Paul recognized the danger of teaching such things. Because the enemies of the true gospel were trying to support their case by undermining Paul's authority as an apostle of Christ, it was necessary to verify that he was truly an apostle "not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father" (1:1). Once Paul established his apostleship, he wasted no time in defending his apostleship and the gospel of grace he preached.
Text: Galatians 1:1-5
Introduction: The English people, as some suppose, did not give us the English muffins. Nor did the people of Denmark give us the Danish pastries as some suppose.
But make no mistake about this, it was Christ who gave us Grace so that we all can become children of God.
Illus: John Newton, who wrote the beloved song "Amazing Grace," tells us about this amazing grace that the Lord Jesus shed on us. The words to that beautiful hymn go like this:
• Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.
• T’was grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved; how precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed.
• Thru many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come: ‘Tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.
• When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s grace than when we first begun.
Even though this song is sung by practically every church in America, still many have never come close to grasping HIS AMAZING GRACE!
With this in mind, let us look at the salutation of the Book of Galatians.
In the salutation, Paul tips his hand as to the subject matter that is on his mind as he writes this letter. Two points of particular interest emerge:
(1) Paul's authority and credibility had been called into question by his opponents and he addresses that right from the start of the letter.
(2) The blasphemous suggestion made by his opponents that the problem of sin could be solved by other than the death of Christ for our sin is dealt with firmly.
Let’s look at how he handles these two very important things he wants to talk to them about:
I. LOOK AT THE AUTHORITY OF HIS MESSAGE
When evil people want to destroy a message, they try to destroy the messenger.
• In the political arena this is called CHARACTER ASSASSINATION, a particularly repugnant political tactic, and has been employed extensively throughout history. Some refer to this tactic as McCarthyism. In the political world where men and women are hungry for power and fame, they often try to DESTROY THE CHARCTER OF THEIR OPPONENT to get the voters to favor them.
• This tactic of CHARACTER ASSASSINATION also is often used by lawyers. Many lawyers, in order to win the jury to their way of thinking, will try to completely assassinate the character of the witness on the stand. They know that if they can destroy the MESSENGER they can destroy the MESSAGE.
• This tactic is also used by many church members. They give the impression that they have come to church to worship God, but they have a hidden agenda, and every time they get a chance, they will destroy anyone who tries to hinder them from achieving their agenda.
Character assassination is such a real problem that:
• Bible preachers are viciously attacked, because as they proclaim the Word of God, they expose these different ones, they become angry at the man of God and do everything they can to destroy his character.
• Many parents go through very difficult times because they have a rebellious child that does not want anyone telling them what they can do and can not do.
Character Assassination is something that is used frequently by people who have no respect for authority. We see that in:
• Our Public schools
• Our homes
• The military
• The work force
• The attitude that some folks have of policemen. They are called “Pigs” “Cops”, and “Flat Footers”
Illus: That reminds me of a police officer who pulled over an obnoxious driver in a red Porsche after he had run a stop sign.
The officer walked up to the car and said to the driver, "May I see your driver's license and registration please?"
The driver said, "What's the problem, officer?"
The police officer said, "You just ran the stop sign back there at the last intersection."
The driver said, "Oh, come on pal, there wasn't a car within miles of me".
Police officer said, "Nevertheless sir, you are required to come to a complete stop, look both ways, and proceed with caution."
The driver said, "You gotta be kidding me!"
The officer said, "It's no joke, sir."
The driver insisted, "Look, I slowed down almost to a complete stop, saw no one within twenty miles, and proceeded with caution."
The police officer said, "That's beside the point, sir. You are supposed to come to a complete stop, and you didn't. Now if I may see your license and registration card."
The driver said, "You've got a lot of time on your hands, PAL! What's the matter, all the doughnut shops closed?"
The officer said, "Sir, I'll overlook that last comment. Let me see your license and registration immediately!"
The driver said "I will apologize for the comment, if you can tell me the difference between slowing down, and coming to a complete stop."
The police officer had enough. "Sir, I can do better than that." He opened the car door, dragged the obnoxious motorist out of the Porsche, and proceeded to methodically beat him over the head with his nightstick.
The officer said, "Now sir, would you like me to slow down or come to a complete stop?"
It takes that kind of treatment to get some folks to recognize authority.
Some of the enemies of the apostle Paul in Galatia tried to discredit him. WHY DID THEY WANT TO DO THIS?
They wanted the church members to think highly of them and so to do this, they had to tear Paul down to make themselves look good.
They could not compete with Paul on the spiritual level. But if they could tear him down to their level or below their level, then they would not look so bad.
Illus: They remind me of some girls who attend high school. They would like to have the boys attention, but they can not compete with the other girls who are getting all the attention, so they lower their standards to seduce young men to look at them.
We all would admit that is DUMB, but this is what is done so many times. They really do not know what they are doing!
Illus: They remind me of an airline pilot who made everyone think he knew what he was doing, but he was only fooling people.
For example, each year he had to report to the doctor to have his eyes examined.
He could hardly see, but he passed his yearly eye exam by memorizing the eye charts beforehand.
However, one year his doctor suspected something and used a new chart that the pilot had never seen before.
The pilot proceeded to recite the old chart from memory and the doctor realized this pilot could not see. The pilot proved to be nearly as blind as a bat.
• The doctor could not contain his curiosity. "How is it that someone with your eyesight can manage to pilot a plane at all? I mean, how for example do you taxi the plane out to the runway?"
• The pilot said, "It's really not very hard. All you have to do is follow the instructions of the ground controller over the radio. And besides, the landmarks have all become quite familiar to me over the years."
• The doctor said, "I can understand that but what about the take-off?"
• The pilot said, "Again, a simple procedure. I just aim the plane down the runway, go to full throttle, pull back on the stick, and off we go!"
• The doctor said, "But once you are in the air, how do you fly the airplane?"
• The pilot said, "Oh, everything's fully automated these days. The flight computer knows our destination, and all I have to do is hit the auto pilot and the plane pretty much flies itself."
• The doctor said, "But I still don't see how you land!"
• The pilot said, "Oh, that's the easiest part of all. All I do is use the airport's radio beacon to get us on the proper glide path. Then I just throttle down and wait for the copilot to yell, 'AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!' then I pull the nose up, and the plane lands just fine!"
There are many folks today in religious circles that have chosen a method of gliding through life and flying high, making themselves look good.
Their method of doing this is to pull others down as far as they can pull them, so that they will look good.
They use the old method of destroying the MESSENGER in order to destroy the MESSAGE.
HOW DID THEY DO THIS TO THE APOSTLE PAUL? They represented themselves as close associates of the Jerusalem leaders of the church, the apostles, and questioned Paul's credibility to speak by casting doubt on his authenticity as an apostle.
But in the Book of Galatians, Paul fires back at their attacks on him. For example, even in the greeting of the letter, Paul responds with two claims:
(1) HIS APOSTOLIC CALLING -- sent by Christ, not man.
Look at Gal. 1:1, we read, “Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)”
Although there is nothing wrong with being sent from men, as most of those who are called into ministry are, the unique calling of an apostle is that Jesus Himself appeared to him and called him to that position.
Look at Acts 9:1-8, we read, “And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.”
(2) HIS APOSTOLIC COMMISSION – he was sent to Gentiles, not Jews
Paul's commission was not like Peter's and the other apostles who were charged with taking the gospel to their Jewish counterparts, his was to fulfill the promise of the Lord to have the Messiah be a light to all nations.
In the Acts account of the first missionary journey to Galatia, we find that commission confirmed by what happened.
• THE REJECTION BY THE JEWS - Look at Acts 13:45-46 we read, “But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.”
• THE REJOICING BY THE GENTILES - Look at Acts 13:47-48 we read, “For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.”
The messenger, then, was not discredited, and consequently the authority of his message was not subject to questioning.
We have LOOKED AT THE AUTHORITY OF HIS MESSAGE, now -
II. LOOK AT THE AWESOMENESS OF HIS MESSAGE
Look at Gal. 1:4, we read, “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.”
As Paul writes to the Galatian churches, he addresses men and women who understand, as we do, that there is a powerful presence of evil in the world.
Notice, Paul said, “Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world…”
Illus: Suppose you walked into a room where AIDS patients are lying around dying this slow dreadful death. As you walk into this room, you recognize that each of these patients are dying of an incurable disease, and you recognize that this disease they have is very contagious.
• HOW WOULD YOU FEEL ABOUT BEING IN AN ENVIORNMENT LIKE THIS? You probably would want to be delivered from such an environment.
• HOW DO YOU THINK THESE PATIENTS WOULD FEEL? In their helpless condition they want someone to come and DELIVER THEM from this hopeless situation they find themselves in.
This is what the Lord Jesus has done, He has come and DELIVERED US FROM THIS EVIL WORLD IN WHICH WE LIVE.
We live in an evil world in which many do not feel they need to be delivered from sin. They feel they are doing quite well without God.
Illus: They remind me of the man who was a farmer in a Midwestern state who had a strong disdain for “religious” things. As he plowed his field on Sunday morning, he would shake his fist at the church people who passed by on their way to worship. October came and the farmer had his finest crop ever—the best in the entire county. When the harvest was complete, he placed an advertisement in the local paper which belittled the Christians for their faith in God. Near the end of his diatribe he wrote, “Faith in God must not mean much if someone like me can prosper.”
The response from the Christians in the community was quiet and polite. In the next edition of the town paper, a small ad appeared. It read simply, “God doesn’t always settle His accounts in October.” (William E. Brown in Making Sense of Your Faith)
We live in a very evil world, much more evil than most folks realize. But Paul wants us to know that God can deliver us from all this evil which surrounds our life each day.
We have looked at THE AUTHORITY OF HIS MESSAGE and THE AWESOMENESS OF HIS MESSAGE, but also let’s look at-
II. THE ADVANTAGE OF HIS MESSAGE
Look at Gal. 1:3, we read, “Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Notice, there are some great ADVANTAGES in receiving the GRACE of God in our lives. Once we become recipients of the GRACE OF GOD, we also become recipients of the PEACE FROM GOD THE FATHER, AND FROM OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.
They were hearing another gospel, a false gospel, but Paul said that from the gospel of Christ they had received GRACE AND PEACE! One of the many ADVANTAGES of the gospel that Paul had preached is that it provides GRACE and PEACE!
Grace is the unmerited favor of God bestowed upon sinners, offering us forgiveness for our sins which cost Him the life of His Son, but for which we can pay nothing and do nothing.
The greatest danger to belief in the gospel of grace is the human notion that before God will forgive, we must do something.
In the case of the Galatians, the DEVIL had sent false teachers among them, informing them that there could be no forgiveness unless they first came through the door as a Jew -- only then could the gospel apply to them!
Paul is addressing this gentile church, letting them know this is not the case. The grace that saves the JEWS is the same grace that saves the GENTILES.
"GRACE TO YOU...." THE BENEFIT OF OUR REDEMPTION FROM SIN IS HIS PEACE
Conclusion:
When Paul closes out his salutation, he says this in verse 5, “To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
I. THE AUTHORITY OF HIS MESSAGE
II. THE AWESOMENESS OF HIS MESSAGE
III. THE ADVANTAGE OF HIS MESSAGE
