Man, well this morning we started to talk about the book of Galatians, and we spent
a lot of time talking about the Apostle Paul as a person, what his background and history
was, because he starts out in Galatians chapter 1 defending himself against some accusations
that he was apparently receiving.
Now obviously we're not hearing the Galatian side of the story.
Everything we know about this situation is from this letter that Paul has written to
the Galatians, but when we see Paul vehemently defending himself in certain ways, then we
can kind of read between the lines and say, okay, he was obviously receiving some attacks.
First of all, he made a big point about the fact that he did not receive his teachings
secondhand from other Apostles in Jerusalem.
So the Gospel that he preached, he was not trained in that by the Jerusalem Apostles,
we can call them, guys like Peter and John and James the brother of the Lord and other
people like that, but rather that he received direct revelation from Jesus Christ.
He was an Apostle in his own right, and he was taught by the Holy Ghost, and he received
revelations.
He saw Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, that was just the beginning of the revelations
that he received from Christ.
And then another thing that he makes a point to say in that first chapter, and spilling
over to the second chapter, is that when he did finally get with the Apostles in Jerusalem
and talk to them about the Gospel that he'd been preaching for 17 years or so, they all
approved of what he had been preaching.
So the accusations seem to have been that he had gotten his teachings secondhand from
the Jerusalem Apostles and that he had somehow distorted the message.
And that's what he seems to be defending himself about.
And another thing that Paul seems to be defending himself about in chapter 1 is that there seems
to have been an accusation that he is preaching certain doctrines in order to be popular,
that he wants to please man.
And that's why here in chapter 1 he said in verse number 10, he said, do I now persuade
man or God?
Or do I seek to please men?
For if I yet please men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
And that theme is going to come up more and more throughout the book of Galatians about
pleasing man versus pleasing God.
Now what I want to talk about tonight though is the subject of another Gospel.
Because in Galatians chapter 1 we find out the big reason why this letter is being written
is that the Galatians have departed from the true Gospel that Paul had preached unto them
and they've gone over to another Gospel.
And he doesn't really necessarily know how bad the situation is or how far they've gone
off the cliff when it comes to receiving this other Gospel.
But later in the letter he's going to say, you know, I'm afraid of you lest I've bestowed
labor upon you in vain.
And so he's even doubting that they were even saved because they seem to have gone into
such heresy.
But again, he's writing this from a distance, he doesn't necessarily know how bad it is,
but he's definitely really upset about what he's hearing coming out of Galatia.
Now the famous verses are beginning in verse number 6 there.
Verses 1-5 is just sort of like an introduction, a prologue to the epistle.
But he says in verse 6, I marvel that you're so soon removed from him that called you into
the grace of Christ unto another Gospel.
The first thing I want to point out is that the other Gospel is contrasted with the grace
of Christ.
Because the true Gospel is the Gospel of grace.
What does grace mean?
Grace is receiving something that you do not deserve, that you have not earned, receiving
a gift.
That's what grace is.
The Bible says, for by grace are you saved through faith and not of yourselves.
It is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.
And so the grace Gospel is the right Gospel.
They've been removed unto some other Gospel, they've departed from the true Gospel, they've
been removed from the grace of Christ into another Gospel.
Now the Bible tells in the book of Romans that if salvation is by grace, then is it
no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace.
But if it be of works, then is it no more grace, otherwise work is no more work.
So you can't have it be both by works and by grace.
Grace is the truth.
The other Gospel is not the grace of Christ, it is a Gospel that says, yes, we believe
in Christ, but you also have to be circumcised, and you also have to keep the law of Moses.
That is the other Gospel that Paul is combating here in Galatians chapter 1.
Let's keep reading here, it says in verse 6, I marvel that you're so soon removed from
him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another Gospel, which is not another,
but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the Gospel of Christ.
Now when you read this, it sounds like there's some outsider, and when you read the rest
of the epistle of the Galatians, you'll notice there's a lot of second person pronouns when
he's talking to you Galatians, but then he seems to talk about these other people that
are influencing them, these outsiders that are troubling them, and have brought in this
other Gospel.
There seem to have been people from outside, Jewish, Judaizer types, that have come in
and said, wait a minute, this isn't enough to believe in Christ, you have to be circumcised,
you need to follow the Mosaic law as well.
Those are the people that are troubling them, and they're perverting the Gospel of Christ.
Now the important thing to see here is that these people who are the troubleers, they
are claiming the name of Christ, because it's not another Gospel in the sense of just
a brand new from scratch Gospel.
Because he says, it's another Gospel, but it's not another, rather it's just a perversion
of the Gospel that you already had.
And what does the word perversion mean?
Perversion means twisting, corruption, right?
So people who are claiming the name of Christ, they're saying, oh yeah, we believe in Jesus,
but here's a little twist on it, you also have to be circumcised, you also have to keep
the law of Moses.
So they're sort of trying to bring in a Messianic Judaism.
Instead of a New Testament Christianity, they want Messianic Judaism, where they'll claim
to believe in Christ, but yet they're actually seeking to be justified by the law, and they
promote circumcision.
He says in verse 8,
But though we or an angel from heaven preach any other Gospel unto you, then that which
we have preached unto you, let him be accursed, as we said before, so say I now again, if
any man preach any other Gospel unto you, then that ye have received, let him be accursed.
Folks, there's only one right Gospel.
There's only one right Gospel, and so if somebody comes along preaching any other new Gospel
or different Gospel, let him be accursed.
The only right Gospel is the one that Paul had already preached to them, the Gospel of
the grace of Christ, that salvation is by faith, not of works.
That's the only right Gospel.
And so if anyone who preaches this other Gospel of faith plus works should be accursed, I
think it's pretty clear that this other Gospel is not going to save.
It's obviously a damnable heresy if it incurs this curse and wrath of God, and we're going
to see later in the book of Galatians that it's explicitly spelled out that these people
are not saved, and the people who have bought into this other Gospel, they are not saved,
and we're going to see that as we move forward here.
Let's jump over to chapter number 2 now, and verse 1.
We're going to pick up a little bit where we left off this morning.
It says, then 14 years after verse 1 of chapter 2, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas
and took Titus with me also, and I went up by revelation and communicated unto them that
Gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation,
lest by any means I should run or had run in vain.
He's just checking his Gospel with them.
He knows it's right.
He's been preaching it for 17 years, minimum, but he just wants to see whether the Jerusalem
apostles are going to add anything or change anything or correct him in any way, but then
it says in verse 3, but neither Titus who was with me being a Greek was compelled to
be circumcised.
I believe what he's saying is that when he got there with Titus in tow, a Greek who's
also a preacher of the Gospel, the Jerusalem apostles, they're not saying that Titus needs
to be circumcised.
Nobody required Titus to be circumcised.
Nobody made Titus be circumcised, and then it says in verse 4, and that because of false
brethren unawares brought in who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ
Jesus that they might bring us into bondage.
Here's what he's saying.
The only reason that there was even a question about circumcising Titus, the only reason
that that even came up was because of false brethren who came in unawares, but in the
end Titus was not compelled to be circumcised because it is not necessary to be circumcised
in the New Testament.
Now if you would, keep your finger there and go to Acts chapter 15.
Acts chapter 15 is a parallel passage.
There are people who dispute this and claim that this is a different event, but they're
wrong because it's the same event.
I'm not going to go into a big proof on that, but it's pretty obvious, same characters,
same situation, everything fits, the timeline fits, and it makes perfect sense that this
is what Paul's referring to.
And look what it says in verse 1 of chapter 15 in Acts, it says, and certain men which
came down from Judea taught the brethren, now this is not in Galatia, but remember Paul
is telling the Galatians about this other situation where he's already dealt with this
junk in the past, and he's referring back to this Acts 15 event.
And he says that these men came down from Judea, so again just like in the situation
with the Galatians, it's also outsiders coming from Judea, bringing in false doctrine, and
what are they saying?
Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved.
So these people are saying you've got to be circumcised to be saved.
Now what did Paul call these people in Galatians chapter 2, if this is indeed a parallel passage
which I have zero doubt about that it is, what's he calling them?
False brethren.
So these people who came out of Judea and said, well except ye be circumcised you cannot
be saved, Paul says these are spies, these are infiltrators, these are false brethren,
they're not actually brothers in Christ, they're fake Christians, and they were here
to spy out our liberty that we have in Christ.
And it says in verse 2 of Acts 15, when therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension
and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other
of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.
Now here's the thing, in the minds of Paul and Barnabas, this is not a question, Paul
and Barnabas have no small disputation with these guys, that means they had a big disputation
with these guys, and so they are horrified by this doctrine that says you have to be
circumcised to be saved, and when he says, oh we're going to go up to Jerusalem and talk
to them about this question, that's what the people that are unstable and unsure what they
believe are saying.
Paul and Barnabas never have any doubt about this.
But they go up there, and it says in verse 3, being brought on their way by the church,
they pass through Phoenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles, and they cause
great joy unto all the brethren, and when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received
of the church and of the apostles and the elders, and they declared all things that
God had done with them, and so we see that Paul and Peter and James, as we read the rest
of the chapter, they're all getting along and they all approve of Paul and Barnabas
and everything's great on that front.
But then in verse 5 it says, but there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which
believed, saying that it was needful to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of
Moses.
Now, these sect of the Pharisees that believed, who are saying, well they should get circumcised,
they need to be circumcised to keep the law, I don't think they're trying to say that they
need to do it for salvation, I think that the Bozos who had come over to Antioch and
these other places in Asia Minor, they're saying you have to be circumcised to be saved,
whereas this group of Pharisees that had believed, they are more saying like, well, it's not
for salvation, but you should still do it.
That seems to be what they're saying, because they're not now tying it in with salvation,
they're just saying hey, we need to circumcise these guys, we need to command them to keep
the law of Moses, and they end up disagreeing with that.
So go back to Galatians 2 with that in mind, I just wanted to show you a little background
with that parallel passage in Acts chapter 15, showing the false brethren as well as
the Judaizers among the Pharisees, and Paul and Barnabas are going down there to Jerusalem
to stand up for the truth.
Now look what the Bible says in verse 4 of Galatians 2, that because of false brethren,
who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus that they might
bring us into bondage, to whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour.
So again, not a question for Paul and Barnabas, not even for one hour do they even entertain
the idea that you could possibly include circumcision as a prerequisite for salvation.
He says, not for an hour that the truth of the Gospel might continue with you.
But of these who seem to be somewhat, whatsoever they were, making no matter to me, God except
no man's person, for they who seem to be nothing in conference added nothing to me.
He said look, they heard the Gospel I was preaching, and they just said, keep doing
what you're doing.
They added nothing to him, they didn't tell him, hey, you're leaving out part of the Gospel,
you forgot to teach people that they need to be circumcised, you forgot to teach people
to keep the law of Moses.
They added nothing to him, they said hey Paul, keep doing what you're doing, keep preaching
that Gospel of the grace of Christ.
But contrary-wise, rather than adding something to him, you know the opposite is true, contrary-wise,
when they saw verse 7, that the Gospel of the uncircumcision was committed to me, as
the Gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter, for he that wrought effectually in Peter to
the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles.
And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was
given unto me, they gave to me in Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we should
go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.
Only they would that we should remember the poor, the same which I also was forward to
do.
So we see that there's agreement.
Paul is saying look, there's only one right Gospel, and it's the Gospel that I preach
to you.
If anybody comes along and preaches another Gospel, let him be accursed.
If I lose my mind and come back preaching a wrong Gospel, let me be accursed, because
there's only one right Gospel.
Don't depart from the grace of Christ unto another Gospel.
And then he says, look, I went to Jerusalem over this issue, because a bunch of false
brethren came in teaching this false mixing of faith and works and bringing in the works
of the law and circumcision.
We went to Jerusalem, and they, who were seeming to be the pillars of the church there,
Peter, James, and John, they approved of what I was preaching, they added nothing unto me,
they gave me the right hand of fellowship.
Because it seems that perhaps these enemies in Galatia were trying to say, well Paul's
got it all wrong, you know, over in Jerusalem, they got it right over there.
It's Paul that's got it wrong, but Paul's saying no, no, no, I went over there, they
agree with me.
But in spite of the fact that Peter, James, and John have agreed with Paul on these doctrinal
points, there's still an incident that ends up happening in Antioch.
It says in verse number 11, but when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the
face because he was to be blamed.
So Paul actually confronts Peter, I mean we're talking about Peter, who's with Jesus, who's
a fisherman, and all those wonderful stories where Peter gets out of the boat and walks
on the water, and you know, the same Peter who denied Christ and got reinstated and so
forth, I mean, Peter.
Paul ended up actually publicly confronting and rebuking Peter at Antioch, according to
this.
When Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face because he was to be blamed.
Look at verse 12.
For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles.
Now what is Peter's problem here?
Peter's problem is not a doctrinal problem.
Peter understands the doctrine.
That's why when James' crowd is not around, because James is kind of a Judaizer at this
point, when James' crowd is not around, Peter had no issue eating with the Gentiles, right?
And just realizing that in Christ there's neither Jew nor Gentile, let's not call any
man common or unclean, red and yellow, black and white, they're precious in his sight.
Peter gets it.
That's why before James' contingent shows up, Peter's doing it right, amen?
Until certain came from James.
He did eat with the Gentiles.
So he's got it doctrinally right.
But when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, not because he changed his doctrine,
not because he doesn't understand the truth of the word of God, but fearing them which
were of the circumcision.
So Peter gets this wrong only because he's scared, he's nervous, he doesn't want to get
persecuted by the Jews, the circumcision police, the eating police, the Mosaic law police,
the Pharisee police show up.
He doesn't want to get busted by them.
He doesn't want to get in trouble.
He doesn't want to get persecuted.
He doesn't want to have to take a stand on this issue.
So all of a sudden now he's not going to eat with the Gentiles and he's going to get
all Jude-ized out.
This proves that Peter agrees with Paul because he's doing it right and then only because
of fear does he get on the wrong side.
And then when people saw Peter do it, look what the Bible says in verse 13, the other
Jews dissembled likewise with them and so much that Barnabas was also carried away with
their dissimulation.
Now I want you to pay attention to the language there about what Peter is doing because it
uses the word dissimulation and when you see the word, and I have this fly attacking me,
sorry, when you see the word dissimulation, you probably notice that if you just take
the diss off the front of it, it says simulation, right?
It sounds like something fake, sounds like something that isn't real, okay?
Here's the dictionary definition of dissembling, to give a false or misleading appearance,
to put on the appearance of, to feign or to fake something is what it means to dissemble.
So what did the Bible say Peter's doing when he withdraws from the Gentiles and he's like,
oh I can't eat with Gentiles, got to be all kosher, what's he doing?
He's being fake because he doesn't believe that.
He's dissembling.
It's not from the heart, it's just for fear of the circumcision, he's pretending to go
along with the Judaizing doctrine and the Bible says the other Jews dissembled likewise
with them.
So what are they doing?
They're faking it too.
And so much that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.
Even Paul's buddy Barnabas all of a sudden starts hock and phlegm and getting all kosher
whenever the people from James show up.
And Paul had to publicly and sternly rebuke Peter on this one because of the fact that
this false doctrine was infecting, and it's not even really a false doctrine, false practice
or just compromise or being fake or tolerating false doctrine had gotten so bad that everybody's
being infected with it, Barnabas is infected with it, other people are infected with it,
so it needed to be called out.
You know what's funny is that in 2023 there are some people who think that preachers should
never be called out.
You could call out total false prophets, false brethren, totally unsaved, wicked false teachers
and people get mad and offended.
I mean here Paul is actually calling out a good man of God because he had done something
really bad.
And if it wasn't that bad, and you might think like, what's the big deal if Peter just doesn't
want to eat with the Gentiles when the Judaizers are around?
Well it must have been a pretty big deal for Paul to be calling it out publicly like this
and for God to be including that in the word of God.
I mean this must have been a big deal.
This must have been a really big mistake that Peter's making for Paul to do this, but this
shows that even a saved preacher might need to be called out sometime if he does something
that's really harmful to the Gospel or really harmful to right doctrine.
We shouldn't be scared of that.
A lot of people say, oh there's too much drama and oh we don't want the world to see us as
Christians fighting.
Here's what I want to know.
If God's so worried about the world seeing us as Christians fighting, why do we have
the book of Galatians in the Bible?
Because the book of Galatians is all about Christians fighting.
And then the book of 2 Corinthians is all about Paul's drama with Corinth and all kinds
of fighting and back and forth with Corinth.
I mean this stuff is in the Bible for a reason.
And then throughout the Epistles of Paul, he's constantly naming false teachers, Phygelus,
Hermogenes, Alexander, Hymenaeus, Philetus, I mean he's just, and then the Apostle John's
doing the same thing, it's not even just Paul.
You know, oh I wrote him to the church, but Diatrophes, who love it to have the preeminence
among them, receiveth us not.
John's calling out wickedness.
And so verse 14, when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the
Gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, he calls out Peter publicly, if thou being
a Jew, and here's the key, don't miss this, liveth after the manner of Gentiles.
Now is Peter following the Mosaic law?
Is Peter living the kosher life of a Jew according to the Apostle Paul?
No, he's not.
He says, Peter, you don't even live like a Jew.
Even you realize that we're in the New Testament.
And so if you live after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compelest thou
the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?
You're a Jew and you're not even doing it.
Now you're trying to impose this garbage on the Gentiles?
And then he says, we who are Jews by nature are not sinners of the Gentiles.
That's sarcastic, obviously.
You know, we're not like these Gentiles.
Because Paul has already realized at this point in Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile.
Now I'm going to preach another sermon later about the specific Judaizing issue here.
I'm only touching on it a little bit because I kind of need to touch on it just to kind
of get through the text here.
I'm going to come back and really park it on the Judaizing doctrine in a future sermon.
This sermon is about the other gospel.
But I'm just kind of laying the foundation here with this story, making sure that we
don't miss what's happening here.
But just one little thing that I want to touch on, because I don't want to get too off track
with this Judaizing stuff, I want to focus on the false gospel aspect of this, is that
people will try to claim that the Apostle Paul is just keeping all the Jewish feasts
and he's just living all kosher and everything, but what you have to understand is that what
Paul actually was doing is that he said, unto the Jews I became as a Jew, unto the Gentiles
I became as a Gentile, unto those that were without the law I became as one who was without
the law, I am become all things to all men that I might by all means save some of them.
So Paul was just at times trying to culturally fit in, and sometimes he makes a similar mistake
to Peter where he gets a little carried away trying to fit in with the Jews and everything
like that.
But a lot of people will try to claim that we're supposed to be observing the Torah and
we're supposed to be following the law of Moses and getting circumcised, you know, just
not for salvation, but they're sort of like those believing Pharisees in Acts 15.
But here's my question, if Paul is following all that stuff, you know, the Jews are supposed
to appear before the Lord three times a year in Jerusalem, am I right?
Isn't that what the law of Moses says?
They're supposed to be down there for these different holidays.
And you do a couple times have Paul making a point to show up at Jerusalem at a time
for a holiday, probably just to evangelize because there's people from all over the world
there for that holiday.
But I'll guarantee you he was not going there for every holiday because he told us this
morning, we looked at it, that for three years he's in Arabia, Syria, and then 14 years later
he goes to Jerusalem.
So did he skip 42 holidays?
Or what?
I mean if 14 years go by, it doesn't sound to me like he's going to Jerusalem three times
a year.
It doesn't sound to me like he's just hitting all those holidays.
And again, the book of Acts is a story.
The book of Acts tells us what people did and a lot of times what people do in the book
of Acts is not right, including people like James or Paul or Peter.
It's just recording what the disciples did.
It's the acts of the apostles.
But when we're reading these epistles, these are the word of God, divinely inspired commands
from God.
Of course, Acts is the word of God too.
It's 100% true that that's what they did.
The Bible is 100% true in the book of Acts, telling us what people did.
But does that mean that everything they did is right?
No.
But everything that the narrator says in these epistles is God's word.
It is correct.
Does everybody see the difference?
I could read a story in the Bible about the devil.
I could read a story in the Bible where the devil speaks.
And the Bible is true because it's true that the devil said that.
But is what the devil said true?
No.
And so you have a lot of kings of Israel in the Old Testament, even godly kings of Israel,
making mistakes.
Well, guess what?
In the book of Acts, you have apostles making mistakes too.
You have people not being perfect.
So rather than looking at the story and determining your doctrine, you should look at the book
of Galatians and determine your doctrine.
You should read Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and he will flat out tell you.
What is Paul telling us here?
Is he telling us, let's go to Jerusalem three times a year and keep holidays?
Is he telling us, hey, let's all get circumcised?
Let's be kosher.
Let's shave our heads and be Nazarites.
Is that what he's saying?
No he's not.
He is saying, quit compelling gentiles to live as do the Jews.
You're a Jew and you don't even live like the Jews because we already know.
What do we know?
Verse 16 tells us what we know.
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus
Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of
Christ and not by the works of the law.
For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Nobody's going to heaven because they kept the works of the law.
Nobody is saved through the law.
We're saved by grace through faith.
We know that.
You say, well, yeah, but you know, maybe you should just get circumcised anyway even if,
you know, you're not even doing it for salvation.
But here's what you have to understand is that what he's going to explain in a little
bit is that if you get circumcised, you're basically signing on to do the whole law.
And you're seeking to be justified through the law.
It's hard to separate these things because what you have to understand is that there's
a certain morality found in the law that's obviously just an eternal morality.
Don't kill, don't steal, don't commit adultery.
Obviously the moral things found in the Bible don't change.
But when it comes to the ceremonial things of the Old Testament, the Levitical priesthood,
the circumcision, the meats, the drinks, the divers' washings, those things are done away
in Christ.
And the implication is that when you go back and do those things, you're basically saying
Christ did not take care of all that.
I have to keep doing those things.
I have to keep fulfilling those things.
Here's what I find interesting.
Isn't it interesting, because theoretically you say, well, somebody could still believe
in circumcision and keeping the law, but just not for salvation, just, you know, you should
just do it.
You should just do the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles and the Sabbath and blow the
trumpet and the new moon and do all these things.
But here's what's funny, that among that crowd, which is typically known as Messianic Jews
or Torah-observing Christians, you know what I find really interesting is that they never
believe that salvation is by faith alone.
I've never to this day met a group of these Torah-observing, you know, Messianic Jews
who said you can't lose your salvation because it's all paid for by Jesus.
They all believe you can lose your salvation.
They're all trusting works.
They all believe that you have to live a good life to be saved.
Is that a coincidence?
I don't think so.
Because theoretically you could say, yeah, salvation's 100% by faith, Jesus paid it all,
you trust Christ and he's the only way to heaven and you'll have everlasting life and
you can never lose your salvation.
This other stuff is just stuff that we should do.
But isn't it funny that nobody's saying that?
It's funny, I can't find a church that's saying that.
And you know what?
Paul knew that observing the Torah in the New Testament as a Christian, being a Messianic
Jew, being a Torah-observant Christian is the gateway drug to a full-blown work of salvation.
And Paul knows what's at the end of that road.
He knows where they're heading when they start bringing in circumcision and obeying the law
is they're trying to bring them back under the law, back into Judaism.
I can't even tell you how many times I've heard about Messianic Jews and these Torah-observant
Christians that end up just converting to full-blown Judaism.
That's where that road takes you.
And by the way, people that are actually saved, people who actually believe in Jesus and have
their trust in Jesus, not trying to mix works, not trying to mix in the works of the law
and the works of the flesh and these different things, no, the people who are fully trusting
the grace of Christ and being saved by faith, they have the Holy Spirit indwelling them.
The Holy Spirit's going to lead us into all truth.
This is why there are so many millions and millions and millions of saved Christians
all over the world that believe the same thing.
Why is that?
Same Holy Spirit, same Bible, and so you have millions upon millions of Baptists and Evangelical
Christians all over the world that know that salvation is by grace through faith, it's
not of works, lest any man should boast, and we're saved eternally, we cannot lose our
salvation, and then isn't it interesting that all these same people are ready to eat carnitas
with you?
And they have no issue with eating food that isn't kosher.
Why?
Because saved people have been led by the Holy Spirit, churches that are pastored by
saved pastors, congregations that are actually Spirit-filled, they know that those things
are done away in Christ and that we are not under the law but we're under grace.
And that this idea of doing those things, even if it's not for salvation, even if it's
just doing them, it still is a path that ultimately is leading back to the bondage of the law
because it's a misunderstanding of what the purpose of the law even was, which was all
to point us to Christ, and that's what Paul's going to explain later.
The law is the schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, and then once faith has come, we're
no longer under the schoolmaster.
These people are trying to go backwards, they're trying to retrograde, you know, it's like
they're a saved New Testament Christian, and now all of a sudden it's like, oh yeah, but
now let's go back and blow a trumpet in the new moon.
Let's go back and kill a lamb and sacrifice a lamb.
That doesn't make any sense, does it?
Because we're in the New Testament now.
I hope that's all clear, but let's move forward here because I've got a lot more I want to
cover and just a little bit of time to do it.
So look at chapter 2 verse 21.
Now first of all, underline 2.16, Galatians 2.16 is a powerhouse verse on salvation being
by faith and not by the works of the law.
Look at verse 21.
I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ
is dead in vain.
If you can be saved by following the law, why does Christ even have to die on the cross?
Just stay with the law then.
Just keep up.
I mean look, whenever people tell me that they're going to heaven because they're a
good person, well then why did Jesus have to die on the cross for?
You're a good person, you just waltz into heaven and just say, hey, here I am God, I'm
a good person, let me in.
Oh, you're so good, come on in.
What do you need Jesus for at that point?
I'll tell you why we need Jesus, because we've all sinned and come short of the glory of
God.
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus because
without Christ we'd all be going to hell, every single one of us.
If you could be going to heaven by being a good person, Christ is dead in vain.
If it's through the law, Christ is dead in vain.
Look at verse 6 of chapter 3, even as Abraham believed God and it was accounted for righteousness.
Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached
before the gospel unto Abraham saying, in these shall all nations be blessed so they
which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, for it is written, cursed
is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to
do them.
So as soon as you subscribe to being justified or saved based on the deeds of the law, well
then now you have to be judged by the law.
If you say, God, put me on the law program for salvation, okay.
Well then, cursed be everyone that continueth not in all the words of the book of the law
to do them.
So that means that you've just placed yourself under that curse now, that if you don't do
every single thing in the law, now you're not going to be saved.
Well good luck with that, because we've all sinned, and in fact, truth be told, we probably
sin every day.
Because the thought of foolishness is sin, to him to know what to do good and do with
it not to him it is sin.
Now keep your finger in Galatians 3, go back to Deuteronomy 27, let's look up that quote.
Deuteronomy 27.
Deuteronomy 27 is where we find the curses that Paul is referring to here.
The last verse of Deuteronomy 27 says this, cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words
of this law to do them, and all the people shall say amen.
Now let's back up a little bit, and let's look at the whole context of the cursing.
Go back to verse number 14, it says the Levites shall speak and say unto all the men of Israel
with a loud voice, cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination
unto the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsmen, and put it in a secret place, and
all the people shall answer and say amen.
Does everybody see that in verse 15?
You have a whole series of curses, you're cursed if you do this, you're cursed if you
do this, you're cursed if you do this, you're cursed if you do this, and then just the summary
statement at the end, cursed is he that confirmeth not all the words of this book and the law
to do them, all the people shall say amen.
Now here's where a lot of people get this wrong, when you tell people salvation is not
of works, even a lot of these false brethren will be like amen.
Because here's what they say, well amen, you don't have to do any good works to be saved,
you don't have to do any good works to be saved, but here's what they'll say, but you
do have to stop sinning.
And they will separate that in their mind, they'll say like, well you don't have to do
good works, you don't have to walk little old ladies across the street or give money
to charity or do anything, but you do have to stop doing some things.
And this is why when we preach we say, we believe in salvation by grace through faith
plus nothing and minus nothing.
The plus nothing means you don't add good works.
Church attendance, circumcision, baptism, helping little old ladies carry their groceries
up the stairs, you don't have to add any good works, but it's also minus nothing.
Because a lot of people will claim, well stopping sinning isn't works.
They'll say, well it's not works to stop sinning, folks, you're wrong.
Now look, the Bible does use this term, good works, right?
And I believe that when the Bible used the term good works, it's probably referring to
doing good things, doing nice things, like some of the things I mentioned.
But when it uses the term works of the law, it's not talking about giving to charity or
helping little old ladies across the street.
You know what the works of the law are?
It's obeying the law.
Now I want you to really pay attention to this point because this is an important point.
The Bible says this in Galatians 3, 10, don't miss it.
Pay attention, if you miss everything tonight, don't miss this one point.
Galatians 3, 10, for as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse.
And then we have the curse, right?
Now here's my question.
If we go back and look up that part about the curse, is this part of the law, is it
telling us that we need to do something or not do something?
I want you to think about that.
Every time we read these curses in the list here, comparing scripture with scripture,
because the people that are of the works of the law, they need to go back to this list
and realize they're putting themselves under this curse.
But as we go through these curses, I want you to think about, is this telling us to
do something or not to do something?
The first one we just read in verse 15 said not to make idols, right?
Not to make the graven image, the molten image.
Look at verse 16, you're in Deuteronomy 27, cursed be ye that set at light by his father
or his mother, and all the people shall say amen.
That's something that you're not supposed to do, right?
Disrespecting, dishonoring your father and mother.
And if you do, you're cursed.
Cursed be ye that removeth his neighbor's landmark.
I'm going to skip that and all the people shall say amen.
You can see it in your Bible there, but just for sake of time, I'm just going to give you
the curses themselves.
Cursed be ye that removeth his neighbor's landmark.
Cursed be ye that make it the blind to wander out of the way.
Cursed be ye that pervert the judgment of the stranger, fatherless and widow.
Cursed be ye that lithe with his father's wife.
Cursed be ye that lithe with any manner of beast.
Cursed be ye that lithe with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of
his mother.
Cursed be ye that lithe with his mother-in-law.
Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbor secretly.
Cursed be ye that taketh reward to slay an innocent person.
Are any of those telling you, go do a good work?
You're cursed if you don't do these good works over here.
They're all telling you, don't do bad things.
That's what the law of Moses is like.
Now does the law of Moses tell you to do certain things?
Yes, but more often it's telling you what not to do.
Think about the Ten Commandments.
The Ten Commandments are the quintessential expression of God's covenant with Israel.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
Those are both telling you what not to do.
Don't have any other gods before me.
Don't make a graven image.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
Now the fourth one is positive.
Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy.
But really you could boil that down to, don't work on the Sabbath.
Thou shalt do no servile work therein.
That's how it's explained in more detail.
Honor thy father and mother, that's a positive.
But again, cursed be he that seteth light by father and mother, you know, you could
flip that over.
But what are the most famous commandments of all?
Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt
not bear false witness against thy neighbor, thou shalt not covet.
Don't do this.
Don't.
And then that's called what?
The works of the law.
There's a terrific sense that it's work not to sin, because the default is for us to go
out and sin.
If we put forth zero effort in our lives, we're going to sin.
The effort has to be made not to sin.
That should be obvious.
And so we see that the laws, even if we look at the exact verse that Paul is pointing us
to, the curses have to do with people who do bad things because they're not fulfilling
the works of the law.
He's saying, look, if you're of the works of the law, you have to fulfill the works
of the law or you're going to be under these curses if you don't do everything the law
tells you to do and not do everything that the law tells you not to do.
Because the summary statement at the end, cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words
of this law to do them, is a synopsis or a summary statement for a big long list of
what?
All negative commands.
Go back to Galatians 3 with that in mind.
Verse 11, but that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident
for the just shall live by faith.
You cannot be justified by obeying commandments.
Obeying commandments is the works of the law.
It may not be good works, but it is the works of the law.
And guess what?
We're not saved by works.
Whether it's good works or whether it's the works of the law, they don't save.
And look what the Bible says in verse 12, the law is not a faith.
The law is not a faith.
But the man that doeth them shall live in them.
What's the Bible saying?
The Bible's saying, look, you know, the law is for the here and now on this earth.
That's what it was designed for.
Faith gets you to heaven.
That's going to take care of the future.
You have to believe that heaven exists.
You haven't seen heaven.
You can see the results of keeping the law even on this earth, whereas heaven is something
that you're not going to see until you pass away.
Christ has redeemed us, verse 13, from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us,
for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree, that's also from Deuteronomy,
that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we
might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith, verse 26, for you're all children of
God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Flip over to chapter 5 quickly, I'm almost done.
Chapter 5.
So does everybody understand what this other gospel is?
This other gospel is saying, well, yes, it's Christ.
Yes, believe in Christ, but you also need to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses.
And keeping the law of Moses isn't just about doing good things, it's about not doing bad
things, it's a set of rules for your conduct that are both positive and negative.
And Paul is just hammering, it's by faith, it's by faith, it's belief, it's belief, it's
grace, it's grace.
Hey, if you start saying, well, there's certain commandments that you have to follow, you
know.
Maybe it's not the whole law, maybe it's just circumcision, he says, no, no, then you've
got to do the whole thing.
Because cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of the book of the law to do them.
Look at Galatians chapter 5 verse 1, stand fast therefore in the liberty where with Christ
has made us free and be not entangled again in the yoke of bondage, behold I Paul say
unto you, that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
Does that sound like you're going to heaven?
Christ will profit you nothing.
Oh, you're still going to heaven though.
That doesn't even make sense.
Because what's the biggest thing that we're relying on Christ for is to get us to heaven.
But if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
Now, is this saying that all of us dudes here that are circumcised have no hope of going
to heaven?
Because I'll just be honest, I'm circumcised.
Nobody asked me my opinion about it.
I was just a baby and I screamed and they didn't listen.
But here's the thing, I'm circumcised, does that mean I'm not going to heaven?
Here's what he's saying.
He's saying if you go out and get circumcised because you think that that is part of salvation,
if you think that it's belief plus circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing.
Because it's got to be all Christ.
It can't be Christ plus good works, Christ plus the law, Christ plus circumcision, Christ
plus church attendance, Christ plus good deeds, Christ plus keeping the commandments, Christ
plus repent of all your sins and turn over a new leaf and join the 12 step program.
No, it's just Christ.
And he says if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
And you know what, the example here is circumcision, but you could plug in a whole bunch of other
things that people try to add to salvation, the works of the law.
Now why is Christ going to profit you nothing if you're circumcised?
He says, for I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he's a debtor to
do the whole law.
Now he's not talking about people that are already circumcised because Paul himself is
circumcised.
Peter is circumcised.
They're not debtors to do the whole law because they know that salvation is by grace through
faith and they're not trusting the law at all.
But people that are going out and getting circumcised as adults, they're not doing that
for their health, folks.
They're doing it because they believe that that's somehow part of getting right with
God and being saved and being justified in the sight of God.
But no, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ by faith.
And so he says, you're a debtor to do the whole law.
Christ is become of no effect unto you, just in case you thought maybe these people are
saved.
Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law, you're fallen
from grace.
Now here's what's funny about this, is that I've talked to a lot of people, and maybe
you've had conversations like this too, where you're trying to preach to somebody and tell
them, hey look, salvation is only by faith, it's not by works.
And you're telling this to somebody who believes in a works salvation.
And here's what I've had people sometimes tell me is like, oh okay, well either way
I'm covered because I believe in Jesus.
Well I believe in Jesus, you believe in Jesus, I think I have to do this extra stuff.
Well if I get to the end of my life and it turns out all that extra stuff I did turned
out it wasn't necessary, well hey, it can't hurt that I did some extra bonus work that
wasn't necessary.
So they think that even though they're trusting works, they're okay because they believe in
Jesus.
So it's sort of like, you know, if the requirement was lower than what they originally thought,
well then great, they just overperformed.
Who's ever talked to somebody and they, the gospel just went right over their head, and
that's what they told you.
They come at you with, well then I'm okay anyway because I do believe, I just think
you have to do this other stuff.
If I get to heaven it turns out I didn't have to do it, well then I just did extra.
Folks that's not the way it works.
Well you know, if I'm just going to go ahead and get, you know, hey, maybe the Judaizers
are right, maybe the Apostle Paul's right, you know what, I'm just going to get circumcised
just to be safe.
And I'll just get circumcised and then if I get to heaven it turns out I didn't need
it, well hey great.
You know, no big deal, I'll get a new body and maybe I'll get a new foreskin attached
on that thing.
But here's the thing about that, is that if you are going to just kind of hedge your bets
and say well maybe it's works, maybe I'll just do the works just in case.
He says Christ will profit you nothing.
You have to trust Christ.
It's not enough to just believe that Jesus died on the cross, he has to be your savior.
And let me tell you something, if you're saying well I've got to be circumcised, I've got
to keep the whole law, I've got to do the commandments, I mean why is Paul making such
a big deal?
Why is God making such a big deal out of this?
What's the big deal about circumcision versus not circumcision?
Here's the big deal, is that it opens the door to the whole rest of the law and it's
work salvation, plain and simple.
I mean what if I just started saying well you know salvation is 100% by grace through
faith but you just can't do the big sins.
You just can't kill anybody or commit adultery or do like a total armed robbery.
And then you'll be saved.
That's what a lot of people think.
I mean you knock on the door and they say well I'm going to have it because I haven't
really done anything that bad.
They think as long as they don't do the big ones.
But where do you draw the line folks?
I'll tell you where God draws the line, there's none righteous, no not one.
I'll tell you where God draws the line, all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.
And so you can't bring works in at all because if it's of works then it's no more grace.
How much do you have to pay for something before it ceases to be a free gift?
Even if it's super cheap, it's still not a free gift.
And salvation must be accepted freely.
It cannot be purchased or earned.
Now another thing I want to point out quickly because I'm trying to kind of leave no stone
unturned here and I know I skipped a lot of verses but I'm going to come back and hit
those in future sermons.
But as far as this topic, I don't want to leave any stone unturned here with Galatians.
I want to point out that it says here you're fallen from grace.
I've heard some people try to take this fallen from grace and try to say that this verse
is teaching that you can lose your salvation.
Everyone's so ironic about that.
The ironic thing about that is that people who believe you're losing your salvation are
trusting in works because they literally are saying that if I don't live right or continue
right or do it right then God's going to break his promise, I'm going to lose my salvation.
When God already promises eternal life, we've already been sealed into the day of redemption,
we've been sealed by the Holy Spirit, we've been passed from death unto life, we shall
not come into condemnation and no one can pluck us out of Christ's hand.
But they'll try to say well you could fall from grace and then they just pull this out
of context and say by sinning you could fall from grace.
Did you even read the chapter?
Did you even read the book of Galatians?
Because in reality here what we need to understand is that when the Bible says Christ has become
of no effect unto you, Christ is worthless unto you, he's not getting you anywhere, whosoever
of you are justified by the law, question, is anyone actually justified by the law?
Is it possible to be justified by the law?
Back in chapter 2 verse 16 he said no flesh is justified by the law, no one is justified
by the law.
So when Paul says Christ has become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified
by the law, is he saying that they actually are justified by the law or just that they
think they're justified by the law?
Think about that.
He's not expressing a real situation.
This is not about reality because in reality no one is justified by the law.
But he says Christ has become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by
the law, ye are fallen from grace.
And fallen from grace is no more literal than the being justified by the law because
neither of them is expressing a real condition.
He is just expressing to these people that you are not saved and Christ is of no effect
unto you.
If you think that you are justified by the law, then guess what, whatever you thought
that you were also under the grace of Christ or the recipient of God's grace, turns out
you're not.
Just like you're not justified by the law, you are fallen from grace, meaning that you
are not justified by grace.
Christ is of no effect unto you.
So I'm talking about someone losing their salvation, that would be absurd because the
whole point here is that these people are trusting in the works to save them and whenever
you talk to people that believe you can lose your salvation, they're also trusting in works
because it's like, well you can't just live however you want, you're going to lose it.
Folks once you're saved, you're always saved.
These people, if they're trusting in the law, are not saved, they've never been saved.
Because if you've been saved, you're always saved.
Now there's a lot of people who think they're saved and turn out not to be.
There are a lot of people who say that they're saved and turn out not to be, but anyone who's
truly saved is saved forever.
For we, through the Spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which
worketh by love.
It's not about being circumcised.
Whether I'm circumcised or not, when I was a baby, is meaningless.
All that matters is whether I have faith in Christ.
The righteousness in my life is through faith.
It's not by my own deeds or by my own works.
It's the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ put on my account.
Look at verse 11, and I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution?
Then is the offense of the cross ceased.
Verse 12 of chapter 6, flip over to chapter 6, as many as desire to make a fair show in
the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised, only lest they should suffer persecution for
the cross of Christ.
For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law, because nobody keeps the law
perfectly, but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh.
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom
the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world.
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
Now this goes back to what I was saying earlier about Paul is constantly saying in this epistle,
I'm not here to please men.
In fact, if I wanted to go through less persecution, I could just start preaching circumcision,
and then I wouldn't be persecuted, because who's persecuting Paul throughout the book
of Acts?
It's the Jews.
So if he preached circumcision, he wouldn't be persecuted, he says.
And he's saying, in fact, the people pleasers are the pro-circumcision crowd.
So if you want to try to imagine the opponents of Paul, you have to use your imagination
a little bit, because of the fact that we only have the one side here, we just have
Paul's side, right?
But based on what Paul's rebuking, we can figure out what kind of things the other side
is saying.
They're obviously adding circumcision to the gospel.
They're adding works of the law to the gospel, because that's what he's rebuking.
They're obviously questioning his apostleship, because he keeps defending his apostleship.
But the other thing that I think that they're accusing him of is being a people pleaser,
and you could probably guess that the argument probably went something like this.
Well when Paul preaches in Galatia, he doesn't want to preach circumcision because he doesn't
want to offend people, he wants to make it easy for the Gentiles to join the church.
So he's trimming the message as opposed to trimming the dudes, because he basically just
wants to just bring more people into the church.
So he's a compromiser and a people pleaser.
You know what's funny?
Is that even today, when we preach a gospel that just says it's by faith, no works, it's
Jesus paid it all, it's just trust Jesus, people will accuse us of preaching that because
we want to be popular.
Like oh yeah that sounds good, you guys want to say that, because that's what people want
to hear.
You tell people what they want to hear, you know, that it's just all easy believism, you're
just telling people what they want to hear, and you hear that don't you?
But you want to know what's ironic about that?
All the most popular churches are teaching work salvation?
You want to know what people actually want to hear?
Works.
You want to know which churches are packed with people today?
Works.
You want to know what we're going to find down at the typical Lutheran church, or the
typical Catholic church, the typical Methodist church, we're going to find works, works,
and more works.
Go to all these Pentecostal, charismatic churches with thousands of people, and it's a works
based salvation.
Constantly telling you, you have to turn from your sins, you've got to follow the commandments,
you've got to make Christ the Lord of your life, you've got to keep doing these works,
you could lose your salvation if you don't do these works and everything.
That's what people apparently want to hear.
Why?
Because if the pride of their heart says, I want to earn my own way to heaven, as opposed
to just accepting the free gift.
What's interesting is that when you preach free salvation, you get the most flack.
You get the most flack for preaching that it's free.
Isn't that ironic?
But it's true.
And Paul is pointing out, what are you talking about?
You think that I'm trying to please man by preaching free salvation?
Look, if I would just preach that people needed to be circumcised, now all of a sudden the
offense of the cross is ceased.
Now all of a sudden the Jews would leave me alone.
And that's why Paul even says at the end of the epistle, he says, from henceforth let no
man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.
He said, look, yeah, I'm such a people pleaser, that's why I'm physically beaten and scarred
from preaching the gospel, from the Jews persecuting me, because I just, I'm just Mr. Televani,
evangelist, wanting to make everybody happy.
And so, my friend, do not be sucked into any permutation of this other gospel, because,
you know, the other gospel is faith plus works.
The other gospel is faith plus circumcision, faith plus the law.
But what you have to understand is that a lot of people aren't going to come to you
with the full-blown other gospel.
They're going to be like those Pharisees in Jerusalem saying, well, it is needful to command
and be circumcised.
Well, you know, you do need to repent of all your sins, and I mean, we don't have to do
good works, but we do need to keep the commandments.
That is good works.
We that are saved can all see that those are the same thing.
Keeping the commandments is doing works.
Don't get sucked into anything like this.
Now, the good news is those of us that are saved are never going to go all the way off
the cliff, because when you see people go all the way off the cliff into work salvation,
you know, Paul's just calling them out like, you guys aren't even saved.
I bestowed labor on you in vain.
I'm afraid of you.
Are you guys even in the faith?
Are you guys even saved?
But I've known saved, actually bonafide, saved, godly Christians and pastors who, no, they
don't go all the way off the cliff, but they can get a little mixed up into some of this
Judaizing stuff.
They can get a little bit mixed up into some of this repent of your sins stuff and start
teaching a gospel of, you know, well, you've got to be willing to turn from this sin and
willing to turn from that sin.
You know, it's possible for people that are even saved people to get a little bit mixed
up on this stuff, and that's why these kind of sermons need to be preached.
Number one, they need to be preached for the unsaved to hear them so that they could
be saved, and number two, they need to be preached so that those of us who are already
saved, which is the vast majority, could be on our guard at anything that would even be
a step or two or three down that road, nipping in the bud.
Let's stay with the liberty that Christ has given us and not be entangled in that yoke
of bondage.
The law of God is not salvific.
It never has been able to save anyone, but not only that, the deeds of the law that are
not the moral law, but the things that were symbolic, the meats, the drinks, the holidays,
those things have all been done away in Christ, and if we observe those things, even if we're
not doing it for salvation, if we observe those things, we are confusing people, and
we are opening a door to going down a wrong path or leading other people down a wrong
path or confusing the gospel of Christ in the New Testament.
Let's try another word of prayer.
Lord God, I pray that you would use your word in the hearts of your people tonight, Lord.
I did the best I could to express your word.
I hope that it was understandable, Lord, and I pray that you would just let it sink into
our hearts, help us to be steadfast on what we believe, and Lord, help us to share the
real gospel with a lost and dying world, and in Jesus' name we pray, amen.