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“Sola Fide: Faith Alone” Romans 1:16-17
“Sola Fide: Faith Alone” Romans 1:16-17
A Sermon Series
The Five Solas
“Sola Fide: Faith Alone”
Romans 1:16-17
Introduction
The theologian Martin Luther who nailed the 95 thesis on the church door that started the Protestant Reformation, was a Catholic priest. He was very frustrated, and this is what he wrote in his journals, “I hated that word, justice of God . . . the justice by which God is just and by which he punishes sinners and the unjust . . . I was a sinner with an extremely troubled conscience . . . I hated the just God who punishes sinners . . . I grumbled vehemently and got angry at God . . . I was raging with wild and disturbed conscience . . . I badgered St. Paul on the spot in Romans 1”[1] Luther had been taught that he was made right with God by his actions, the works that he did to try and please God, But his conscience still bothered him because he knew he was a sinner. The more he tried to please God with his actions, the more frustrated and angry he became.
Then he came across Romans 1:17, and later he would write, “All at once I felt that I had been born again and entered into paradise itself through open gates . . . I saw the whole of Scripture in a different light . . . I exalted this sweetest word of mine, ‘justice of God’ with as much love as before I had hated it with hate. This phrase of Paul was for me the very gate of paradise.”[2]
Martin Luther realized by the Holy Spirit revealing to him a proper understanding of Romans 1:17, All that is required for salvation and right relationship with God, for a person to be considered righteous, is faith; faith alone.
Prayer
God’s People Have the Power of the Gospel (v. 16)
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Paul begins v. 16 by stating that he is “not ashamed of the gospel.” A Scottish theologian, James Stewart, made the comment, “There’s no sense in declaring that you are not ashamed of something unless you have been tempted to feel ashamed of it.”[3]
The gospel means “good news,” and it is good news because all of humanity have sinned and are in need of a Savior. For the Jews it was a “stumbling block, and for the Gentiles foolishness.”[4] In order to see it as good news, you have to understand the bad news, or the fallen situation in which all of humanity are “dead in their trespasses and sin” (Eph. 2:1).
The OT law is designed by God to show every person that they are not capable of what God requires to go to heaven, or be in His presence (sinless perfection). No one can keep the law, Jesus even show this further with His teachings of (murder related to anger, and adultery related to lust, etc.).
There is a huge temptation by the church to make the gospel less offensive. It has been said that, “Christianity is wounded most in the house of its friends.”[5] In Galatians 5:11-12 Paul expresses his fear of removing the offense of the gospel. “But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed.”
Paul clearly recognizes something we need to realize: the true gospel is offensive to sinful human beings. You cannot remove the offense of the gospel without removing the gospel itself. Paul recognized that it was impossible to share the true gospel without offending the lost.
Then he goes on to tell us why he is not ashamed of the gospel, “for it is the power of God for salvation,” – “of all the religions and non-religions of the world, the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only message that truly saves . . . they cannot cleanse from sin or make a person right with the Creator of the universe. Only the gospel provides salvation from judgment.”[6]
John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (Jesus).” The only way to be forgiven of your sins, and enter into eternity is through Jesus.
Jeremiah 13:3 “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots?” Can a person change their nature? No. It takes the power of God acting in their lives to change our hearts.
Paul is not ashamed of the gospel because the gospel is not just “one power over against another others, by the supreme power, the power of almighty God Himself directed toward the salvation of men, God’s almighty saving power.”[7] In worldly religions and cults, people follow them because they want power, they want their gods to do something on their behalf. They would have healing papyri, having a healing formula – but here is true power of God to the person for the ultimate healing.
One temptation is change the gospel so that it is not offensive; another temptation is to try to bring people into a righteousness of God is some way other than the gospel (join a Sunday school Class, Come to Church, give money, serve on a committee) and never the mention of Jesus, their sin, or the cross – serving does not bring about righteousness in a person, only the gospel changes a life. We invite people to the gospel. A changed life begins only at the foot of the cross.
And that forgiveness of sin, is “to everyone who believes,” When the angels came to the shepherds, who were watching their flocks by night, they told them, Luke 2:10-11 “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” The good news of the Savior’s arrival is for the world, all the people.
Paul says that the good news for everyone, who believes. In Genesis 15:5 God tells Abraham to look up and to count the stars, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” Abraham was made righteous before God by believing what God said. Those who would become descendants of Abraham (the stars in the sky, the sands on the seashore), would be those who believe God, and who also because of their faith are counted to them God’s righteousness.
God’s People Live by Faith (v. 17)
17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Paul is referencing Habakkuk 2:4, “. . . the righteous shall live by his faith.”[8] The Old Testament and the New Testament both define faith the same way. God makes a promise, and the people believe God’s promise.
“How can a sinful man be made right before a perfect God? Paul is declaring in verse 17 that in Christ, God gives His own righteousness and thus meets all His demands for perfection.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 describes it this way, “For our sake he made him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” God transferred your sin to Jesus upon the cross, and God transferred Jesus’ sinless righteousness, “a God kind of righteousness”[9] to you.
How does this transfer happen? Paul explains, by faith alone. It is an openness to the gospel, but it is a gift from God (not something you do). It is the “human response of surrender to the judgement and unmerited mercy of God which God Himself brings about – God who not only directs the message to the hearer but also Himself lays open the hearer’s heart to the message. And yet this faith, as God’s work in a man, is in a real sense more truly and fully the man’s own personal decision than anything which he himself does of himself; for it is the expression of freedom which God has restored to him —the freedom to obey God.”[10]
To helps us get a definition of the word faith, lets’ go to Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation” (and the whole chapter). Each of the people listed in Hebrews 11, were told to do something, or that something was going to happen – and they believed it and acted accordingly (Noah built and ark, Abraham moved his family, etc.).
A proper understanding of faith is helpful then for us to see if someone says they receive Christ but use His grace and mercy as an excuse to sin in what theologians call antinomianism, “In some Christian belief systems, an antinomian is one who takes the principle of salvation by faith and divine grace to the point of asserting that the saved are not bound to follow the moral law contained in the Ten Commandments. Antinomians believe that faith alone guarantees eternal security in heaven, regardless of one’s actions.”[11] As if faith in Jesus allows them to disregard the teachings of Scripture.
In Paul’s life there was a radical change on the road to Damascus. He went from hunting down Christians and persecuting the church to planting churches and being one of their primary leaders. No one can remain unchanged who has received the grace of God in the gospel, and walks “from faith for faith.” 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.”
And then on the opposite side of lawlessness is the legalistic religious person – who also claims to be a follower of Jesus, but in reality they are not reliant upon God’s righteousness being revealed, and they are not living by faith. Instead, they are reliant upon their careful keeping of their own personal law, and what they think earns God’s favor toward them.[12] (this is what frustrated Martin Luther).
Both the lawless person and the legalistic person don’t understand faith. The lawless lacks faith because true faith leads to life change, not continued sinfulness. The legalistic person lacks genuine faith because they are trusting in themselves to earn God’s favor.
Paul uses this phrase, “from faith for faith,” and another way to say this is “faith from start to finish.”[13] (v.17) “the righteousness of God is revealed . . .“The righteous shall live by faith – Faith is revealed or given by God to people who then receive salvation, who then live out their lives by continuing to live by faith. We start our walk with God in faith, and we walk in faith all the way through until the end. “It is not a one-time act, but a way of life. . . Theologians have called this “the perseverance of the saints.”[14]
Genuine faith will lead to a heart change.
(v. 17) “The righteous shall live by faith.” This is a passage Paul quotes from Habakkuk, and that prophet who at his wits end. First, wickedness was rampant in Israel and God seemed oblivious to it, moving Habakkuk to rail against God in a series of complaints (Hab. 1:2-4). Second when God said that He was going to use a nation more wicked than Israel (the Babylonians) to punish Israel, this produced cries and complaints of injustice from the prophet (Hab. 1:12-2:1).
So Habakkuk was frustrated and didn’t understand why God was doing what He did. God responds to the prophet by saying that He was going to reveal His righteousness, and will put all of Habakkuk’s concerns to rest. But until God shows His plan, “the righteous shall live by faith” – to trust him. When things don’t make sense, and life seems to be going in the wrong direction – trust Him.
Before Paul’s reference of the Habakkuk passage he says, “as it is written,” “Whenever ecclesiastical teachings begin to compromise with the pagan notion that righteousness can be earned, there needs to be a clear reaffirmation that God’s righteousness comes from faith, not works. “As it is written” – the Greek work for this emphasizes the permanence and authoritative nature of Scripture.”[15] It has always been faith, and as secure as God’s Word stands, it will always be faith, faith alone.
We want to change the world; it is dark, at times it feels hopeless, and things don’t always go the way we think it should go. So, God gives us a supernatural power to change to world around us, to change families, even whole communities – we have “the power of God for salvation” – the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Bellevue Baptist Church exists to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
The discipleship process begins with the gospel.
The African impala can jump to a height of over 10 feet and cover a distance of greater than 30 feet. Yet these magnificent creatures can be kept in an enclosure in any zoo with a 3-foot wall. The animals will not jump if they cannot see where their feet will fall. Faith is the ability to trust what we cannot see, and with faith we are freed from the flimsy enclosures of life that only fear allows to entrap us.[16]
__________________________
[1] Kenneth Boa & William Kruidenier, Holman New Testament Commentary, Romans (Nashville, Tennessee; Holman Reference, 2000) 36.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Kenneth Boa & William Kruidenier, 30.
[4] 1 Corinthians 1:23
[5] John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Romans 1-8 (Chicago, Illinois; Moody Press, 1991) 51.
[6] Jason K. Allen, General Editor, SOLA. How the Five Solas Are Still Reforming the Church (Chicago, Illinois; Moddy Publishers, 2019) 59.
[7] C.E.B. Cranfield, The International Critical Commentary, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, Volume I (Edinburgh, Scotland; T&T Clark LTD) 88.
[8] Quoted also in Galatians 3:11
[9] Archibald Thomas Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, Volume IV (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1931) 327.
[10] Cranfield, 90.
[11] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antinomianism
[12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legalism_(theology)
[13] George Arthur Buttrick, The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume IX (Nashville, Tennessee; Abingdon Press, 1954) 394.
[14] MacArthur, 57. Col. 1:22-23; Heb. 3:12-14
[15] Robert Mounce, The American Commentary, Romans (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman & Holman Publishing, 1995) 74.
[16] https://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/f/faith.htm
“The Result of Telling of the Greatness of God” Exodus 18
“Into the Wilderness”
A Sermon Series in the Book of Exodus
“The Result of Telling of the Greatness of God”
Exodus 18
Introduction
Many years ago some men were panning for gold in Montana, and one of them found an unusual stone. Breaking it open, he was excited to see that it contained gold. Working eagerly, the men soon discovered an abundance of the precious metal. Happily, they began shouting with delight, “We’ve found it! We’ve found gold! We’re rich!” They had to interrupt their celebrating, though, to go into a nearby town and stock up on supplies. Before they left camp, the men agreed not to tell a soul about their find. Indeed, no one breathed a word about it to anyone while they were in town. Much to their dismay, however, when they were about to return, hundreds of men were prepared to follow them. When they asked the crowd to tell who “squealed,” the reply came, “No one had to. Your faces showed it!”[1]
When we experience what God has done in our lives, and understand its’ eternal significance, we can’t help but to tell others. God desires to use us, and our testimony of His greatness, to bring others to know Him. But sometimes that weight feels very heavy.
Prayer
We Are to Bear Witness of God’s Greatness (vv. 1-9)
Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt. 2 Now Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, had taken Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her home, 3 along with her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land”), 4 and the name of the other, Eliezer (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”). 5 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God. 6 And when he sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her,” 7 Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. 8 Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the LORD had delivered them.
Our first question that helps us understand the text is, “What does it mean to be a priest of Midian?” This is how the text starts out; it tells us that he is a priest. “The Midianites first appear in Bible in connection with the sale of Joseph (Gen. 37:25-36).” . . . “The Midianites appear in connection with Israel’s attempt to penetrate the Transjordan region after the wilderness wanderings. The elders of Midian and the Moabites conspired against Israel and secured the services of Balaam to curse Israel (Nu. 22:4-7) . . . Midianite women were also involved in attempt to lead Israel into apostacy (Nu. 25:1-9). Although the attempt failed, the Midianites were linked firmly with paganism of Baal-poer; consequently the Midianites were considered the enemy of both Israel and Yahweh.”[2] So when it says that Jethro was a priest, he was the priest of a pagan religion.
Witness #1 Of God’s Greatness; the Grandson’s names.
At some point after the Red Sea Crossing, maybe when God’s people were attacked by the Amalekites (Ex. 17:8 ff.), Moses sent his wife and children back to her home (which wasn’t very far away), and it was Moses’ home for forty-years. Now his father-in-law, wife (Zipporah), and his two sons return. Moses names his sons, “The name of the one was Gershom (for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land”), 4 and the name of the other, Eliezer (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”). The son’s names tell Moses’ story – There was a time when he did not fit in Egypt (because he was a Hebrew), and he did not fit among his people, because he was culturally Egyptian. But God appeared to him, and called him, and now he is free, no longer a slave. When Zipporah went back home and said here is Gershom, and here is Eliezer – their names would have told a story.
Witness #2 of God’s Greatness; The Mountain of God
“where he was encamped at the mountain of God.” Exodus 3:12 After Moses had given an excuse at the burning bush God said to him “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” Moses had led the people out of Egypt, and now he is encamped on the very mountain where it all started at the burning bush; God had kept His word to Moses.
Witness #3 of God’s Greatness; Moses
“Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the LORD had done . . .” Moses loved is father-in-law, and every time we see them encountering each other, it is one of respect and compassion. When Moses ran for his life and originally escaped from Egypt it was Jethro that showed him compassion. Exodus 2:19-21 “They said, “An Egyptian (that’s Moses) delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock.” 20 He said to his daughters, “Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.” 21 And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah.”
So, Moses tells him all that God had done, the miraculous signs (he would have been holding his staff as he talked), the plagues, their preparations of the Passover meal, God’s leading them with a pillar of smoke during the day, and fire by night, the splitting of the Red Sea, the final defeat of Pharoah’s army, the daily provision of manna and quail, and their defeat of the Amalekites.
Romans 10:14-15 “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?3 And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” How will the Jethros of this world hear of the mighty deeds of God unless we, His people, tell them?
After Jesus healed the demoniac in Mark 5:18-19, look what he tells him, “As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” Our witnessing starts at home. For Moses, it was his father-in-law.
The Response to the Testimony – Belief (vv. 9-12)
9 And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the LORD had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. 10 Jethro said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.”[3] 12 And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
(v. 9) “And Jethro rejoiced” – In response to all that God had done, Jethro responded with praise, blessings, and belief. He says, (v. 11) “Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods,.” Jethro is a pagan outsider who sees what God has done for His people and he is attracted to that light. He sees what God is doing amongst His people, and He wants to be apart of it.
Then it was the man who accepted the one true God has being greater than all other gods, the one who had placed his faith in the God of Israel – he brought a “burnt offering and sacrifices.” This is a meal of celebration for what God has done in his heart, and how he has delivered his own family (Moses and Zipporah). The burnt offering is a thanksgiving for his and his family’s deliverance.
Jethro is a non-Israelite who put his faith in the One True God (who had shown his power over the gods of Egypt). Remember the Egyptians who went with the Israelites as they left in the Exodus, Ex. 12:38 “A mixed multitude also went up with them,” as they left Egypt. In Genesis 12:3 God promises Abraham that He would bless him, and “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
All the families of the earth are blessed by having a relationship with the One True God – it would be God’s people (the Israelites) that would serve as a nation of priests, pointing the world to God. Jethro was the first fruits, the beginning of the world being attracted to God because of what God did through His people.
God desires to draw the world to Himself
by demonstrating His power through His people.
We Are to Share in the Responsibility of Being the People of God (vv. 13-23)
13 The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. 14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” 15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; 16 when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.” 17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. 19 Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, 20 and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do. 21 Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. 22 And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. 23 If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”
In chapter 18 you have two events happening with Jethro being apart of both events. One is Moses’s family is reunited including Jethro’s response to the works of God linked with the daily carrying out of the responsibility given to Moses by God. If now Moses is reunited with his family, how will he ever see them, for “the people stood around Moses from morning till evening.” God gives us the gift of family and service to God – He expects us to find a way to balance the two in a healthy and sustainable way. He has already given the people the Sabbath (on the seventh day they are to rest from all work).
In chapter 17 as Joshua was battling the Amalekites, Hur and Aaron were on either side of lifting up his hands, Exodus 17:12 “But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.” We see Moses sitting, tired, and needing help to do the task. Here in second half of chapter 18, we see Moses tired, sitting from early to late – he needs help to accomplish the task set before him.
Leaders who seek to do it all – don’t see their families and are always exhausted.
(v. 18) “for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone.
Jethro watches is son-in-law and how he is exhausted, and he gives him some good advice, “get some help.” He sees that he cannot keep doing this, “you will certainly wear yourselves out.” Today we call this burn out. When you carry all the weight, and go at it from morning to night – if you do that too long you will crash and burn.
God uses Jethro’s to give Moses some helpful advice, “I will give you advice, and God be with you!” God speaks directly to Moses (first in the burning bush). Moses will soon go up on the mountain and get the ten commandments, God will talk directly to Moses – why does God go through this new believer to give Moses these instructions?[4] Moses could have said, “Excuse me, I have been through the Red Sea, I have appeared before pharaoh, God talked to me in the burning bush – if God wants to give me advice he will tell me, not you.” God chooses to include us, our gifts, our separate life experiences, together to complete the task He sets before us. Moses was wise enough and humble enough to learn from his father-in-law and listen to him.
(v. 21) “Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people. . .” Amongst God’s people were able men, they were there all the time, Moses just had to look.[5] But they were not just able bodied (not just a warm body), they were also, “men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe.”
The Result of What God Can Do When We Listen (vv. 24-27)
24 So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. 25 Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. 26 And they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves. 27 Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went away to his own country.
In a couple of days Jethro went from a pagan priest, who then placed his faith in the one true God, who then was used by God to give advice to a leader, who then implemented the advice and it changed the lives of over a million people. This one encounter set the nation up for what was to come in chapter 19 (they becoming a nation of priests who will be given the Word of God). Moses couldn’t leave justice undone[6] and go up on the mountain to talk with God – chaos would have erupted.
Jethro listened to the stories of God’s miracles, Moses listened to the advice of his father-in-law, and the people listened to the new way of doing things – resulting in rest for everyone, no one was left standing around all day waiting, the leader wasn’t exhausted at the end of the day and could focus on other things (like his family being back, and God calling him up the mountain). The result was peace and rest. When we listen – there is peace and rest.
God wants His People to Listen.
On X (formerly known as Twitter), the account for Elmo, the red Muppet from Sesame Street, asked what seemed to be a simple, innocuous question. “Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?” In thousands of responses, social media users let Elmo know that no, they were not doing too hot. Users began pouring out their hearts to Elmo: “I’m tired, Elmo,” said one user. “The world is burning around us, Elmo,” said another. “Elmo I’m depressed and broke,” one wrote. Others told Elmo that they were anxious about the 2024 election. “Each day the abyss we stare into grows a unique horror, one that was previously unfathomable in nature,” replied author Hanif Abdurraqib. “However, I did have a good grapefruit earlier, thanks for asking.”
“I don’t think anyone anticipated how deeply this particular question would resonate,” said Samantha Maltin, a marketing officer for the Sesame Workshop. Maltin believes that Elmo’s question provoked a lot of feelings because his character is rooted in the nostalgic memories of so many millennials. After about nine thousand responses in about 24 hours, the account posted again. “Wow! Elmo is glad he asked!” it read. “Elmo learned it is important to ask a friend how they are doing.”[7]
Do you feel that you are carrying the weight of the world? Do you feel that it is up to you alone to solve all the problems? God wants to reach the world – but you don’t have to do it alone.
_____________________
[1] https://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/w/witnessing.htm
[2] Geoffrey W. Bromiley, General Editor, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Volume Three (Grand Rapids, Michigan; W.M. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1986) 349.
[3] Naaman had a similar response to the miraculous acts of God; see 2 Kings 5, “And he (Naaman) said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; . . .”
[4] Peter Enns, The NIV Application Commentary, Exodus (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing House, 2000) 372.
[5] 1 Samuel 14:52 “There was hard fighting against the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man, or any valiant man, he attached him to himself.”
[6] Martin Luther King, “There can be no peace in the world unless there’s justice, and there can be no justice without peace. I think in a sense these problems are inextricably bound together.” A people who feel they have no means of justice will protest/react which leads to a lack of peace. Where all feel there is equal justice, then there is peace amongst the people.
[7] https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2024/march/people-express-deep-despair-to-elmo.html
“I am Joseph!” Genesis 45
“Wilderness” The Life of Joseph
Sermon Series
Genesis 45
“I am Joseph!”
Introduction
Prayer
There is a Good Plan Before You (vv. 1-8)
Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. 3 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence. 4 So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.[1] 8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.”
“But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.” – This whole drama started with needing to go to Egypt to get food, for there was a famine – and they all sat around and looked at each other (in guilt). Then through a series of events they cried out, “In truth we are guilty” (Genesis 42:21). They have repented of their sin against Joseph “For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would find my father” (Genesis 44:34). But now everything, all of it is brought to the surface, Joseph has all the power over them, and they are terrified.
This is the same realization of a person who has come to the true understanding that he has offended an all-powerful, holy God. They are without excuse, and completely without hope. All that anger of being sold into slavery, having lived in prison, mistreated and falsely accused, for over twenty years – now can, having absolute power to have his vengeance upon them – and they would deserve it, they “could not answer him, for they were dismayed.”
The great preacher of old, Jonathan Edwards once said, “Thus all you that never passed under a great change of heart, by the mighty power of the Spirit of God upon your souls; all you that were never born again, and made new creatures, and raised from being dead in sin, to a state of new, and before altogether unexperienced light and life, are in the hands of an angry God.”[2]
Does the hammer fall? Does Joseph have his revenge? No. Grace abounds. During the building of the Golden Gate Bridge over San Francisco Bay, construction fell badly behind schedule because several workers had accidentally fallen from the scaffolding to their deaths. Engineers and administrators could find no solution to the costly delays. Finally, someone suggested a gigantic net be hung under the bridge to catch any who fell. Finally in spite of the enormous cost, the engineers opted for the net. After it was installed, progress was hardly interrupted. A worker or two fell into the net but were saved. Ultimately, all the time lost to fear was regained by replacing fear with faith in the net.[3]
(v. 5) “for God sent me before you to preserve life” and (v. 7) “7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth” and (v. 8) “So it was not you who sent me here, but God.” “Joseph’s words pull back the narrative veil and allow the reader to see what has been going on behind the scenes. It was not the brothers who sent Joseph to Egypt, rather it was God. And God had a purpose for it all.”[4]
God took these men through a lengthy gut-wrenching journey so that they would repent of their sin and turn to God, and it is through these brothers (the sons of Israel) that the world would be turned upside down with the gospel. They would be redeemed, and so would the world. These lying, deceitful, hateful, wicked men would give their lives to God and through them millions would be saved.
(v. 5) “do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here” – Don’t focus on the past, or how you once were lost. Now is the time to focus on preserving other people’s life. They are the beginning of a long story of redemption. Moses is coming, and Joshua, and the tabernacle, and the ark of the covenant, Samuel, and King David, and Esther, and Ruth, Nehemiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel – the story of redemption is coming.
And there will be a voice crying out in the wilderness, a man named John who will point us to Him, the promised one who will save the world from their sin by dying on a Roman cross – Jesus. The story of redemption is coming! Then the disciples and Paul, and the church spreads out. Today the story continues with you! And one day Jesus will come, with a shout, and we will meet him in the air. Eternity will begin and our redemption will be complete. Today, the story is not complete, there is one more who needs to hear your story of redemption and she needs to hear it from you. Have you ever asked, “why am I here?” There are two answers, 1) you need to hear the story or 2) you need to tell the story.
A Renewed Picture of a Promised Land (vv. 9-20)
9 Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry. 10 You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. 11 There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.’ 12 And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. 13 You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” 14 Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him. 16 When the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house, “Joseph’s brothers have come,” it pleased Pharaoh and his servants. 17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan, 18 and take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.’ 19 And you, Joseph, are commanded to say, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. 20 Have no concern for your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”
The book of Genesis begins with everything being good, 1:31 “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” And now (at the end of “the Beginnings”) everything is made right again, where there was destruction and famine, now God’s people would live in Goshen, a special place where they would be safe and be provided for. “The picture of Joseph is a picture of restoration – this was a restoration of the blessing that was promised through the offspring of Jacob.”[5]
After the fall of Adam and Eve we see a promise. Genesis 3:15 “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” There is a promise of one who will come to defeat sin and death and restore all things to the way God created them to be.
(v. 10) “You shall dwell in the land of Goshen” – This was a land set aside for Joseph’s family. Genesis 47:11 “Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.”
It is in this area that the tribe of Israel will grow into a nation of people. Later, it was there that God showed grace to His people once again, “Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail” (Exodus 8:22, 9:26). This is a picture of the Garden of Eden, Adam having to leave because of sin, now there is restoration and at the end of “the beginnings,” now a return back to a land of safety and provision.
The Numb Heart and the Revived Heart (vv. 21-28)
21 The sons of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey. 22 To each and all of them he gave a change of clothes, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five changes of clothes. 23 To his father he sent as follows: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey. 24 Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the way.” 25 So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. 26 And they told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them. 27 But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. 28 And Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”
(v. 25) we see again, “So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob.” Jacob means “deceiver, trickster” but Israel was his covenant name, the name God gave him when they wrestled in the wilderness. Whenever we see Jacob turning back to a lack of faith, a numb heart, back his old ways he is called Jacob. Look at the transition, “the spirit of their father Jacob 28 And Israel said, . . .” By Genesis chapter 47, Jacob is 137 years old. Jacob had spent his entire adult life (since wrestling with God) being a man of faith, and then a man of doubt – up and down, back and forth.
You may say, “yeah but Jacob had a hard life.” His father favored his brother Esau over him. His uncle Laban treated him harshly, Genesis 31:40 “by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. 41 These twenty years I have been in your house.” He had a dislocated hip. His beloved wife died giving birth to Benjamin, and his son Joseph was killed by wild animals (or so he was told). But look if we were compare Jacob with his son Joseph – Joseph was mistreated and hated by his brothers, sold as a slave, lied about so that he ended up in prison, forgotten. But through all that Joseph endured – he never waivered in his faith.
Throughout the first five books of the Bible (the Pentateuch) at key sections, at major mile markers, in the story of God’s people there is an emphasis on whether they respond in faith, or a lack of faith. Where there is a lack of faith, there is a numb heart. Where there is faith shown, there is a revived heart.
Jacob, his entire life has wanted the blessing of God. As his brother was being born, he grabbed his heal as if to pull him back in to the womb so he would get the blessing. Then He tricked his father to falsely get him to give him the blessing. Then in the wilderness he wrestles with God and demands him for a blessing – His entire life Jacob has perused the blessing of God.
Let’s go back to Genesis 32:32 this is where Jacob wrestles with God. They have wrestled through the night, The man “Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel,6 for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
The man Jacob is wrestling with says, “what is your name?” Jacob has to say his name which means deceiver, trickster “grabber of the heal.” God is saying “You have tried to receive God’s blessing your entire life – your way.” You have tried to steal it, to trick people for it, to wrestle it away.” But God changes his name to Israel which means “God fights.” After a long night of wrestling with God, “And there he blessed him.” Once Jacob quit fighting, trying to do it his way – God fought for Him, and he was finally blessed.
Stop fighting God, and let Him fight for you!
- God will let us know His will, we will know Him personally, and our sin will be remembered no more. When you stop fighting God, and let Him fight for you, look what happens: Jeremiah 31:33-34 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel (those following after Israel who put their faith in God) after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
- Our stone, Numb, hard heart is changed.
Ezekiel 36:26 “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Psalm 51: “Create in me a pure heart, o God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”
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[1] Ad astra per aspera “through hardships to the stars.”
[2] To read the entire sermon, https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/edwards_jonathan/Sermons/Sinners.cfm
[3] https://bible.org/illustration/net
[4] John H. Sailhamer, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 2 (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 1990) 256.
[5] Sailhamer, 257.
“I Identify With Christ” Galatians 2:15-21
Identity Sermon Series
Discovering Who and Why You Are
“I Identify With Christ”
Galatians 2:15-21
Introduction
In Galatians 2 Paul is referencing and earlier gathering of Christians at Antioch where Cephas (Peter), Barnabas, Paul, and different groups are present. But the Gentile Christians are being made to feel like second class Christians because they were not keeping ceremonial Jewish food laws. Cephas/Peter’s withdrawal and his sitting apart from the Gentiles “was sending a clear message about what counts: reliance upon the law and its works to secure favor with God, rather than trust in God’s provision in Christ alone.”[1]
Cephas “seems to have started to ‘live like a Gentile’ (Gal. 2:14), probably in the sense that he had ceased to observe Jewish dietary restrictions.” In response to a heavenly vision (Acts 10:9-16; 11:4-10), he had tossed out an important Jewish identity marker, which many Jews went to great trouble to keep, and for which they sometimes endured deprivation, and even death.”[2]
This was a common teaching for the Jews to, “separate yourselves from the Gentiles and do not eat with them, and do not perform deeds like theirs. And do not become associates of theirs. Because their deeds are defiled, and all their ways are contaminated, and despicable, and abominable.”[3]
But when certain people were around, Cephas would change back. “The pressure was strong enough that all the Christian Jews in Antioch except Paul succumbed to it. There is a level of disappointment and personal pain behind Paul’s phrase “even Barnabas.” Paul’s talk of hypocrisy assumes that all of them – even Barnabas – knew it was wrong to buckle to this pressure.”[4]
But what is at stake is the genuineness and purity of the gospel.
Can the gospel mean whatever you want it mean,
or can different groups have their own version of it?
The gospel tears down boundaries, our falsely identifying with the wrong things puts those barriers back in place all over again. These are barriers between believers, and it pollutes the gospel.
Didn’t Paul say, 1 Corinthians 9:20-23 “To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.” Is Paul being hypocritical to tell Cephas to not change while he is around the “circumcision party,” but Paul is changing around other people in order to share the gospel?
“Paul could have opted out of any participation with the Jewish religious system. He was free from all of it. Instead, he chose to remain involved, without ever compromising the message of Jesus, in hopes of winning some Jewish law followers to faith in Christ. In order to put as few barriers as possible between others and Christ, Paul was willing to sacrifice his own “rights” and freedoms.”[5]
Prayer
How Do You Identify? (vv. 15-16)
15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
(v. 15) It was a normal for Jews to presume upon God’s grace because they possess God’s Law (Romans 2:17-24). The Jews would say, which Paul may be quoting directly, “We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners.” But this is common for all of humanity. We deceive ourselves into thinking everything’s ok with who they are. “I think what I am doing is okay, therefore God must also be ok with it.”
Matthew 3:7 “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’” They were not turning from their sin and bearing fruit of a godly and holy life, they didn’t even think they were sinners.
For the Jewish follower, there is no need for transformation or change from their sin, because they are from a lineage of Abraham. There are also people who identify with the Christian religion who also presume upon God’s grace. Maybe they have gone to a certain church for a number of years, or have been baptized – but we can’t speak of how they have impacted the world for Christ, or people they have led to the Lord, or how they have been a disciple maker – but when they were seven they were baptized. The Jews were doing this with circumcision. There was no heart felt seeking after God, desiring to live for him – just empty self-righteous rule following.
The temptation of Peter and all the other believers there (except for Paul), is to answer the question, “what is their identity?” this same way. Are they Jewish and followers of the law (and that’s how they want to be known), or are they Christians which require breaking from the law and to live by faith. But you can’t hold an identity of the two things at the same time.
Paul is showing that the Jewish people should know that no one is capable of keeping the law in its entirety and at some point has to rely upon God’s grace and mercy. Psalm 143:2, The psalmist is asking God, “Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.” The law’s intended purpose was to show humanity that you cannot live a life that pleases God, no one is perfect. Jesus says in Matthew 5:48, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
(v. 16) This is a question of how is a person made right before God? Paul uses the word, “justified,” (dikaioo) – “to make or declare righteous.” “The group of Judaizers who contended that the Gentiles had to become Jews to be saved.”[6] This included circumcision and following dietary laws. The law plus Paul says, “because by works of the law no one will be justified.”
“. . . but through faith in Jesus Christ” – “Faith is trust. It begins with knowledge, so it is not blind. It builds on facts, so it is not speculation. It stakes its life on the outcome, so it is not impractical. Faith is trusting Christ and proving his promises.”[7]
Identifying With Christ (vv. 17-21)
17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
(v. 17) “we too were found to be sinners,” When Paul compares himself to the teachings and life of Jesus, he realizes that as high as he had climbed in the Jewish world, and as passionate as he had been to the law (even killing and imprisoning Christians), he was still the “chief of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15).”
(v. 18) “For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.” – “When he [Peter] lived like a Gentile, he tore down the ceremonial law. When he lived like a Jew, he tore down salvation by grace.”[8]
“From Paul’s own testimony, we know that Paul continued to be not only accused of being in violation of the Law but punished because of it. Thus, when he would visit synagogues, he’d be brought up on charges and then flogged with a whip or a stick.”[9] “Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned (2 Corinthians 11:24-25).”[10]
(v. 19) “For through the law I died to the law,” – To try and keep the law is a form of slavery. One is always striving to be good enough to please God, to be perfect, yet to fail time and time again. Then through Christ’s death and taking the curse of sin upon himself, he has freed us from the law. When we reach back down and put the shackle back on our legs, we enslave ourselves all over again.
(v. 20) “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” – It is the union of the vine and the branch (John 15:1-6). Paul is connected (abiding) to Jesus, and no longer to the world. When a person places their faith in Christ there is a part of them that dies, that part that focuses on ourselves. That part is crucified with Christ – then emerging is a new birth, a new life – that is Christ living in me. Our identity is Christ (period). For the Christian, it is no longer you who live, but Christ who lives in you.
Our walk with Jesus will draw us into more and more the things that are important to Jesus. In our lives, we will begin to look more and more like Jesus, and less and less like our old selves (before Christ.) Christ’s life eventually led to the cross, and so our lives will reflect this selflessness and giving of ourselves for the sake of others.
Many Christians are good with healing with Christ, singing with Christ, praying with Christ, studying the Bible with Christ, but crucified with Christ is a whole other level. Jesus gave up everything for the sake of others, so Paul says, “It is no longer I who live.” Jesus says to those who desire to be his followers, “take up your cross and follow me.”
The way we begin our walk with Christ is how we continue in our walk in Christ. The way we start the race, is the same way we finish the race – radical trust in Jesus.
“Those [identifying here in this passage as Jewish Christians] are going back to a life in which Christ and his loving, self-giving death in not central.”[11] In Romans 6:6 Paul uses this same imagery, “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.”
Faith in Jesus Christ Is not just head knowledge of His existence. It involves the whole person. There are people who say they are Christians, but their definition of faith does not involve a life change. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” A saving faith in Christ results in a transformational change to conform to the image of Christ. “The Christian life is one of conformity with Christ.”[12]
Therefore, the Christian is not lawless, but you have freedom in Christ. It is not an abandonment of the morality of the law (honor your parents, truth telling, putting God first, do not covet other people’s stuff, don’t committing adultery, etc). This is the fear of people who tend toward being self-righteous; if we don’t have rules and keep traditions, then the world will spin into chaos. So, they add to the gospel (Jesus plus the law). They believe that you have to appear different than the world (like the Jewish “circumcision group”) Then how will the world know that you are a Christian?
John 13:35 “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” They will know we are Christians by how we show the love of Christ in the world around us. It is much harder to show your heart (an inward change), than it is to follow a rule – because it requires a close relationship with Christ (to abide in Him.) Doing what Christ teaches is much harder than putting a sticker on your car (an outward show).
There should be no descriptors in front of the word Christian in our identity. Whenever we put a word describing ourselves before Christ, we are putting ourselves first. You either identify with the sin, or the person who frees us from sin, but you can’t identify with both – the gospel won’t allow it.
(v. 21) “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” – Paul is saying that if all we had to do was keep the law, then people should keep the law. Jesus would not have had to die, if all humans had to do was be good. When the Jewish Christians kept the law, they “nullify” God’s grace – as if to say that they did not need it. Also, if the law is added to the gospel, then that also means that Christ’s death was not adequate to cover all the sin of mankind – there is something else needed.[13]
Conclusion
Two bank robbers in Sangus, Massachusetts, walked into a small delicatessen, pulled out their guns, and demanded all the money in the cash register. The owner stashed all the money in a brown bag and laid it on the counter, Nervously, they grabbed the bag a fled. Later, in a safe place they opened the bag to divide their haul only to be completely surprised. The bag contained two pastrami sandwiches and a slice of baklava. They couldn’t belive it. In their nervous haste they picked up the wrong bag. In today’s passage we looked at two very similar appearing approaches to life – but when you open them up what is inside to eternally different.[14]
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[1] Todd Wilson, Preaching the Word, Galatians (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Publishing, 2013) 76.
[2] Frank Thielman, Expository Commentary, Vol. X (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Publishing, 2020) 599.
[3] Thielman, 599.
[4] Thielman, 599.
[5] https://www.bibleref.com/1-Corinthians/9/1-Corinthians-9-20.html
[6] Archibald Thomas Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, Volume IV, The Epistles of Paul (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman Press, 1931) 289.
[7] Frank E. Gaebelein, General Editor, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 10 (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 1976) 449.
[8] Robertson, 289.
[9] Which goes back to the pressure to follow the law (Gal. 2:1-14); did they fear suffering the same treatment as Paul had suffered?
[10] Wilson, 85.
[11] Thielman, 599.
[12] Jervis, 74.
[13] L. Ann Jervis, New International Biblical Commentary, Galatians (Peabody, Massachusetts; Hendrickson Publishers, 1999) 70.
[14] Max Anders, Holman New Testament Commentary, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians (Nashville, Tennessee; Holman Reference, 1999) 26.
