Author: missionspaul

The problem we all face as Christians is the battle with not aligning ourselves with the work of Christ on the cross and also aligning with the work of the Spirit in our lives.

For the Apostle Paul it was incredulous to think that any Christian would lose that battle. These Galatians considered circumcision more trustworthy than the cross. So he doesn’t pull his punches.

“Are you so foolish?” Galatians 3 v 3.

Are you going to continue this craziness? (Message) How can you be so stupid? (CEV)

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1 v 7

Fools show their annoyance at once, but the prudent overlook an insult. Proverbs 12 v 16

A fool’s mouth lashes out with pride, but the lips of the wise protect them. Proverbs 14 v 3

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Proverbs 18 v 2.

I could continue. The Proverbs especially are full of speaking about fools.

But you don’t need a theological degree or know the whole Bible to spot a fool.

When the body of Christ hurt the body of Christ they are foolish.

When the followers of Jesus follow their own desires they are foolish.

When the saved have been convinced they are not they are foolish.

The foolish are forever with us.

They cannot be trusted. They are unteachable. They are quick to react. They are full of pride and arrogance. They always have their opinion to give. Humility is hard to find.

These Galatians are under a spell.

No one wants to hear that they are a fool. And done in anger it is wrong to do so. But with love and care yes let’s call it out.

If you see your friend walking a wrong path then your love will cause you to wake them up. “Open your eyes, don’t be an idiot, look at the cross of Christ, and understand the Spirit within you!” That is our cry. Are you so foolish?

Who has bewitched you? That was the first question. The blindness to the power of the cross. Knowing the cross is there but being blind to its true impact is a spell over the spiritual eyes of the Galatians. There’s more questions and they’re important for us today.

“I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?” (Galatians 3 v 2)

Go back to the first time you responded to the Salvation message that Jesus died for you and rose again. Was that response from you something of your achievement or did you see it as a gift?

I remember further sermons in church of the full assurance that I was indeed saved by the blood of Jesus. You will remember them too. Did that seem conditional based on your lifestyle or did it not sound more like a guarantee by the Spirit?

When you received outpouring after outpouring of the Spirit was that because you were good enough?

When the gifts of the Spirit were given to you were they actually that? Were they gifts?

Remember that day when you heard that call of God, the pull of the Spirit, it might have felt like a push as well, but you knew that God wanted you to do something and go somewhere for He was going to use you: was that because you had passed some kind of test? When you look in the mirror do you think ‘yes I can see why God picked me, I would have done the same?!’

It’s never been about you has it? It has always been a gift undeserved. There has never been a time when you can honestly say you deserve what God has given you. It is all of Him!

Have you ever been given the evil eye? Or you might have heard someone describe how they were looked upon as, ‘they gave me the evils’. It’s the same thing. It comes from the story of Nazar, the charm.

You will have seen them on your travels in the many markets around the world. The charm is called ‘Nazar’ and more often than not it is a blue glass jewellery piece to ward off the ‘evil eye’ that comes from someone who is wishing bad-luck on you. If you have ever been to Turkey you will definitely have seen these amulets as they are everywhere! Even on their budget aeroplanes a Nazar was placed, though it didn’t help them as they went bust in 2007.

It dates back to at least 6^th century BC as drinking vessels have been found with Nazar engraved on them. But even today especially in some Asian and African cultures the strong belief that your soul can be damaged or even lost means that these charms are placed on people and their animals to ward off the evil eye.

The Greek Philosopher, Plutarch, who was born only 15 years after Jesus was the leading voice regarding the power of the evil eye so potent to even cause the death of children and small animals.

They were prevalent in the Jewish culture. In the Midrash Sarah casts an evil eye on Hagar causing her to miscarry her pregnancy. In the Talmud the descendants of Joseph are immune from the evil eye.

So Paul uses this as we begin chapter 3 of Galatians and enter into the bulk of the main part of his letter to them.

“You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.” (Galatians 3 v 1)

‘Who has put the evil eye on you?’ That’s what Paul was saying. ‘Who has put a spell on you?’

They know Jesus the Messiah was crucified for them. He had gone into great detail about the cross of Christ and what Jesus had suffered. He is astounded that his portrayal in his preaching to them had not prevented them from being ‘bewitched’.

Recently I was with a group of people who had all fallen out with one another. My task was to try and keep them together for the sake of the church. The divisions were historically deep, personal and hurtful. The only way forward was that everyone had to lose. So I suggested that every one of them no matter how right they felt they were, all of them should willingly and voluntarily hang on the cross like Christ had done for them. Was it possible that we could there and then visualise ourselves dying for each other?

You see, as I meet so many people and find myself in all kinds of situations of conflict, it feels at times that I am with people of the cross who have lost sight of the cross. Victory over their brother or sister in Christ is more important than the cross of Christ. When Christians use social media to attack others, they may feel vindicated, but where is the cross?

It isn’t just in conflict either. The most powerful act of God was an event that looked like a horrible twisted gory mess. It was torture. Blood and broken flesh. It was not pretty. This was no Oscar winning performance. This was horrible. Yet it was the most powerful thing that God did. Our Sunday Church services are one of the best places for people to see who the Church is. The atmosphere, the fellowship, the worship, the teaching, the announcements of the events. It needs to be good. We must have a lovely place for people to come to etc. But when the pressure to perform enters the arena we lose sight of the blood-soaked cross. When the most important person is the presence of ourselves or even the visitors then we have lost sight of the presence of our nail-printed Jesus.

Paul calls them stupid. He is not speaking of their mental state. But the fact that they have been blinded he is saying spiritually they are foolish. The rules that we place on each other have nothing to do with the cross. Circumcision as a means to prove you are a true follower has nothing to do with the cross. Arguing over whether we should pay a tithe (has I heard the other day) has nothing to do with the cross. Walking out of the church because a woman is preaching has nothing to do with the cross. There are Christians today who are bewitched. They know about the cross but they are blinded to the message of it.

We don’t need a Nazar. We do need to consecrate our hearts. We do need to humbly come and kneel at the cross again.

So what happened to my group of people? Was it possible that they all hung on a cross and die for each other? It was possible but they didn’t do it. In the end in trying to win they all lost and so did God’s church. Why? They had been bewitched.

Grace is challenged continually across the world by preachers who are concerned about a sinful Church. The fact is the Grace of God is the answer to a sinful Church.

To live by grace means you are not denying or trying to forget the sin in your life, but by allowing grace to expose it you find who you really are. Grace calls you to keep coming back to Jesus. Let Jesus bind up the wounds.

Let grace be with you and with you in the midst of others. Let the community of God’s people be marked by grace words, grace reactions and grace decisions.

Paul has been writing of what he said to Peter when he confronted him over withdrawing from the Gentiles. He now brings that to a close.

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” Galatians 2:20-21 NIV

• he has died to the law (trying to please God)
• but he is very much alive
• what you see isn’t now me but Christ in me.
• he does not deny the grace of God.
• he cannot hold to grace and the law.

On that last day when each one of us stands before Jesus Christ it will not be because we have lived such holy lives that will enable us to stand. Even if we think we are far better than the fallen Christian or even perhaps you feel your life is worse, the same truth remains: the only way anyone of us will be able to stand before Jesus Christ is His pure grace not our pure works.

Grace wasn’t only given for that day when we came into the revelation of Jesus and began to follow Him having our sins cleansed; it isn’t only for today when each day is a day of His unmerited favour and blessing on our lives; it is definitely for our future when we stand before Him.

Until He comes let grace live!

PETER RANDOLPH, a slave in Prince George County, Virginia, until he was freed in 1847, described the secret prayer meetings he had attended as a slave.

“Not being allowed to hold meetings on the plantation,” he wrote, “the slaves assemble in the swamp, out of reach of the patrols. They have an understanding among themselves as to the time and place. … This is often done by the first one arriving breaking boughs from the trees and bending them in the direction of the selected spot.

“After arriving and greeting one another, men and women sat in groups together. Then there was “preaching … by the brethren, then praying and singing all around until they generally feel quite happy.”

The speaker rises “and talks very slowly, until feeling the spirit, he grows excited, and in a short time there fall to the ground 20 or 30 men and women under its influence.

“The slave forgets all his sufferings,” Randolph summed up, “except to remind others of the trials during the past week, exclaiming, ‘Thank God, I shall not live here always!’ “

And if you would even describe your situation as slavery, this is not where you sit today. I have good news in our next 2 verses which is one sentence in the original Greek. 

“ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” Galatians 2:20-21 NIV

But I rather like the KJV:

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”

Galatians 2:20-21 KJV

Why do I like it? 

For one thing it translates Paul saying, ‘nevertheless I live …’ he knows he is still a Jew, he is still a former Pharisee, he is a man and he still is a living being. We don’t get that from the NIV. 

It heightens the hidden reality that:

• he has died to the law (trying to please God)
• but he is very much alive
• what you see isn’t now me but Christ in me.

How beautiful is that?!

We carry the name above all other names.

The Apostle Paul tells us, “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body”. 2 Corinthians 4:10

A Saviour is one who intervenes, who steps in and rescues from either physical or spiritual suffering. We carry His name and His presence in our lives today. We may not have done much in our lives but He has done it all!

We believe that the Saviour can rescue us from the prisons and plans of our enemy: “My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies” Psalm 31:15

He is with us! Our Saviour is ready to save us time and again.

Thank God, I shall not live here always! But I shall live!

So in the Christian league of Christians are you nearer the top or the bottom?

I have never met a joyful legalist only prisoners.

The proof of your maturity is not in disciplines, the beatitude check-list or the law/Torah. But it is in the awareness of your own impurity, that you cannot fulfil the laws and everybody’s personal lists of acceptability, but you need Him and you need a community that will hold you accountable and ask you the hard questions. This is spiritual maturity and it is achievable.

In the next few verses we have the heart of Paul’s message to the Galatians. Here is the firt very important key point.

“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.” (Galatians 2 v 19)

• It is difficult for us if we have never had the Torah/the Law as a benchmark for our life within our culture to truly understand the importance of this. Paul did have this. If you have been brought up as a child in a Christian home you might understand it more than those who haven’t. But it isn’t long down the Christian road that we can all feel the weight of continuing to be a good person no matter what our upbringing or culture is. The Church can subconsciously give us a list to follow. If my Christianity is about keeping to the rules then all that will lead to is finding myself in a place where I feel ultra-good about myself or feel utterly worthless!
• Being made right before God is never achieved by working at being right or good or the best you can be. To die to the law means to have zero confidence in my ability to be right with God.
• There is nothing wrong with the standard/rules (the law/Torah) of engagement with God. That is still there. It hasn’t died. It reminds us that we will never achieve that standard. We will always fall short of being good enough. We will never feel that ‘I am a good Christian’ based on our accomplishing the rules.
• All the law does is remind you that you are not good enough. To die to it means I refuse to listen to its loud voice that reminds me what I already know, I have sinned and I will sin, in fact, I am a sinner. It will tell me nothing new. But in order to live for God I choose to ignore that condemning voice, I am deaf to it.
• The problem at the time were the people surrounding Paul influencing others to keep acknowledging the law. They wanted people to keep striving to keep the rules as a means of being acceptable to God. They are still amongst us. Watch out for them. If you can’t see them they are very much speaking into your mind.

Die to trying to be good in order to please God and others. You will find that you live better.

Yes it is true. You are free.
You are free from every power that sin, flesh, the world will throw at you.
You are free from every addiction. You are free from every fear and phobia.
You are free from all guilt and shame.
You are free from the past. You are free in the present. You are free tomorrow.

Remaining free means you will have to let go of pleasing man and the rules that supposedly protect your status with God. Every generation has to ask ‘what kind of Jesus will we follow?’ The one that keeps you free or the one that entraps you again? 

Paul confronted Peter for withdrawing from the Gentiles because of his fear of the team of Jewish leaders that have come to Antioch from James in Jerusalem. 

And now Paul tells us what he said to Peter, “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no-one will be justified. “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! “If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a law-breaker.” Galatians 2:15-18

What does that mean?

1. He and Peter (plus Barnabas and those that have come down from James) are Jews by birth, they are not the sinful Gentiles. We had thought that because we were different by birth and culture we were made special and righteous because of our Torah, our ancient story of life and who we are.
2. But Jesus has shown us that all of that carries no weight at all. What matters to us as children of God is what Jesus the Messiah has done and what He offers to all. It is not our birth or how we have lived our life under the Torah. It is the partnership we bring to His work by bringing our faith and trust in Him.
3. So actually though we are Jews we are also equal to the sinful Gentiles. We don’t become sinful by eating with the Gentiles (and other things), we were already because we did not have faith in Jesus.
4. If you want to be a true follower of Jesus then we must eat with all Jesus-followers whether Jew or Gentile.
5. Don’t build any more dividing walls. If you return to that original position (point 1) then the Torah will declare you sinful and for you Peter the Torah will ask why for you Peter you had even started to eat with the Gentiles in the first place (Acts 10-11).

Paul had foresight that prejudice and racism must be ejected and inclusivity and diversity be embraced within the Church Christ is building.

Does this sound familiar?

• God only really dwells with certain Christians and churches.
• Those who are not Pentecostal/Charismatic are better Christians and churches.
• My church is the best church in the town.
• I know where God dwells and where He doesn’t.
• The town has room for other Christian denominations but if people want the true experience of God they have to come to my church.
• In my church there are some people I choose not to fellowship with, they’re just not my type of people.
• People should become Christians because their lives are a mess and they have sinful habits and they need to clean their lives up and get right with God.

Let’s remind ourselves as I close on this. Paul, a leading Jew, the Apostle was saying all these things: this was not a Gentile with a placard demanding to be heard.

This was a Jew doing all he could to bring about change, to disturb the status quo, risking offence in order to speak the message of Christ, to protect the gospel in its early years.

Today, social media, Christian websites, books and magazines and in every possible media along with conversations in coffee shops and wherever possible people will be speaking their views on their world from their perspective. Division through ethnicity, culture and religion, deep generational racism, condescending economic differences revealing who is truly blessed will be suggested.

We need more than ever men and women of God to step out of their comfort zones and to speak well of those people who are different to them. To say and to demonstrate through words and decisions how God has a plan for all mankind and that is to dwell in each one of them through the presence of Christ and for Him to be seen in all people.

Who is God calling you to share this message with? It starts closer to home than perhaps you would care to admit.

Paul may well have heard rumours of what had happened. After all it was a big moment between two giants. It is fresh in Paul’s mind, it was not long ago and he needs to set the record straight.

What went wrong?

“When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. ¹² For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. ¹³ The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. ¹⁴ When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?” (Galatians 2 v 11-14)

What went wrong was that Peter visited Paul and Barnabas in Antioch and Paul noticed that he had resorted to his old nature.

He had stopped eating with the Gentiles when Jewish leaders who worked with James came down from Jerusalem. Peter stepped out of being in alignment with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The life-transforming gospel made the ceremonial laws as a means of entrance to the presence of God obsolete. Paul’s letter is centred on this major truth. This is why he has written to the Galatians and he starts with this fall-out.

There was so much going on in Peter’s mind which resulted in this change of behaviour and Paul sees it.

• There was fear.

The weakness of our souls is that we can promise but not follow through. “I will never disown you” is promised with the background noise of the sound of the rooster and we have done it countlessly. It isn’t that we didn’t mean the promise. But the fear of offending important people overcame the fear of breaking the promise. If these leaders from James saw Peter mixing with the Gentiles as equals in the gospel they would be offended. Offending the gospel was not as feared as what people think.

Is there anyone who intimidates you? You know who they are if when they speak you begin to shrink, your vision and joy moves into diminishing mode and their thoughts of you matter more than the mission God has given you for this life.

• There was hypocrisy

The strangeness of this account is that Peter had already had a battle with the Jerusalem church. In Acts 11 he was chastised for going into the home of the Gentile Cornelius. He stood up against them explaining the vision he had on the roof and how the entire family had come to Jesus and been baptised in the Holy Spirit. But because of resident fear it led to hypocrisy within. Fear will cause us to act out what we don’t really believe. The outward appearance disguising the inner reality. Peter behaved in a way that he knew wasn’t right and Paul called it out. We all have done this. Actually we have all been guilty of calling it out in others and at the same time committing the sin of hypocrisy! We have no place or position to think we are better than anyone else.

Do you know the horrible feeling of having to compromise because you didn’t want to offend some important person? You see even though we have experienced salvation and been filled with the power of God there is still that part of us that wants Jesus not to go to the cross because it is dangerous for us too and when we see him going that direction we decide to cut ears off people. We compromise for all kinds of reasons. And when it is public we begin to influence even the loveliest of people. Even Barnabas …. Yes even him. The one who had brought Saul from Tarsus to the Church in the first place. The one who had joined Paul in teaching and preaching and seeing the hand of God perform miracle after miracle. Yes him! Your team member, your friend, your loved one. It is heart-breaking.

Yes there are times when even senior church leaders end in confrontation.

But before you start the day perhaps saddened about this story I just have to remind you about how Peter reflects on it years later.

“Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him…” (2 Peter 3:15)

‘Dear brother’!

Paul called him a hypocrite! Years later Peter calls Paul ‘dear brother’ or ‘beloved’.

Would you be able to say ‘I love that person’ when that person had hurt you years earlier? Or would you write that person off. Burn the bridge. Never to let that person near you ever again. You might be forgiven for thinking like that. But not Peter. He loved Paul.

That doesn’t just happen does it? It takes a deep self-awareness; facing the truth and maybe even admitting to the truth and changing one’s way because the truth can hurt before it sets you free.

Are there any prisoners in your heart today?

A long, slender, vertical structure used to support a superstructure; a column.

Yes we know what one is.

We also know this too:-

A few years ago I had the immense joy and privilege to return to pastoring a church for 4 months. It was simply the best of times. I recall this morning how one Sunday I approached 2 ladies and said, “you are real pillars of this church aren’t you?!” Their response was to laugh and call themselves something else humorously.

In calling them pillars I was pointing them to how the church (the people) are really the building of the Lord. They are as the Apostle Paul calls them the Temple in progress (Ephesians 2) rising to become a dwelling place for the Lord. These 2 ladies were part of the main support structure of the church that I was pastoring.

Of course I have known many over the years of pastoral ministry. These names come rushing to the forefront of my mind this morning; some were leaders some not, some were intercessors and some unsung wonderful servants. They supported, held together, stood for the church in all seasons without fail.

In these next verses this morning Paul uses the term pillars for 3 leaders in the church at Jerusalem.

“James, Cephas and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰ All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.” (Galatians 2 v 9-10)

These are great verses to see the insight on how important strategy is for the church. They agreed on a course of action. The gospel needed to go to the circumcised and the uncircumcised. Whatever that actually meant we don’t really know because it didn’t actually stop Paul preaching to the Jews in the synagogues. Perhaps it was a geographical strategy it is hard to determine. But it was a strategy with one condition. Paul and Barnabas had come to Jerusalem with a gift of money from the Church in Antioch to be given to the poor. The condition was not that they told the gentiles that they also needed to be circumcised (which is what the false preachers in Antioch were calling for) but that they continued in showing the heart of God towards the poor, something which is timeless.

Who was at this meeting giving these instructions? 3 pillars of the church. James, Peter and John. From the many names floating through my mind this morning and how God used them I am reminded of the role that these 3 men played in the life of the Jerusalem church. The question is that will I/you be remembered for being a pillar in the Church and in His Kingdom?

So are there traits that can be seen in a pillar? Here are a few but only based on the verses we have read. There are more I am sure.

• A pillar stands and carries the weight of the season that the Church is going through.
  • They encourage even though others may be criticising.
• A pillar is open to new things that the Spirit is doing.
  • They see God in people and open doors for them to thrive. They are not controllers dominating what God is doing. They are sensitive to the Spirit’s agenda.
• A pillar is recognised for grace, they look for grace, they speak grace, they call out grace when they see it.
• A pillar realises that the church is not centred around them, though they are important, they are keen to give ‘the right hand of fellowship’ meaning they see others as their equal, everyone belongs and everyone is needed. They welcome others.
• A pillar is generous.
  • They look to those outside the church within the city, towns and villages who are in need and they take action to do something about it.

Do you know these people? Are you one of them? Pillars of the Church, thank God for them!

We are going to read some beautiful verses that Paul unpacks for us. There is one gospel and both he and Peter have been given this gospel for the Jews (Peter) and for the Gentiles (Paul). Paul recognises that it is God who is working in both Peter and himself.

“As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favouritism—they added nothing to my message. ⁷ On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised. ⁸ For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles.” (Galatians 2 v 6-8)

At work is actually one word where we get the word energy from. But this is more than just the energy to get through the day but it is the divine energy, the power of God at work in and through us. Paul would always testify to what God had done when He worked miracles through him.

Today, the same God, the same work, the same gospel is at work in and through your life.

You have not been put here to simply struggle, to be overwhelmed by life’s predicaments.

God has a purpose for your life and it is to do good works.

The ultimate is not just faith in Jesus, following Him and going to heaven. It is also to do good to those here on earth.

Imagine for a moment if every disciple of Jesus woke today with one thought only and that is to do good. To alleviate someone’s hurt, to listen to someone, to kneel before a sword-wielding child with the soothing words to heal that troubled soul.

The immature enter ‘their’ church and are more interested in ‘serve us’ than ‘service’. After a while they begin to say ‘it’s not working for me here.’ NO. The church was never meant to work for you.

The mature follower of Jesus stops asking ‘who’s going to meet my needs?’ and starts asking, ‘whose needs can I meet?’

You don’t need a title or a trophy to do a good work. You don’t need training to be nice to someone, to help them smile and to make life a little easier. You just have to think less of yourself.

Wherever you are you can do good to others and that is the calling on your life. Many years ago I buried a man who thought he would be healed because ‘God has something for me to do, I don’t know what it is yet Pastor but I know He will tell me.’ I buried him with regret that this man had not recognised that God was already at work in his life.

You don’t get this life again and it will be over sooner than we think so we must use it for His glory. Come Spirit of God and work in me today! That is our prayer.