)

It is not freedom from moral imperatives (truth telling, parent honoring, not committing adultery, etc.) but you are free from a system or culture of trying to earn God’s love, earning your salvation.

Both ways teach that they need to follow the ten commandments but the motive behind why one should is different – “you need to honor your parents, because when you do you will go to heaven for being a good person” (verses) “You should to honor your parents because Christ has saved you, and loved you and from a thankful heart I now serve others.” This is right behavior, based on a wrong belief.

When the Gospel is Preserved Christians Are Free To Serve God Differently (vv. 6-9a)

6 And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), 9 and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me,

(v. 6) When the leaders gathered together and Paul presented the gospel that he had been sharing to the uncircumcised non-Jewish world, these leaders, “added nothing to me.” There was no need to add anything to Paul’s message – it was the same gospel – faith in Christ alone and nothing else was needed for salvation (no performances, rituals, or actions were needed).

“Paul was not being proud or boastful but was simply stating a truth. He knew that all he was and had was entirely by God’s grace (Gal. 2:9). He acknowledged himself as the foremost of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15) and ‘the least of the apostles, who was not fit to be called an apostle, because he had persecuted the church of God’ (1 Cor. 15:9). But under God’s grace he was equal to all other believers, and in his calling he was equal to all the other apostles.”[7]

In what is called the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 the early church leaders worked through this issue, and all the church leaders had gathered together and Peter said, (vv. 10-11) “Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test aby placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we believe that we will be saved through ethe grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

Then Paul and Barnabas gave an account, “And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.” And then James spoke . . .”13 After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name . . . 19 Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, . . .”

All of the apostles and church leadership agreed that salvation was by grace through faith in Jesus. Then the council selected Paul and Barnabas to deliver their findings to the very areas where these false teachers were trying to corrupt the gospel. v, 22 “Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.”

(v. 7) “I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised.” The gospel does not change, but the means and method of presenting it does. How Peter presents the gospel to the Jewish people, would be different than how Paul would present it to the Gentile (non-Jewish) people. Some people will have a gift, a calling, to present the gospel to different people groups (while culturally different, they are universally in need of Jesus.)

How do we present the never changing message of the gospel to a world that is constantly changing? If you swing too far to the left, in order to reach the lost and to appeal to as many people as possible you abandon things that are offensive like sin, the cross, blood and you lose the gospel.

If you swing too far to the right and never change (or change far too slowly) the church becomes archaic and no one understands what you are saying. Like the church services in the times of the Reformation were conducted in Latin. No one spoke Latin, so no one knew what was going on in the service. The pastor uses sermon illustrations about rotary phone.

Conclusion

Watching a trapeze show is breathtaking. We wonder at the dexterity and timing. We gasp at near-misses. In most cases, there is a net underneath. When they fall, they jump up and bounce back to the trapeze. In Christ, we live on the trapeze.

The whole world should be able to watch and say, “Look how they live, how they love one another. Look how well the husbands treat their wives. And aren’t they the best workers in the factories and offices, the best neighbors, the best students?” That is to live on the trapeze, being a show to the world.

What happens when we slip? The net is surely there. The blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ, has provided forgiveness for ALL our trespasses. Both the net and the ability to stay on the trapeze are works of God’s grace. Of course, we cannot be continually sleeping on the net., If that is the case, I doubt whether that person is a trapezist.[10]

_______________________

[1] John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Galatians (Chicago, Illinois; Moody Publishing, 1987) 35.

[2] Keller, 44.

[3] Tim Keller, Galatians For You (USA; The Good Book Company, 2013) 41.

[4] Keller, 41.

[5] Philip Graham Ryken, Reformed Expository Commentary, Galatians (Phillipsburg New Jersey; P&R Publishing Company, 2005) 40.

[6] Keller, 42.

[7] Macarthur, 40.

[8] Max Anders, Holman New Testament Commentary, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, & Colossians (Nashville, Tennessee; B& H Publishing Group, 1999) 22.

[9] Todd Wilson, Preaching the Word, Galatians, Gospel Rooted Living (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Publishing, 2013) 65.

[10] https://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/g/grace.htm

Add Beauty to Your Industry

Ananda Comaraswany, “An artist is not a special kind of man, but all men are a special kind of artist.”

John Ruskin, “Life without industry is guilt, and industry without art is brutality.”

Every man is a type of artist, so add something of beauty to your industry, because it is within us all to do so. If you don’t add beauty, industry becomes wretched and soul consuming. But it can also be soul feeding and bring life meaning and purpose. The hinge between these two worlds is the art the man of industry brings to the work — his own artistic touch. This extra effort is his expression of the joy he finds in his work.

The risk he takes is to expose his heart. Today we call the person who has abandoned this fear of exposure an artist. But the truth is that all people can be an artist if they add beauty to what they set their hands to do. Add beauty to your industry — it will mean the difference between your job consuming you or exciting you.

“No One Is Beyond the Reach of His Amazing Grace” Galatians 1:10-24

Grace Abounds

A Sermon Series Through the Book of Galatians

“No One Is Beyond the Reach of His Amazing Grace”

Galatians 1:10-24

 Introduction

There once was a man who was searching for his keys under the street light. His friends came along stopped and asked him “Exactly, where did you drop your keys?” “In my house,” the man answered. “In your house? Then why are you looking out here?” “Because the light is better out here.”

You are not going to find what you are looking for unless you are looking in the right place. Most people are looking for spiritual life in the wrong place. Originally the Galatian people knew where to find the key to salvation. They had heard Paul’s message and had been saved by putting their faith in Jesus Christ. Now they were confused. They began to listen to legalists who said they needed two keys to be saved – faith and good works. Confused the Galatians were looking for the key to salvation and Christian maturity in the wrong place.[1]

 Prayer

Paul’s Defense of His Authority to Share the Gospel (vv.10-11)

10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Paul’s critics were saying that Paul had watered down what it takes to please God, or to be right with him (justification) by removing the requirement to follow the law. Paul then refutes this claim by asking two questions (v. 10). His motive is to please God and not men.

Regarding Paul following the earthly traditions of man, or looking religious to others, Paul says, Philippians 3:4-6 “. . . If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.”

If salvation was about keeping rules, and appearing religious Paul had accomplished that. He walked away from trying to appear a certain way to men, and is now seeking the approval of God alone. You can’t follow the rules of this world, to be liked by the people of this world, and preach the gospel (and please God at the same time).

Martin Luther said, “. . . For the world finds nothing more irritating and intolerable than hearing its wisdom, righteousness, religion, and power condemned . . . For if we denounce men and all their efforts, it is inevitable that we quickly encounter bitter hatred, persecution, excommunication, condemnation, and execution.”[2]

Have you ever heard the saying, “God really doesn’t mind what you believe as long as you are sincere?” Paul was incredibly sincere against those he saw as the enemy of God – even to the point of killing them. Emotionally Paul was invested fully in the belief that Jesus followers had to be stamped out. His mind was not going to be changed by a reasonably stated argument. Nothing was going to convince him that what he was doing was wrong – God had to do it. He was violent, a persecutor, and an arrogant man.

God can change the heart of any man.

11 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel.

No one led Paul to the Lord. He did not read a gospel tract, he did not go forward and talk to a preacher at the end of a worship service. He did not receive it, and he was not taught the gospel – then how does he know the gospel? Paul doesn’t argue proofs from theology – he simply tells his story. “He argues for the divine origin and nature of the gospel by describing the profound change the gospel has made in his life.”[3]

 Paul Was an Enemy of the Gospel – Paul’s Need For Grace (vv. 12-14)

12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.

“For you have heard of my former life . . .”

Paul did not make himself an apostle, and the gospel did not come from men – (v. 1) “Paul, an apostle — not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father . . .” Paul points to his own life as proof that God changes lives. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

Paul fully understood what the false teachers were pushing – he himself had taught and believed the same thing before he came to know Christ. He was zealous for this belief to the point of trying to stamp out the early Christian church (Acts 7).

(v. 13) “I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it,” – His use of the word “destroy” stresses that in his former life his actions against the church were exceptionally violent and that he had intended to obliterate it. Acts 8:3 “But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.” He was “breathing threats and murder” against the church (9:1).

Paul was sincere in his beliefs – he persecuted other people who thought differently than he did, he was violent and destructive. He was extremely zealous for the traditions of his beliefs.

Paul Moved From Persecutor to Preacher – Paul Receives Grace (vv. 15-17)

15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born,[4] and who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

 “But when he . . . called me by his grace, . . .”

So how did Paul go from zealously persecuting the church to being a top leader in its ranks? Jesus appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus and he was saved (Acts 9). God called Paul (destined before he was even born) to preach the gospel.

He was saved by God’s grace, and he was called to gospel ministry by God’s grace – both were from God, not his own doing. He went from persecutor to preacher because God worked in his heart.

The other 12 had seen Christ, lived with him, were called by him, trained by him and commissioned by him – Paul was not there during any of that. How could he then claim to be an apostle? Paul’s salvation and calling was based on revelation. Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus and there called him to salvation and ministry. Once saved, Paul could have gone straight to the other apostles and learned from them. Instead, he did not consult any man, “his purpose in going to Arabia was to pray, study, and be alone with the Lord.”[5]

(v. 17) So, when Paul says, “nor did I go up to Jerusalem,” – Paul wants us to understand that the gospel he received from God was not influenced by the teaching of any men.

 Paul Met With Certain Apostles – Paul’s Life Having Received Grace (vv. 18-20)

18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. 20 (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!)

 After having been taught by Christ for three years, now he could move to fellowship with other apostles as a fellow apostle (not student). Paul uses the word, “to visit” – it is a very specific word, and it is only used here in the NT. It means “to inquire, to get acquainted.”[6] He wants us to understand that he did not go there to be taught.

Acts 9:29 shows that while he was visiting with Peter and James there was a plot to kill him, so he flees to Syria and Cilicia (Acts 21:39, 22:3).

So he swears an oath, “In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!” (v. 20) this is the type of oath that one would swear in court. Paul is giving this account to show that he did not receive the gospel from anyone, it was revealed to him from God. “He neither invented nor inherited his gospel. He did not make it up on his own and he did not get it from anyone else – not before his conversion, not during his conversion, and not after.”[7]

There is Glory to God Because of Heart Change – Paul’s Life After His Conversion (vv. 21-24)

 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”  24 And they glorified God because of me.

“He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith”

So where did the gospel come from? Paul says, v. 12 “I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” And again in v. 16 “was pleased to reveal his Son to me,” It was something unknown and covered by God, but then revealed or uncovered and shown to Paul. When Paul was on the road to Damascus and Christ appeared to him, Acts 9:4 “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” Paul knew that he was Jesus, and that He was killed on a Roman cross (for our sin), had risen now from the dead because He is appearing to him.

(v. 23) ““He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” This is the effect of the gospel upon a person. Paul held the coats of those that killed the first Christian martyr Stephen. He was zealous in his attempt to wipe out those that followed Jesus. His reputation was that of man who was incredibly religious and fought against threats to his beliefs.

So when he arrives as a Christian, the churches were concerned – but the power of the gospel is that it radically changes a person’s heart. When the church heard of what Jesus did in Paul’s heart, “they glorified God because of me.” Paul also said in 1 Timothy 1:15 “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”

If you have a false gospel there is no hope for a transformed life.

The reason we gather, in the name of Christ, is because we know and have come to understand that we needed and continue to need radical life transformation. We are sinners in need of salvation. We continue to be sinners in need of grace and, like Pail, we share in the responsibility to share this gospel so that others can know life transformation and be set free from sin.

Paul’s argument for the soul changing power of the gospel was to tell his story. There is no difference for us today, you are the best argument for the transformational power of the gospel. Nothing is more real than you telling your story of how you came to know and understand the gospel. Remember Paul’s words and le them help you share your story:

“For you have heard of my former life . . .” This is what your life was like before you knew Jesus. “But when he . . . called me by his grace, . . .” This is when you heard the gospel and placed your faith in Jesus. “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith” This is what your life is life after you were saved by God’s grace.

For me my grandparents would come and pick me up and take me to church. But I had no interest in what was taught there, in fact it taught me how to appear good on the outside and disguise who I was on the inside. Then one day, in middle school I was sitting on the school bus when a special-needs little boy sat next to me. He smiled too much, and was just not cool like I was.

When it came time for the boy to step off the bus, I tripped him and he fell down the steps of the bus. His mom was there to pick him up, dust off his clothes, gather the scattered parts of his lunch box, and hold his hand as they walked back to their house. The other kids on the bus laughed and pointed fingers at him as we drove off – but I was not laughing. I knew my heart was dark and that I was pretending.

Later that summer I went to a VBS where the pastor came and explained the gospel during craft time – and I jumped at the chance to be saved from my sin. I knew I needed Jesus and His grace, and now I have been called by Jesus to preach the gospel that has changed my soul.

Paul said in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,” The gospel is the power of God to save the most hardened violent criminal. We forget the power of the gospel to change the hardened heart.

“John Newton, the eighteen-century pastor, was a man who understands the power of the gospel and the grace of God. He was the author of the timeless hymn, “Amazing Grace,” whose lyrics seem to tell each of our stories better than we ourselves could. But before Newton was a great Christian hymn writer, he was a rascal, a slave trader, a rebel.

But God stepped in and saved Newton, and before his death he wrote is own epitaph that he wanted put into marble, It read, “John Newton, Clerk, Once an Infidel and Libertine, A servant of slaves in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the Faith, He had long labored to destroy.”[8]

The violent slave trader radically saved by the gospel and died a preacher of what changed him forever. That is Amazing Grace. Do you know Jesus today? Do you want Him to change your wicked heart and free you from your sin?

____________________

[1] Illustration from Anders, 19.

[2] Ryken, 24.

[3] Todd Wilson, Preaching the Word, Galatians, Gospel Rooted Living (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Publishing, 2013) 44.

[4] The Pharisees believed that they were set apart for God because of their keeping the law, Paul explains that it was God and his plan that set Paul apart (God’s grace), not how Paul lived his life or followed the law.

[5] Max Anders, Holman New Testament Commentary, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, & Colossians (Nashville, Tennessee; Homan Reference, 1999) 9.

[6] L. Ann Jervis, New International Biblical Commentary, Galatians (Peabody, Massachusetts; Hendrickson Publishing, 2005) 47.

[7] Ryken, 30.

[8] Wilson, 48.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith." Ephesians 2:8

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