Missions Paul

Do you ever worry about being good enough for God? Do you wonder if He is pleased or angry or is He someone who is rolling His eyes at you? How debilitating that must be! And more important what a waste of time as a follower of Jesus!

Moving from the questions (v1-5) which expose the false teachers who are insisting on circumcision and the need to live a Jewish life to be acceptable to God, Paul brings in Abraham. The father of the Jews is Abraham and he lived by faith and it is the people of faith (not works) that are his children.

“So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham.” (Galatians 3 v 6-7)

God looks for faith; works with faith; pays out because of faith.

That is the gospel.

Faith … trusting Jesus.

Faith gives you enough credit for you to be declared innocent because the debt on your account has now vanished. God did it. Keep hold of this faith and don’t put it down so that works take over.

Of course Abraham made mistakes. But he kept bouncing back and got back on track with his faith in God’s promise. That is why God credited his faith as righteousness. Abraham held onto the conviction in God’s promise and acted on that promise. This is the faith Paul is speaking of. This is our faith. We bounce back. We keep holding on to the work of Christ on the cross. We keep faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The last of Paul’s 5 rhetorical questions.

Here’s one of my questions first: Can you remember a wonderful answer to prayer God gave you or maybe you hadn’t actually prayed but it was an out-of-the-blue gracious move of God? Hold that thought as we return to Paul’s question here:

“So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?” (Galatians 3 v 5)

Back to that answer to prayer that you have remembered: why did God do that? Was it because you were good or trying to be so? Or was it because He is good and you believe in Him?

Let me write something that does need qualifying but nevertheless is perfectly true and what Paul is saying.

The Spirit works when Christians don’t.

When I was in school my teachers time and again said, ‘Paul would do better if he tried’ and eventually that message gripped my life. I see it a lot in others. Wherever that message came from it did damage.

The greatest discipleship lesson is this: Train yourself not to follow the way of the world but follow the way of Christ – it is about what He did and who we are in Him. It is not about you trying but definitely applying what has been done by Him to every aspect of your life.

When we do not rely on our work to see God move and do miracles then He does just that.

Look what has happened in your life. Take a quick look back. This is what Paul asks in his next question:

“Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain?” (Galatians 3 v 4)

What have you experienced?

For the Galatians they had experienced along with Paul (in Acts 14) persecution. Most would have probably escaped this hardship if they had been circumcised at the beginning of their faith in Jesus journey. So why feel threatened to be circumcised now? They had also experienced moves of the Spirit on their lives, “…who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders” (Acts 14 v 3). Was that for nothing? Is it now suddenly all about whether we are circumcised or not? This is what Paul was saying and he made his point clearly.

So what have you experienced?

Into a multitude of voices trying to convince you through lies, disappointments, hurts and doubts it is His voice that we need to hold on to. “Has it all been in vain? Don’t be weighed down by the burdens of others who do not know the grace you received, don’t walk away now from what brought you in, you will cheapen everything you have stood for and all that you have endured.” Your enemy wants you to work to please God and He will never stop no matter how old you are in the faith. But you never received salvation that way and you have relied on His grace all your life so why ruin those years by suddenly changing now?

Recently I found myself in the middle of a conversation where I heard one man try to convince his friend that a colleague was indeed an amazing valuable member of the team. He used an example of what that colleague had achieved in the world. He listed his incredible accomplishments. It felt like we should all be jolly thankful that this man existed at all. In a split moment I envisaged the moment this man had fallen on his knees before the cross; I wondered about the grace he received for his sins; his baptism; and so much more. These grace experiences that every one of us have had far outweigh any of our human achievements. If all that we are is what we have done and been then our salvation experience and so much more from the hand of God has been pointless.

Don’t let anyone burden you down to please God with some rules whether circumcision 2,000 years ago or today to jump through some hoop and fulfil a rule to please God.

You have so many beautiful experiences in God and so much suffering you have endured to begin to think this journey of faith is anything to do with you at all.

Do you remember how you came to be a Christian? The answer is a variety of ways except for one common truth, the understanding and receiving of the gospel. At the moment you were born again of the Spirit of God. You heard, you believed and you received of the Spirit.

Paul is aghast that at the moment of salvation it was all about the work of the gospel of Christ and the Spirit coming upon them. He says, “Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?” Galatians 3:3

Do you think that the gospel is for the beginning but that rules of obedience get you to the end? That’s foolish. It is the gospel that carries you to the end.

Do you think lifestyle kingdom principles will give you the assurance you are walking with God? That’s foolish. It is the gospel that keeps you close to the Lord.

Do you think the gospel is elementary? That’s foolish. The gospel is everything.

Do you advertise a free gospel but then payment comes later with circumcision (Paul’s argument) or whatever else is imposed on you?

Do you think the gospel is too cheap or too easy and the real price starts to be paid after salvation?

Do you think when you stand before God at the end of your life that what will save you is anything you have done or will it be the gospel?

It has always and will always be about our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

You are saved, are being saved and will be saved.

When facing many trials the Spirit will remind you that you have a Saviour.

When being attacked by slander and allegations the Spirit will remind you that you have a Saviour.

When deciding whether to give into temptation the Spirit will remind you that you have a Saviour.

When not knowing which way to go the Spirit will remind you that you have a Saviour.

When taking your last breath the Spirit will remind you that you have a Saviour.

So today, listen to the voice of the Spirit who will continue to remind you that it is the gospel and nothing else that you need, you have a Saviour, Jesus Christ.

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.