Be seated. Well, in coming to the book of Galatians, we want to, first of all, start with a couple introductory thoughts. The first thing I want to say about this wonderful little book is that it's very similar to the book of Romans. In fact, in some ways, it's a shortened version of Paul's letter to the Romans. It's largely the same in terms of content. It really varies, though, with regards to context. In other words, the reasoning behind its writing. You probably know, and if you don't, you will hear real soon, that there was some serious error being taught by the Judaizers in the churches of Galatia, and so Paul takes up his pen and writes this letter to address them head-on. And so it takes upon itself, the letter, a different tone than that of Romans because of the different context, but basically the same with regards to content. And then that brings me, secondly, to say that its tone is a mixture of holy zeal and strong affection. On one hand, Paul is righteously angry. On another hand, he's inflamed with love for the churches. And I think that this mixture of affection is the result of his love for both the truth, he's seeking to protect and guard the truth from the Judaizers, and also his love for the Galatians. And those kind of really go together. Because he loved the Galatians, he wanted them to believe the truth and not to be led astray by lies. And so as we're going to see, the errors Paul is addressing aren't trivial errors. The Judaizers had sought to distort or pervert the main things. In fact, as we're going to see, the main thing, the Gospel. And that's why we've entitled it, Galatians, a defense of the Gospel. A strong defense of the Gospel. And then that brings me thirdly to say, because of the other things, it's in fact a miniature Bible of sorts. If you had, well, you don't have to, but if you had to choose one book of the Bible, Romans, obviously, has in it all of the major doctrines, somewhat systematized, as we saw some weeks ago. But in a shorter version, you have them all here in the Book of Galatians. You have doctrine, you have practice. Just stop and think in your mind the divisions of the book. He starts off talking about doctrine, justification by faith alone, and then he ends with those beautiful practical chapters about fruit in the spirit and bearing one another's burden. There's a beautiful harmony of Christ and the Holy Spirit. We're going to see that the first half is about Jesus and the second half about his spirit. Now that's an artificial division, but roughly speaking there's a lot of truth to that. And then we're also going to see that the book happily harmonizes works and faith. The first part is faith, the second part is works. And so if you put all that together you have in some sense or another a little miniature Bible, a very beautiful book indeed and then finally it's a unique book in that it was pivotal to the Protestant Reformation now the whole Bible was pivotal to the Protestant Reformation and you might know here I'm thinking specifically of Luther that Romans was important to Paul or to Luther but you might also know that Galatians was uniquely helpful and pivotal to the Protestant Reformation as led by the German reformer. In fact, Luther said this about the book, the epistle to the Galatians is my epistle to which I've wedded myself. It's my Katie. Now, that was his wife's name. In fact, I want to read just a little bit to get started from his preface. to his commentary. I found out that I have three commentaries by Luther on Galatians. Two of them are the same translation, just different editions. This one is an altogether different translation. I much prefer the other ones. They're more literal. This one is a bit more contemporary. But it's helpful when you have to read a larger passage like this to read from this more contemporary translation. This is how he puts the opening paragraph to his commentary on Galatians. I've taken in hand, in the name of the Lord, once again to expound this epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians. Not because I desire to teach new things or such as you've not heard before, but because we have to fear as the greatest and nearest danger that Satan take from us the pure doctrine of faith and bring into the church again the doctrine of works and men's traditions. The devil, our adversary, who continually seeks to devour us, is not dead. Likewise, our flesh, an old man, yet lives. Besides this, all kinds of temptations vex and oppress us on every side. So this doctrine can never be taught, urged, and repeated enough. If this doctrine is lost, then is also the whole knowledge of truth, life, and salvation lost. If this doctrine flourish, that is the doctrine of the book, salvation by faith in Christ alone, then all good things flourish. In other words, it's an important truth that Paul defends from the Judaizers in his rather short and most wonderful letter to the Galatian churches. And that brings us then to the lesson. And if you notice, Galatians derives its title from the region in Asia Minor, modern day Turkey, where the churches addressed were located. In fact, it starts off, if you notice, to the churches of Galatia. So there's multiple churches called the Galatians in this region of Galatia. The letter was written primarily to counteract the teachings of the Judaizers, who taught that Gentiles, in order to be saved, had first to become Jews. All right? So that's, I think, a good summary of the main problem, and thus the main purpose of the letter. To counteract the teachings of the Judaizers, false teachers who were physical Jews, who taught that Gentiles, in order to be saved, had first to become Jews. And so it's normally understood that the churches In Galatia, the Galatian Christians were largely, though not exclusively, Gentile. There's no reason to believe that there wasn't physical Jews, save Jewish Christians among them, but we're going to see that the Gentiles, Gentile Christians, were the primary target of the Judaizers. They were basically teaching the Gentile Christians they had to become physical Jews to be true Christians. And we're going to see that's why Paul throughout the letter identifies who is a true Jew. And we're going to see it's one circumcised inwardly and not merely outwardly. That's a dominant theme of the letter. Another man said the epistle to the Galatians is a polemic from beginning to end. It has just one purpose. perhaps stretching it a little bit, being Lutheran-like. He says, to prevent the Galatian Christians from yielding to the demands of the Judaizers. And we're going to see that that is a dominant theme that runs straight through the six chapters. It's more prominent in the first half, but nevertheless, it's found throughout the entire six chapters. And so we want to divide up the letter into these three parts. Personal, the first two chapters. Doctrinal, the second two chapters, and practical, the latter two chapters. It really divides up that neatly, and it's always helpful when it does. So you can remember the book rather simply, can't you? The first two chapters are personal. Paul is going to defend his personal identity as an apostle, similar to last week in 2 Corinthians. And then in the middle two sections is the doctrinal section, chapters 3 and 4, where he just opens up in a most clear and beautiful way the doctrine of justification by faith apart from the works of the law. And then he turns to the practice of the Galatians in chapters 5 and 6 to refute any notional claim that his doctrine led to lawlessness. Because remember, he's talking against the law, or at least he's speaking against their false use of the law, and he didn't want to be misunderstood. So chapters five and six underscore that we're still to obey the Ten Commandments, the law, by the Holy Spirit. That's chapters five and six. All right, listen to what William Perkins said. He said, two things are generally to be considered, the occasion of this epistle and the scope or purpose of this epistle. This is how he starts his commentary on the letter with this opening paragraph. He's going to give us two things about the book, he says, that need to be discussed. And first, the occasion that moved Paul to write this epistle was because certain false apostles slandered him both in respect of his calling as also in respect of his doctrine, teaching that he was no apostle and that his doctrine was false. Okay, that's an excellent summary of the book in terms of the problem and thus his purpose in writing it. And it's twofold if you notice. The Judaizers were claiming he wasn't a true apostle and thus he can't believe what he says. They were attacking his credentials and his doctrine. And that's why he defends both. Because they go together, right? If he claims to be an apostle and he's not, then you don't want to believe what he says. All right, here's a footnote application. If anybody claims to be an apostle today, don't believe what they say. And by this means, they seduce the churches of Galatia, persuading them that justification and salvation was partly by Christ and partly by the law. Here's the problem, brethren. They wasn't negating the need for Jesus nor faith. But they did deny that all we need is Jesus by faith. That sounds Romish, doesn't it? That's how Rome twists her lies. Brethren, the Roman Catholic Church believes we need Jesus, and they believe we need faith. But they don't believe we need Jesus received by faith alone. The scope, now by that he means purpose. It's just an older word. The scope or goal. of the Epistle is in three things. First, the Apostle defends his calling in the first and second chapters. You see where I get my outline from. Secondly, he defends the truth of his doctrine, teaching justification by faith alone in the third and fourth chapters. Thirdly, he prescribes rules of a good life in the fifth and sixth chapters. By the way, William Perkins volume two is solely his commentary on Galatians, a massive effort, and it would be very wonderful for us just to read it, but it's about 700 pages. So we'll have to limit ourselves to this lesson. Let's go through the three parts of the book somewhat quickly, personal, doctrinal, and then practical. Then I want to focus on three broad, sweeping, important considerations with respect to the letter of Paul to the Galatians. the importance of the gospel, the identity of God's true Israel, and the true nature of Christian liberty. All right, notice personal. First two chapters. The Judaizers, who were Jewish fall teachers, had infiltrated the churches of Galatia. They not only challenged Paul's doctrine, but calling. Remember those two related issues there? That is, they argued that he was not a true apostle and that his teaching carried no authority. Thus, Paul spends the first two chapters largely vindicating his apostolic credentials. He devotes the first two chapters to his vindication by showing how he got his gospel, how the Jerusalem leaders confirmed his gospel, and how he rebuked the inconsistency of the very apostle to whom the Judaizers appealed for their authority. Remember, the first two chapters, Paul talks about how he had rebuked Peter to his face for his hypocrisy. So Paul is saying, look, I'm not only an apostle, but I got some backbone in me, too. And I even rebuke the one apostle that you look to as your authority. In the first two chapters, by selection of events from his life, the apostle defends himself against the charge expressed or implied that he had never received the divine commission and that his gospel was, accordingly, not to be trusted. The assailants attacked Paul in order, thereby, to destroy his gospel. They reasoned that if Paul's so-called apostleship was of merely human origin, then his gospel was also a merely human invention. Hence, at bottom is the gospel which is defended. Remember we said that last week when we talked about how Paul was defending himself to the Corinthians. It wasn't just because he was upset at getting a bad name or reputation. The main thing was the gospel, because if he wasn't who he said he was, then they can't trust him. And so too here, he's defending himself for the first two chapters. But he does so with the notion that the gospel is at stake, not merely his personal reputation. All right? Secondly, doctrinal within chapters three and four Paul provides a five-fold defense of justification by faith apart from the works of the law these are the densest of the chapters and truly Wow, I mean I don't even know We probably could just read through these two chapters Packed full of great theology and then he's going to turn in the last two chapters to apply them in some of the most beautifully practical chapters in the whole Bible Remember the fruit of the spirit, all that. Chapter five and six is the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, enabling us to do what the law demands. Not to get right, but because we're right, with God by faith. I'm not real happy with the divisions or the five arguments that I give. They're a little bit, because they're basically, he goes back and forth with the same arguments. But loosely speaking, there's five or so arguments in defense of justification by faith apart from the works of the law. That's what these two chapters are all about. First, there's an argument from experience. Paul first appealed to their personal experience. They received the Spirit through faith. They began their Christian life by faith. They suffered for believing in salvation by faith, not works. And they worked miracles by faith, not works of the law. If these were all true, if you got all of that in your own experience, he's telling them, look, how did you become a Christian? By works or faith? That's what he's saying to them. If all of these are true, why were they now trusting in their works? If you started by faith, why are you now seeking to be perfected by works? Right? That's what he says in there. Why were they now listening to the false teachers? Oh foolish Galatians. This is how he starts this section. 3.1 Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ as was clearly portrayed among you as crucified. In other words, every blessing they received was received by faith in the gospel and not by works of the law. This is his first argument. He's appealing to their experience. How did you become Christians initially? Brother, just stop and think of this for a second. How did you become a Christian initially? Then that's how you grow as a Christian progressively by faith in Jesus. Now works have a place to play in our sanctification, but we're not sanctified by our works. Works are the product of our sanctification. How are we sanctified? By faith in Jesus, right? We're saved, we're justified by faith in Jesus, and Paul is saying we're sanctified by faith in Jesus. Luther put it like this. The law never brings the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it does not justify because it only teaches what we ought to do But the gospel does bring the Holy Spirit because it teaches us what we ought to receive All right, so he starts with their experience and secondly he goes on to argue from the curse of the law Now remember he's arguing look if you want to go to the law To be right with God Then you're gonna deny your experience, argument one. And secondly, you're gonna have to grapple with God's curse because the law says unless you keep it perfectly, you're accursed by God. Okay, this is what he's doing in the second argument. He reminds the Galatians of the perfect demands of the law. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. For it's written, cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. Those who seek justification by the law must render perfect obedience to the law. The law is not of faith, Paul says, a few verses later. But the man who does them, that is the commandments, shall live by them. In other words, if you want to go to the law for salvation, then you have to render perfect obedience to the law. Because remember what the law says in its covenant form to Adam, keep me perfectly and live. Break me in any form and you die. That's what the law says. Now let me just say here as an aside, Paul uses the law largely in a broader sense to include the Ten Commandments and all of the other positive laws given to the nation of Israel. Because we're going to see that circumcision was one of the things they were trying to impose upon the Gentile Christians. So you have the law that was given to Adam, right? That formed into a covenant in chapter 2 of Genesis. The essence of it is the Ten Commandments because that's codified at Sinai. So you have that broken covenant, the law that says perfect obedience is necessary to be right with God. That principle abides as it's restated or codified in Exodus 20 within the old covenant. And then on top of it you have the 600 other commandments. That's what Paul is saying. You really want to get right with God by the law, then you have to keep every single commandment perfectly or else suffer the judgments of the law or the condemnation of the law. And that's exactly what he says in his second argument. Notice I go on, Paul, twice quotes from the old covenant in those texts that I just quoted, which reflect the tenor of the covenant of works to and live, as I just tried to say to you. His point is simple, no person can be justified by the law because no person can meet the just demands of the law, all right? You want to get right with God through law keeping, then Galatians, you have to deny everything that you've already experienced. And then secondly, if you want to get right with God by law keeping, you have to render perfect obedience to every single commandment given. The 10 and everything else that flows out of it. Thirdly, An argument for the purpose of the law. Now he's going to say, but the law was never given for you to get right with God. Galatians. The purpose of the law was not to justify, but to lead the nation of Israel and anybody and everybody else to Christ. The point was the law shows us we can't get right by obeying it because we can't render perfect obedience to it. We come out of the womb already a transgressor, thus condemned by it. because Adam's sin is imputed to us. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. That's the whole point, brethren, of the law. The Ten Commandments and the Old Covenant with all of the positive laws. All of those laws, the entirety of that covenant that God made through Moses with Israel at Mount Sinai, what we call the Old Covenant. I think that's what Paul means when he says here, The law was our tutor to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. The whole of that system was intended to point to Jesus. The whole system, every single thing about it, every moral law, every civil law, every ceremonial law, the entirety of the old covenant pointed us to Jesus. The moral law and every positive law that flowed from it was given 430 years after the promise of Christ was given to Abraham. As a result, salvation is not by the law, but by faith in the promise. Paul says there, look, God promised Abraham a savior. And that promise wasn't based on works, but faith. And here's why, the law wasn't even given until 430 years later. Now, again, that doesn't deny that the Ten Commandments was operative and it was in Abraham's heart because he was a saved man. But he's talking again of that whole old covenant system. And that's why I say that by law there is meant the whole old covenant system, the moral, ceremonial, and civil laws. Everything you find from Exodus 20 onward, all of that was given 430 years after a promise of Jesus was given to Abraham. In other words, how was Abraham saved? Galatians. He wasn't saved by works of the law because the law wasn't given yet and wouldn't be given until several hundreds of years later. He was saved by faith in the promise. Fourthly, an argument from his selfless love for them. Okay, so he argued from their own experience. Now he's going to argue from his experience. In this section, Paul bears his heart to the Galatians. He urges them to remember his teaching and love for them. My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you, I would like to be present with you now and to change my tone, for I have doubts about you. He's, I don't know how to put it, he's really appealing to their heart, isn't he? And I think, I mean, he's being a good parent of sorts, isn't he? I mean, we do that as parents, right? We make application to the hearts of our children. We appeal to the hearts of our children. Sometimes we just, we always, in some measure or not, just point them to the truth, right? You have to believe this, and you have to do this, in that order. Sometimes we just bare our hearts to them. Right? We pull them upstairs to the study and put our knees together. And we just say, don't be a fool. I love you too much. I've taught you the truth, girl, for years and years and years. Don't be a fool. Don't disbelieve it. Stop trying to get right with God by your works. And you're appealing to their hearts. You're, in a sense, appealing to your selfless love. That's what Paul does. And then finally, an argument from an Old Testament allegory. Now that section is beautiful and so instructive but unfortunately we just have to leave it with this little sentence or so. For his final argument he appeals to Abraham's two wives, you might remember that section, and their sons. He says, these things are symbolic or an allegory. Hagar represents the old covenant. Sarah, the new covenant. Really, Paul's letter to the Galatians is highly instructive with regards to covenant theology. Some of us started Sabbath last to read through a Baptist covenant theology book. And a better book than that is Galatians. So if you can't follow Barcellus, then just throw him in the trash. Don't throw them in the trash. Just put them next to the trash. Read Galatians. Understand this section in particular in Galatians where he says the two women are two covenants. One is Sinai and one is Mount Calvary. One is the old, one is the new. And then you can pick back up Barcellus and understand him better. Hagar represents the old, Sarah the new. Hagar's son, Ishmael, represents Abraham's physical seed. Sarah's son, Isaac, represents Abraham's spiritual seed. And he says that the two disliked each other. The one persecuted the other. And then he goes on to say, and we are, as Christians, Gentile or not, we are the descendants of Sarah, or, then he goes on to say, that the new or heavenly Jerusalem is the mother of us all. So we're descendants of Sarah of sorts, to use his analogy. The point being is there's a new covenant and an old covenant. And those who trust in the old covenant alone are in bondage. Why? Because the law can't deliver us. And while the old covenant pointed to the gospel, it wasn't the gospel. Or put another way, While the Old Covenant pointed to the New Covenant, Jesus, it wasn't the New Covenant. So nobody was ever saved by keeping the law or by looking to the Old Covenant. And the problem of the Judaizers, in part, was they were trying to push back these Gentile Christians and any Jewish Christians that were there, not to Sarah, but to Hagar. Not to the liberty of the new covenant, but the bondage of the old covenant. Because, brethren, if all you have is the laws of the old covenant, it can only lead to bondage. If all you have is the law and not the gospel, it can only lead to bondage. And this is Paul's argument in relation to these two covenants. A highly instructive, exceedingly important, And would to God that our dear, beloved Presbyterian friends would take a clear, long look at Paul's analogy. Because it really disproves their version of covenant theology. All right, but Paul doesn't stop there. He moves on to the practical. So he defends himself in the gospel in the first two chapters. He gives this tremendous covenantal exposition. of justification by faith apart from the works of the law. And now he comes to chapter five, and it's evident that he turns to a more practical section. The two final chapters breathe the same air of controversy, but their emphasis is somewhat different. Whereas the earlier chapters have stressed doctrine, these focus attention on duty. Paul describes the Christian life in three ways. First, as a life of freedom. There are two perils, one man said, which threaten the Christian's freedom in Christ. One, treated in chapter five in the first 12 verses, is legalism. The other, treated in verses 13 to 15, is license, or lawlessness. The former is a denial of freedom, the latter a perversion of it. Both are to be earnestly resisted. And so Paul, in the first section of chapter five, addresses legalism. And in the second section of that chapter 5, lawlessness. Don't turn your liberty into lawless living. And then he turns the corner at verse 16 of chapter 5 and describes the Christian life as that controlled by the Holy Spirit. Paul mentions the Spirit five times in that one section, verses 16 to 26. I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. That is, if we've received new life by the Spirit, let us look to Him for the ability to live as Christians. And I think it's what Paul said earlier, remember, when he appealed to their experience. How did you get the Holy Spirit? How did you become a Christian? By faith. You got the Holy Spirit by faith. And so the Holy Spirit was necessary for your initial beginning as a Christian, and the Holy Spirit is equally necessary and provided for the continuation of your Christian life. And then thirdly, a life of love. Walking in or by the Spirit is evidenced by love. Somebody says, well, we're gonna walk in the Spirit. We're gonna walk by the Spirit. How does that look? What does it look like? What does a person look like, practically, who walks in or by the Spirit? Does it mean that their feet don't touch the ground? They kind of just hover, maybe six inches above the carpet? Oh, that brother's in the Spirit today. No, it looks like law, obedience, or love. That's what he says in chapter 6. Walking in or by the Spirit as evidence by love bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. True love seeks the good of others and let us not weary. Then he defines what love looks like even practically. Let us not grow weary while doing good for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. That's verse 9 of chapter 6. Remember what verse 10 is? And let us do good to all men especially those of the household of faith. The letter then closes with a contrast between the Judaizers, who are motivated by pride and a desire to avoid persecution, and Paul, who suffered for the true gospel, but boasts only in Christ. And so the letter ends with that same main goal. He never loses sight of his main goal, to address the Judaizers. Even after all that practical stuff, because the Judaizers basically saying, look, the religion that the Judaizers are promoting, does it promote real liberty and purity of heart and life? And then he ends with another return back to his main goal, where he contrasts himself with the Judaizers. That's how the letter ends. These chapters, five and six, provide Paul's final argument. Some might say the most powerful of all. This is the moral argument. the appeal to the total inward moral change brought about by the freedom of the gospel, a change which all the restraints of the Jewish law had utterly failed to produce. If liberty becomes license, then the worst suspicions of the Judaizers would be true, and the last state of the Galatians worse than the first. From every point of view, therefore, these chapters, chapters five and six, are the crown of the book. All right, well let's pause here and ask for questions or comments as we briefly flew through those six chapters and then we'll come to those three considerations. Questions, comments? All righty, well we'll move on then to the first of three considerations and that is the importance of the gospel. Now this is what I did. Let me pause for a second. I read through the book. I survey the book. And then as I'm doing that, and then when I'm done with that, and even as I'm doing that, and then especially when I'm finished with it after about a day, I then back up and ask myself, what are the major themes of the book? And I want to suggest to you that while in the narrow sense, the theme of the book is justification by faith in Jesus alone apart from the works of the law, right? But let's kind of expand that to say that there's three important considerations that we ought to take from these six chapters. And the first is the importance of the gospel. The second is the identity of God's true Israel. And the third, the nature of Christian liberty. Notice first, the importance of the gospel. Now, the word gospel is found some 12 times in Galatians. It's the heart of the letter, gospel. It's the gospel, right? The gospel is the heart of the letter. I mean, that goes somewhat without saying, I trust. The gospel first must be protected, but even if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you, then what we've preached to you, let him be accursed. Paul then goes on to say that exact same thing again, if you remember, in verse 9. It's as if, if you didn't get it the first time, you're bound to get it the second time. He's repeating himself to underscore the importance of what he's saying. If anyone comes to you and preaches another gospel, even if it's an angel from heaven, let him be accursed. Secondly, the gospel must be preached. And that's why if you just look at a concordance, the word preach or preached is used I don't know how many times, many, many times in this letter. The gospel is to be protected. The gospel is to be proclaimed. It's to be preached. It's to be verbalized. But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. In other words, I got it from heaven. That's what Paul is saying. But when it pleased God to reveal his son in me that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not straightway confer with flesh and blood. I don't think that text is a text that refutes the need for seminaries or education. Paul received his doctrine uniquely from heaven, and then for three years, he tells us in the second chapter, remember, he went to the desert, and there Jesus enrolled him in his seminary. Oh, he went to seminary. He went to Jesus' seminary for three years, it says. And then he went to Jerusalem and began to preach it. So, Paul got it straight from Christ. Now that would be a tremendous seminary to go to, wouldn't it? So Paul isn't here downplaying the need for education. He's just underscoring the uniqueness of his education as an apostle, brother. Because all the other apostles had Jesus for how many years? Three. So Paul got him for three too. He just got him for himself, if you will. Also, let me say this too, Paul, I think three times, maybe four times, let's say three times in the New Testament gives his testimony. Okay, can you think of where they were, those three places? Once in the book of Acts, I think twice in the book of Acts, but at least once the book of Acts when he's standing before some of the Roman leaders, remember he gives this long, beautiful, detailed testimony. A second place he gives it is more theological, and that's in Romans 7. That's his theological testimony. And then he gives it here in Galatians. And I've always found this one to be so beautiful. Look at how he puts it in part. But when it pleased God to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles. That's his testimony. And he gives this beautiful testimony in those verses. I preach the gospel to you, chapter 4, verse 13. Again, chapter 3, 1. O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified. This is really a description of Paul's ministry among the Galatians. his previous or prior ministry among the Galatians. He summarizes it as portraying through preaching Christ and him crucified among them. That is, portrayed before them through his preaching. Luther said, there is no painter with his colors who can so lively set out Christ unto you as I have painted him by my preaching. He's paraphrasing what Paul meant. And yet you remain most miserably bewitched. What did I then paint? Even Christ himself." So Luther is saying what Paul says. He painted him or portrayed him not on a literal canvas with watercolors, but with words in the preaching. A more beautiful description of preaching you won't find in the whole Bible. Thirdly, the gospel must be received. It must be received by faith alone. Indeed, I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. That is, if they relied on anything other than Christ, it's a false and non-saving gospel. Here it is, very simply what Paul is saying. Christ plus anything ends in hell. Christ plus anything. anything, one drop of your merit, one drop of your work, or one drop of the law is another gospel and it's non-saving. The gospel is a proclamation of forgiveness through faith in Christ. Any attempt to add to his finished work implies unbelief of its perfection. It matters not whether we resort to the moral or ceremonial law. If Christ be not our only ground of hope and confidence, we are unbelievers and consequently have no part in Him. Brother, can Haldane put it very plainly? Because Paul put it very plainly. If you want to get circumcised, that is, if you're looking to the law in any measure or way for your righteousness before God, then Christ will profit you not a little, not some, but nothing. Now, stop and think for a second. I can't remember exactly, but I think it was Well, Paul had Timothy circumcised in order not to be a scandal among the Jews. Remember that? Now, stop and think for a second. He intentionally circumcised the one in order to satisfy some Jews. Here, he's warning them not to be circumcised to satisfy some Jews. What is the difference? Well, obviously, the difference here is they were trusting in circumcision. Paul is saying it's not wrong to be circumcised. The Jews circumcised themselves. And that's not wrong, but it is wrong if you circumcise yourselves as any attempt to get right with God. If you think you get a little closer to God because you're circumcised, this is what Paul is addressing, that Christ is useless to you. Christ will benefit you none. So it's not about circumcision, whether you should be circumcised or not. The issue is the motivation behind getting circumcised. Because remember, Paul to the Romans, he tells them to go ahead and keep some of the ceremonial laws, doesn't he? You know, the Jews wanted to keep some of those ceremonial laws. And Paul says, if you have to, go ahead and do it for a season until you kind of transition from the old to the new covenants. He was not opposed to that, but he was opposed to it if it was put in the place of Christ in any way. That's the point, right? By the way, this fellow here, I quoted from Haldane. You might know his famous brother, Robert Haldane, wrote a commentary on Romans. This is James Haldane, who wrote a very wonderful commentary on Galatians. We know that a man is not justified, this is how Paul put it, by the works of the law, but by faith in Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that is, this is true of us as apostles as well as you as non-apostles, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law. For by the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified. Brother, that's a, what is that called, a redundant statement? He says the same thing like three or four times. The cross, one man said it simply, is the one way of salvation, and no part of Scripture makes this clearer than does Galatians. Alright, well we won't get through both of these, but let's finish with the second one here. The identity of God's true Israel. Centered to Paul's argument throughout this letter is the identity of God's true people. The Judaizers taught the Gentiles needed to keep the positive laws of the Old Covenant, circumcision, for example, to share in the promises made to Abraham. Thus, Paul makes very clear who is and who is not a true son of Abraham. Now listen to this. Because the Judaizers were saying that these Gentiles, in order to become God's true people, had to become physical Jews. Paul spends the whole book, in one way or another, identifying who is and who is not God's true people. So if somebody were to say to us that physical Jews are God's true people, and that the church is just a side thought for a season, you would just have to say, go read Galatians. No book in the Bible more clearly identifies the church as God's true Israel and not those according to the flesh. That's one of the main points of the book of Galatians, brethren. And so it's an important book in that controversy. Notice Paul makes very clear who is and isn't a true son of Abraham. A true Jew. That's how he puts it to the Romans, right? A true Jew. That's Romans 2. A true Jew. a real, true son of Abraham. First of all, those who have faith in Christ are sons of God. Therefore know that only those, listen to how he puts it, only those, you Judaizers, for all of your Jewishness, you boast in the fact that you're physical descendants of Abraham. But listen to what I'm telling you. Know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. I don't care how Jewish you are. You can out Jewish Abraham. if that's possible. But if you haven't faith alone in Christ, you're not a true seed or descendant of Abraham. Brother, can it get any clearer than that? For you are all sons of God, all of you, all of you, through faith in Jesus Christ. And if you are Christ's, if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. How is it that you get the promise made to Abraham of Jesus? Remember the promises made to Abraham? Some of them were typical. Talked about, like for example, the land that was a shadow of heaven. A multitude of descendants that shadowed the church. No man can number. Deliverance from the Canaanites that shadowed Forgiveness and salvation from our enemies and then he says to Abraham in Genesis 12 and Abraham those are typical They have physical applications and ultimate spiritual applications promises But here's one that's very simple in your seed Abraham all the nations of the world will be blessed That's a promise of Jesus. That's the gospel and In fact, in this very letter, in this very letter, Paul says the gospel is preached to Abraham, saying, in your seat, Abraham, all the nations of the world will be blessed. He quotes Genesis 12 and 3. How do we get all of those promises made to Abraham? Or better yet, who gets all of those promises made to Abraham? Christians. Period. Jews or Gentiles, according to the flesh, it matters not. It only matters if you believe. Paul makes clear his faith that makes you a true descendant of Abraham. For all of their Jewishness, the Judaizers were not heirs of the promise. They were not true descendants of Abraham. As a result, Paul referred to physical Jews as Jews by nature. That's all they were, brethren, Jews by nature. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. They were Jews by nature, period. That's it. Secondly, those who are recreated in Christ are sons of God. It's spiritual, not physical circumcision that matters. For example, he ends the letter, or nearly towards the end says, for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but a new creation. They have to be changed, recreated in the image of Christ. I've been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Of course, you can't survey Galatians without quoting chapter 2 and verse 20. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. and those who are Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. This is what evidences true Jewishness, a new heart. Thirdly, those who put no confidence in the flesh are sons of God. Listen to these words towards the end in chapter 616. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, even to the Israel of God. Now Paul here is pronouncing a blessing upon certain people he calls the Israel of God who walk according to a certain rule. Right? Do you see it? By this rule, let me tell you what he means by this rule. It's meant the previous verse. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but a new creation. Do you not want to know who the true Israel of God are, brethren? It's those who walk or live according to that rule, that it doesn't matter if you're circumcised or not. What matters is, have you had your heart changed? Have your faith in Jesus that results in a change of heart that alters the change and direction of your life, brethren. That's what matters. And everybody and anybody who walks according to this principle or rule, peace be upon them as God's true Israel. That's how Paul puts it in the end of this letter. Paul pronounces a blessing upon those who live according to this principle, that being a physical Jew means nothing, and then refers to them as the true Israel of God. A few verses before, Paul said of the Judaizers, back in verse 13 of the sixth chapter, for not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised, that they may boast in your flesh. Look, these Judaizers are not even doing what they're claiming you have to do. And they want just to have you on their side, to boast of you and brag about their converts. In contrast, Paul said of himself, now watch how Paul contrasts himself, but God forbid, this is the next verse, 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. Here's the thing, brethren. See, we know text, right? But we sometimes don't know the context of text. Everybody knows that text. Everybody knows this text. Everybody knows that text. But, brethren, get it in this context of the chapter and the immediate argument, and then get it in the context of the whole book. One of the things that has so benefited me in surveying the Bible, and I've been surveying the Bible since I became a Christian. I taught Bible survey the month after I got converted. I've been teaching it to the mission and here for 25 years. And you know what benefits me? One of the large benefits I derive from surveying books of the Bible, it helps me to understand texts in their proper context. When I first became Christian, I knew all the Calvinistic texts, right? I knew how to refute Arminianism. And then as I began to read through my Bible and survey the books of the Bible, I said, oh, there's that text. It actually has a context. And then I knew texts that would refute dispensationalism. And then as I read through my Bible and surveyed the books, I began to see their context. And it just made the text all the more helpful. This is a good text. This text does teach what I've been saying it teaches over these months or years, but now I see its broader and fuller context. I'm totally lost where I'm at, but let me see if I can find it. A few verses before Paul said of the Judaizers, for not even those who are circumcised. Okay, in contrast, Paul said of himself, 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. In other words, Paul put no confidence in his Jewishness. This is the rule or principle to which he appeals in verse 16. He put no hope in his Jewishness, but he put it in Jesus and his cross. This is the rule or principle Paul refers to. This is what renders a person a true Jew. This is what brings the blessings of God. It's upon such that walk according to this rule, i.e., not the Judaizers and not Eugalatians, if you fall prey to their heresies. But every single person among all the churches of Galatia, every single true Christian who walks according to this rule. What rule? What principle? The one he's been teaching for six chapters, brethren. Everybody who walks in harmony to this principle, that it's not circumcision or no circumcision that makes you a Christian. It's faith in Jesus that results in a new heart, a new creation. Everybody who boasts in Christ and His cross, who walk according to this rule or principle, peace and mercy be upon them, for they and they alone are the Israel of God. And as many as walk according to this rule, those who put no confidence in the flesh, peace and mercy be upon them as God's Israel, as God's true new covenant Israel. Somebody says Israel always means physical Israel, never means anything but physical Israel. Not true. Not true. because for a proof text I submit to you Galatians chapter 1 to 6. Father we thank you that you have taught us from your word and we thank you father for the grace to enable us to walk according to this rule or principle. that we boast not in our works or in our physical pedigree, but in Jesus and his cross. And we ask, O God, that you would, for his sake, put upon us this day this apostolic benediction, peace and mercy, as your beloved Israel of God. And now we ask that you'd help us to gather as we worship you. Come, O God, by your spirit, and turn our hearts by faith through your word to Jesus Christ, crucified, resurrected, and exalted. Amen.