Living Out The Gospel Series

Gal 2:11-21 Living Out the Gospel ES 15 Oct 23 2538

11But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

15We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16yet 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.

17But 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! 18For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20I 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. 21I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

The Gospel is the revelation of God for the salvation of mankind.

• It is the salvation of man by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

• The person who believes in Christ is freed from the condemnation of sin, forgiven and restored in his standing with God.

• This reconciliation with God brings about a new life. The Holy Spirit dwells in him and enables him to live a life that is holy and righteous.

The Christian may still fall and sin but he is no longer in BONDAGE to sin. And he will not also give LICENSE to sin because he has been transformed by the saving work of Christ.

• That is the Gospel. That is the only Gospel that God has revealed. There is no other Gospel, Paul said in Gal 1.

• Any other additions or subtraction to this message changes the essence of the Gospel and it is NO GOSPEL at all. It is a distortion of the truth.

This is the thrust of Paul’s opening remarks to the Galatians. This understanding is important because it is the only Gospel that saves. There is no other gospel.

• If you hear anyone coming to you and preaching “a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.” (1:8)

• Again in 1:9 “If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.”

The Gospel was under threat. False teachers had arrived with their own version of the gospel.

• 1:6 “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel…”

• The Galatians were confused and on the verge of turning away from the Gospel, they first heard from Paul and returned to doing the works of the Law.

• The Jewish legalists insisted that new converts have to keep the Law to be saved, including the ceremonial and dietary laws of the Jews.

• In short, you need to be Jewish to be a Christian. They added requirements to the Gospel.

The false teachers were against Paul and what he preaches, hence the need for Paul to respond with this letter. He countered their falsehood or heresy beautifully in the book.

• In the first 2 chapters, Paul established the divine origin of his apostleship, his message and his commission. Let me recap the context:

HIS DIVINE CALLING

• He started by telling them that God had called him to proclaim this message.

• He was called to be an apostle of the Gospel “not from men nor through man but through Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead”. (1:1)

• “And I met Him!” He called me to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles.

• 1:14-16 Paul said he was formerly passionate about Judaism but God “15…who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by His grace, 16was pleased to reveal His Son to me, in order that I might preach Him among the Gentiles…”