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Galatians 6:7-16
Galatians 6:7–16 NKJV
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.
See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand! As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.
And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
The Book of Galatians is indeed one which ignites controversy. And nothing ignites more controversy, even in the Church than the meaning of “The Israel of God.” Is the Church Israel? Is the Church a replacement of Israel? Is the Church the continuation of Israel? Or is Israel a separate entity represented by the current nation of Israel? If they are two separate entities, which has priority?
When we examine the Epistle of Paul to the Galatians, we are informed of how Paul sees Israel. As Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit, what he says is not based upon Paul’s thinking but that of God, So the argument which leads up to the statement “The Israel of God” needs to be examined.
First of all, Paul addresses a controversy which created great distress in the Church. This dispute started when the Lord through Peter was directed to preach to the Gentile Cornelius and his household who were uncircumcised. The Book of Acts tells us that the seal of the Holy Spirit fell upon them while they were still uncircumcised. This was followed by water baptism. There was no compulsion to be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses and Judaic traditions, realizing, of course, that the Law is from God and not Moses and, therefore, the very words of God Himself. Seeing that the Holy Spirit affirmed that these Gentiles were Christians without this commitment to keeping the Law and circumcision, and confirmed by none less than James, Peter, and the Jerusalem Church, even those who were purported to be from James would not have denied that these Gentiles were Christians. But were they on par with the Jewish Christians. To see and example from the Book of Joshua, were these Christians Gibeonites who would draw water and hew wood for the superior Jewish Christians. After all, does not a kingdom need slaves and servants? The thinking here is that if the Gentiles were to be accorded the full rights as the sons of God under the Covenant. So why not become a Jew as well as a Christian end enjoy the benefits of both. And if Judaism is in the superior position, why not convert to Judaism directly and forget about becoming a Christian at all?
Anyone who reads Galatians, Paul’s writings, Jesus’s words, and the Old Testament could come to this conclusion, Paul is adamant that anyone who preaches this gospel is not preaching a gospel at all but is rather anathema (accursed and cut off from Israel). Paul says that following this non gospel leads to bondage instead of liberty. Christians are not to be the slaves of an earthly Israeli nation or the religion of Judaism. Christ died to set both Jew and Gentile free from slavery to a Law that no one could keep. the Law, not even a scrupulous Jew like Saul the Pharisee.
Some might make a distinction between Israel and the Church by parsing the blessings of mercy and peace in Galatians 6:16 to those who walk according to this rule and unto the Israel of God as though these were separate entities, that God offers blessings on two separate entities, the Church and the Jewish nation and Judaism. But this is to destroy Paul’s entire argument in Galatians. Paul sees the Israel of the Old Testament as being the same entity as the Church of the New, not as a replacement Israel but as the continuation of Israel.
As a Christian writing to Christians, just as Paul was a Christian writing to Christians, I am not particularly concerned with today’s nation of Israel as we look for a far greater promise and a greater Canaan. I realize that Scripture tells us that Yahweh is Lord and God over all the nations. Acts 17 amongst other Scripture says that God raises up and sets down earthly nations according to His purpose and pleasure. So earthly Israel certainly exists by the will of God to achieve His purpose for her. What that purpose might be is the cause of much controversy. But, nevertheless, it exists by the will of God. And God does not need our help to achieve this purpose. But Ezekiel 38:4 keeps resounding in my ears where it says I will put a hook in your jaws and draw you to what seems to be fulfilled in the Book of Revelation to be Armageddon. It seems that the actions of Israel is generating hatred throughout the world in which these nations will be drawn there. And then the Army of God shall follow Jesus from heaven and end this age as we know it with great slaughter. But it will end not by His servants fighting but by Jesus saying a single word “finished!”
Acts 17:26 NKJV
And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings.
When Paul addresses the Athenian philosophers on Mars Hill he talks about God who has created all things. From one man, Adam, He is the creator of all nations, not just Israel. These nations rise and fall according to His purpose, even if they are ignorant of His will and sovereignty. So let us now consider Adam. Adam was not a Jew. The Jews were one of the descendants of Adam. So the promise given of a coming redeemer was given through the descendant of Eve who would crush Satan’s head to all Adam’s descendants both Jews and Greeks. (Genesis 3:15) The promise of God is equally applicable to both.
Paul, in Galatians, uses the example of Abraham as the model of the Israel of God. In earthly terms, Abraham was not a Jew. Jacob, who was renamed Israel by God, was Abraham’s grandson, It is to this Abraham that Yahweh appeared to and promised that Abraham would be the father of many nations, one of which was Israel, seeing that Abraham had many sons and Jacob had a brother.
Genesis 12:3 NKJV
I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
What is important to notice is that this promise given to Abraham was not given exclusively to the Jews. Galatians brings out the ideas of all nations will be blessed in Abraham. Those who will believe in Yahweh as did Abraham are truly the children of Abraham and not merely descendants. The Scripture says:
Genesis 15:6 NKJV
And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
The promise is not given by racial descent from Abraham. Abraham was the father of Ishmael and six other sons as well as Isaac. But is was through Isaac that the special seen promised to Eve would come.
Galatians 3:16 NKJV
Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.
Isaac would not be that promised seed according to Paul. He would merely be the one through whose descendants Christ would be born. The promise is not for one particular race of people but a single person through whom ALL nations of the earth would be blessed, whether a believing Jew or a believing Greek. Physical descent might mean something in this world. But it means nothing eternally. We think of these words from “Onward Christian Soldiers:
“Crowns and thrones may perish, kingdoms rise and wane
But the Church of Jesus constant shall remain.”
Nations might call themselves “Christian” or even “Jewish”, but ultimately, what does that mean. We read this morning that “God is not mocked. As a man soweth, so shall he reap.” This is true of nations. If no man can keep the Law of God, how could any nation? If a nation is godly according to God’s standard of righteousness and not our self-imposed standards, it will be blessed. If not, is shall reap corruption. One should be careful lest the Pax Americana become the Pox Americana.
But les us leave this off and get back to the Church. Paul is concerned how the church is to behave in the light of the truth of the Gospel. The end and purpose of the Church is spiritual and eternal. This is the seed we are to sow in the Church. We sing these words from an old hymn “Bringing in the Sheaves”:
“Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness,
Sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve;
Waiting for the harvest, and the time of reaping,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.”
Paul talks about the fruits of this sowing as “love. joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, and faith. These are the fruits of God’s grace and not our own works. This is God working through us. In this we rejoice and praise God. We do not do theater as the world does. We are not out to make a good show or appearance. We do not boast of our work. We do not need to write large. In fact, the word for play acting is “hypocrisy.” It is God alone who should receive the glory. When we witness, the world should see Christ in us, the hope of glory. The world is very good at theatre. They will be quick to make hypocrisy known.
The proof of God being in the Church is that the impossible happens by the Spirit. We see all sorts of divisions in the world. There are rich and poor. There are me and women, and even this is absurdly divided further into countless genders and orientations as though the divisions between men and women are not enough to deal with. There are people of this religion, another religion, or even Atheism. We see all the dreadful divisions leading to war and not peace. These divisions exist, unfortunately within the Church itself. Anathemas are as plentiful as the sand of the sea. The church would do well to consider these words from Onward Christian Soldiers:
“We are not divided,
All one body we.
One in hope and doctrine
One in charity.
Onward Christian Soldiers
Marching as to war
With the Cross of Jesus
Going on before.
Paul saw that the Judaizers were dividing rather than uniting the Church. This is why he comes down so harshly. Paul did not attack circumcision. Those who came through Judaism to Christ could still circumcise their children. they could observe special days and feasts. There is some value to culture. But these are not of any eternal value. The Jews could not impost their culture upon the Christians who were formerly Gentiles. Neither must the Gentile believers impose their culture upon the Jews, especially considering that much of Gentile culture was Pagan, something which even the Gentile believers must renounce. The miracle is that by the Spirit Jews who thought the Gentiles to be dogs and Greeks who thought the Jews to be idiotic barbarians could worship together and be one in the Church. Masters and slaves were distinct in Graeco-Roman culture, but they were brothers and sisters in the Church.
The Israel of God today is made up of Americans, Jews, Russians, Iranians, Ukrainians and all other nations on earth, people who believe in Jesus Christ. They come from all walks of life. They are those who see that their Jerusalem is not the Jerusalem in the present day nation of Israel. That Jerusalem whose name is “peace” has known little peace over the millennia. There are people fighting for earthly Jerusalem today. Those who call themselves Jews, Muslims, and even Christians have fought wars for a city which Paul says is in bondage and not free.
The world today says that it wants peace. But we have war instead. We have heard the slogans: “War to end all wars; “Peace through strength,” etc. Maybe the next slogan will be “Peace through war.” There will be no peace in this world. The only peace comes from knowing Jesus as Lord and Savior. There is no reason for the Christian to fight for any earthly possession or to get overly involved in any of the political intrigue other than to be good citizens and to cause no rightful offense to authority. The peace to the Israel of God comes by walking according to the new rule of our faith. We are God’s chosen people. This is what the Greek word for Church (ecclesia) means. (The called out ones). One of the “Old” Testament designations for Ancient Israel is “Qahal-Yisrael” which means the same thing.
We must be careful not to boast in ourselves as being God’s chosen people. We are saved by grace through faith. We can not boast in our works. It is God alone who should be boasted in. We see how Paul was given a thorn in the flesh to keep him from boasting. This may have been his eyesight as he tells the Galatians that they were willing to pluck out their eyes for him. Jesus tells us to deny ourselves everyday and take up the cross, a token of humiliation in the world’s eyes. We shall inherit a glorious kingdom someday along with everyone from all ages who believed on Jesus. In times before Christ, they were saved by faith in the Christ to come. After the Incarnation, we are saved by the Christ who came and is coming again. We are in the Kingdom of God even now, but this is the Kingdom of the Cross. There is a theology of glory coming, but, now, the theology is that of the cross. Another thing which should keep us from boasting is that the offer of the Kingdom is not reserved to us alone but to the whosoever will that will believe on Jesus and call upon His name. Humility should drive us to evangelism. Let us invite all who will to believe in Jesus and become the Israel of God.
