Pastoral Musings Thoughts, essays, and miscellanea…

It seems that the Manhattan Declaration has somewhat in common with extreme fundamentalism.  Both obscure the gospel through moralism.  God and country seem to be getting much attention these days.  Sadly, though that is a good thing, God gets the short end of the stick so-to-speak.  The gospel gets muddled so that those who believe in justification by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone and those who believe in a sacrament or works based justification are all considered Christians.  That’s right, the Manhattan Declaration says, “We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united…”  Though there are different gospels proclaimed among these groups, MD mixes them together, thus compromising the true gospel.

While most fundamentalists would not do that, they do spend far too much time trying to change people from the outside in, rather than plainly proclaiming the gospel as God’s saving power that will change people from the inside out.

With this in mind, I decided to post this exposition of Galatians 1:1-10.

Here at Fundamentally Changed, we love Christian morality.  We love the USA.

More than that, we love the gospel, and will not compromise it for any of the other.

(Here are two other posts that speak to this issue:  Bob’s post, Dan’s post. This article was originally posted on Fundamentally Changed.)

No Compromise

Gal 1:1-10

Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;) And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia: Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Gal 1:1-5)

Wasting no time, Paul identifies himself. His identification, however, is more than just a name. He is not Paul, but an apostle as well. Neither is he an apostle of men, but an apostle of Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Jesus from the dead. In other words, Paul is stressing to the people that he was both called and sent of the Father and the Son. He was neither chosen by the vote of any assembly, nor sent by any man. Usually when one speaks in this manner the hearers should beware, because abusive leaders are characteristically quick to assert their authority while humble leaders are slow to do so. Authority is easily and quickly abused. Paul, however, is not of the sort to do so. In fact, Paul is somewhat reluctant and cautious when asserting his authority. This is evident in his letter to the Corinthians (2Cor 11:30;12:11). Paul would rather rejoice in having been made weak rather than in the fact that God had honored him with the gift and office of the apostolate. It is indeed true that Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ and the Father who sent Jesus. Luke’s account of Paul’s conversion confirms that truth (See Acts 9:1-22).¹

Why does Paul speak of himself in this manner? When one considers the epistle to the Galatians as a whole it is seen that Paul had preached the gospel to them and they had believed it. Sadly, there were those who corrupted the gospel and misled the people. While doing so, it seems that Paul’s authority, calling, commission, and status as an apostle was called into question. Some have come saying that angels had given them another gospel (See Gal 1:8,9), and others probably had asserted that they had more authority and knowledge than Paul, as they were from Jerusalem and were associated with the Jerusalem church.² Reluctant though he might have been, Paul was forced to present his credentials and explain his authority for the sake of the gospel.

Paul uses his normal greeting by expressing his desire that his readers receive grace and peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. It is necessary that we notice Paul’s stating that grace is not from the Father alone, but from Jesus Christ who is our Lord.³ He continues his greeting while laying a foundation for the whole of the letter by stating that grace and peace comes through the redemptive work of Jesus who died for our sins, and to deliver us from this present evil age. He makes a similar statement to Titus telling him that Jesus “gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” (Tit 2:14) Paul mentions Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection here both to show us that we receive grace and peace through Him as well as to establish from the beginning his own confidence that we are set free from sin by God through Christ’s redemptive work. This is a corrective to the legalism that was prevalent in the Galatian churches. We can only stand in awe of such inspired wisdom that enables a man to write an introduction that both wishes his readers well and establishes such a strong and firm theological foundation for his letter.

Paul states that the redemptive work of Christ was according to God’s will. This, too is a statement calculated to help the Galatians see that God’s way of salvation is through Jesus alone, and not through the works of the law. God planned for Jesus to come and die for our sins. Jesus Himself said as much when he said, “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.” (Jn 12:27) Peter would later speak of Jesus’ life, ministry, and redemptive work as being God’s plan (See Acts 2:22-24;4:27,28).⁴ Paul is serious about expressing to the Galatians the fact that Jesus is God’s ordained way of salvation. If he can establish this truth from the beginning, he will be able to build on it for the purpose of destroying legalism.

While the final part of Paul’s greeting may seem to be simply an expression of praise, it is actually much, much more than that. While he says, “to whom be glory for ever and ever”, Paul is not only praising God, but also stating God’s plan and purpose in sending Christ to die and rise again for our redemption. God’s goal in all that He does is for His glory. In the letter to the Romans, Paul expresses awe and adoration when contemplating God’s glorious plan, saying, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.” (Rom 11:33-36) Everything was made by God for Himself and for His glory.⁵

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. ⁹ As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. (Gal 1:6-10)

Without further ado Paul plunges into his message to the Galatians. Normally, Paul gives thanks for the ones to whom he writes. He does this even for the carnal Corinthians (See 1Cor 1:4-9). There are no thanks, however, for the Galatians. Neither does Paul commend them for any good in the lives. Instead, Paul immediately says, “I am SHOCKED at you!”

Shocked? Indeed. The Galatians had removed themselves from God the Father, the One who had called them into the grace of Christ.⁶ They had fallen away from the Father. Thinking to have improved themselves, they had actually deserted God. How is it that they had deserted the Father? The Father had called them into the grace of Christ, but they have now abandoned the truth of grace for a legalistic self-righteousness. They had traded gospels.

Paul’s complaint against the Galatians is that they had left the Father for another gospel- message of glad tidings.⁷ That message, however, was not gospel. There was simply no good news to be found it that message. As a matter of fact, it was only a perversion of the true gospel. The true gospel is about Christ, but this gospel is about self effort instead of Divine grace in the person of Christ. Remember, “the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” (Jn 1:17) Thus the gospel of grace is the gospel of Christ. We cannot have gospel without Jesus and the grace of God given to us through Him. Sadly, there were those who were changing the good news into something that is of an opposite character than that of grace.⁸ The Galatians had fallen away from the Father by accepting this pseudo-gospel that rejected His grace.

Notice that Paul knew that the Galatians were neither experiencing and enjoying God’s grace, nor the new “gospel” that they had received. They Galatians were being troubled and agitated by those who changed the gospel of Christ. The gospel is the power of God to save those who believe (Rom 1:16), and it is the good news of God’s glorious happiness that He chooses to share with us (1Tim 1:11;Mt 25:21). To change this gospel of grace and glory is to take all of the joy out of it. It is no wonder that the Galatians were troubled. They now stood in doubt and fear about their souls. No longer were they standing securely in the grace of God⁹, but were dependent upon themselves for their acceptance before God. They were troubled indeed with heart trouble. They were unsettled, insecure, doubting, and struggling to conform to the demands that this pseudo-gospel placed upon them. By accepting this perversion of the good news, rejecting grace, and moving away from God the Father (Isn’t is precious to think of God as a caring Father instead of as a harsh taskmaster?) the Galatians had allowed these false teachers to agitate their once peaceful hearts- hearts that had once had peace because of the grace of God in Christ.

As we read verses eight and nine we see Paul pulling off the gloves to fight with bare fists. He simply states that he had warned them in the past of false teachers, and now warns them again. His warning is also a command: excommunicate the false teachers. Let them be anathema! They do not love the Lord Jesus, so they are accursed by God¹⁰, and should be removed from the fellowship of the church. Should they protest that they had seen a vision, or received their teachings from an angel, Paul emphatically states that they would still be accursed and should be excommunicated. He understands that Satan and his angels often disguise themselves as the angels of light and ministers of righteousness.¹¹ Paul demands that the Galatians not even have fellowhip with him if he changes and does not preach the gospel of grace. Salvation by grace is that important. Apart from grace there is no salvation; neither is there salvation apart from Jesus. (The writer recommends that the reader pause at this time and read John 14:1-6, Acts 4:12, and Eph 2:1-10.) It is for this reason that we should take a no compromise stance when it comes to grace and the gospel. To allow any tampering with the gospel of grace will be to allow the perversion of the gospel. When the gospel is perverted the souls of men are jeopardized.

Paul now asks, “am I now trying to please men, or am I trying to please God?” He is, of course, trying to convince men of the truth while seeking to please God by speaking truly. Sadly, it seems that the false teachers had claimed that Paul was a man-pleaser. He admits that he was in the past by saying, “if I still pleased men, I would not be the servant of Christ”.¹² His former life as a Pharisee was indeed a life of pleasing men. That had changed, however. Now Paul seeks to please God. One cannot charge him with being a men-pleaser, as he has just declared accursed those who preached contrary to grace. This would by no means please men. It would anger them instead.

This passage tells us much about the heart of the apostle as well as the heart of God. God simply is not pleased when the gospel is distorted in any manner. Whether it is by grace being used as an excuse to sin¹³, or by grace being replaced by works, God despises the perversion of the gospel. Too often we are prone to be men-pleasers. We want so very badly for people to think well of us. We desire to allow the world the opportunity to do as they please and still profess Christianity, so we lead them to believe that they can live as they please and still be saved despite warnings to the contrary¹⁴. On the other hand, we may seek to show our fellow Christians how much that we agree with them and impose on people rules and regulations that are either unBiblical or extra-Biblical, and tell them that they must observe these things if they are to please God. In so doing we are often found guilty of transgressing against grace. How truly sad this is. It is time for those who preach and teach the Word of God to sound a blast of the trumpet against false teaching and false teachers. It is time to stand firmly for the gospel of the grace of God which is designed to give glory to God. Let us accept and proclaim God’s grace in His Son Jesus Christ and preach the gospel.

Let there be NO COMPROMISE!

1See also 1Cor 15:9,10;2Cor 11:21-33;12:1-13

2We do not definitely know this, but can reasonably infer that something similar to that must have happened, because Paul emphasizes that he had a relationship with the apostles in Jerusalem although he was not dependent upon them for his theological knowledge (See Gal 1:15-24;2:1-10). In fact, having heard of Paul’s conversion to Christ, the Judaean churches glorified God because of him.

3See 1Pet 5:10 cf Jn 1:16,17 God is the God of all grace, but Grace came through Christ.

4Paul also notes that Jesus’ redemptive work fulfills the Scriptures. Cf Rom 1:1,2;1Cor 15:1-4

5See also Col 1:15-17;Rev 4:9-11. Also, notice Jesus’ words in Jn 12;27,28;13:31,32. Of special significance is John’s statement that our sins are forgiven for His name’s sake (1Jn 2:12).

6The Father calls us to the Son by the Spirit. See Gal 1:15;Jn 6:44;Mt 16:13-17;1Cor 12:1-3

7The gospel is glad tidings, or good news. See Lk 2:10,11;Rom 10:15

8 It seems to be a trivial matter to teach the Law and affirm works, but this does more damage than human reason can imagine. Not only does it mar and obscure the knowledge of grace, but it also removes Christ and all His blessings, and it completely overthrows the Gospel, as Paul says in this passage. The cause of this great evil is our flesh. Steeped in sins, it sees no way to extricate itself except by works. This is why it wants to live in the righteousnesses of the Law and to rest in trust in its own works. Therefore it knows nothing or nearly nothing about the doctrine of faith and grace, without which the conscience cannot find peace.

Luther, M. (1999, c1963). Vol. 26: Luther’s works, vol. 26 : Lectures on Galatians, 1535, Chapters 1-4 (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Ed.). Luther’s Works (26:vii-55). Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.

9In Rom 5:1,2, Paul states that we stand in grace. Not only are we saved by grace through faith, but we are secure in that grace. Our very standing before God is “in grace”, not in works of our own.

10See Jn 3:19-21;1Cor 16:22

11 If he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. (2 Cor 11:4) Such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. (2 Cor 11:13-15)

12See Mt 6:24;Eph 6:5-8;Col 3:22-25;4:1

13See Jude 1:4

14See Mt 7:21-27;Gal 5:19-21;Heb 10:24-31