Grace From Galatians (18 Of 19)

Before Paul brings this letter to a close, he wants to deal with this subject sternly.

The strategy that some use when they want to destroy a message is to destroy the messenger. This is the kind of strategy they were using against the apostle Paul.

This is done in politics all the time. When the truth comes out about a politician, so often the character of the one stating the truth is viciously attacked. The idea is, if they can destroy the messenger they can destroy the message.

Paul had been preaching salvation by grace alone. They came along and preached another message, saying that salvation by grace alone is not sufficient. They also taught they had to be circumcised.

They had viciously attacked Paul, and now we can see why Paul, as he comes to the close of this book, has something to say about THE BELIEVERS RELATIONSHIP with the one who has TAUGHT THEM THE TRUTH ABOUT THE WORD OF GOD.

I. THE RESPONSIBILITY OF SHARING

The teacher certainly has a responsibility to the learner (student). But students also have a responsibility to those who TEACH them.

How are students to be responsible to those who teach them?

They are responsible in a number of ways, such as:

• Being present when they are teaching

• Being attentive and trying to learn what is being taught

• Participating in what is being taught (discussion)

• Passing on to others what they have learned

• Encouraging others to come and hear what is being taught

But there are other things that the students are responsible for concerning those who teach them the Word of God. There is a-

A. POSITIONAL RESPECT

It has become fashionable in this modern church age to call preachers by their first name. People drop the title Pastor, Minister, Reverend, Preacher, and Dr., and just call them by their first name. This is not good!

For example, President George W. Bush is like any other man in many ways, but because of the job he has, he is not like everyone else. There are some who did not vote for him, but they honor him by calling him Mr. President. They would not think of calling him George! Why? It is because they recognize the important position he holds.

It is those who want to dishonor him that call him “GW!”

WHY DO SOME WANT THE PREACHER TO BE CALLED BY HIS NAME LIKE EVERYONE ELSE? For several reasons:

• Some have not been taught that the position of those who teach the WORD OF GOD comes with a title that is to be honored.

• Some do it out of familiarity. Many pastors preach in the same town in which they were raised, so the people that grew up there knew them by their first name. So when they see them, they do as they have always done and they call them by their first name.

• Some do it out of disrespect. They do not want to recognize their title because that puts them in a position of being under them. So, if they can refer to them by their first name it makes them just like everyone else.

Those who TEACH THE WORD should be shown respect.

Look at 1 Timothy 5:1 “Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren.”

Look at the word “Elder”. This has a Physical and Spiritual meaning to it.

That is, it would be disrespectful for some young person to walk up to an OLDER person and say, “You stupid individual, you do not know what you are doing!”

Why would this be wrong? Because this older person has been around a long time and they have learned things that the younger person has never learned. It may be that the young person does not agree with them, but it also may be that the young person is wrong. They are not showing the kind of respect they should be showing to someone who has acquired knowledge over many years.

The same thing applies for a SPIRITUAL elder. God put that Elder in the church, and God works through the chain of command. That chain of command is always from the top to the bottom, not the bottom to the top. When a person is always jumping in the face of the Elder, they are not showing respect to the MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL that God put in the church.

This is why the Word of God says, “Rebuke not an elder…”

WHO SHOULD REBUKE AN ELDER?

This is why it is important that a missionary or a pastor is under some kind of denomination or fellowship. That is, when the leaders of a denomination or a fellowship hear of a pastor that is teaching some false teaching, other elders will call him in and “rebuke” him.