What follows are a collection of thoughts from my podcast series on Galatians. As I closed the book on Galatians, these are the things I think about as a result of this study. They are more or less in the order that these thoughts appeared in my study of Galatians, but not necessarily.

The Law is our Teacher

The first thing I take from Galatians is the Law is a two-fold teacher. Initially, the Law is a teacher to the unregenerate… teaching us that we are unable to meet God’s standard for justification. In this role, it leads us to the Messiah, Who alone can justify us.

In its other role, the Law is a teacher for the believer as well, as it shows us what pleases and what distresses our God as pertaining to our behaviour and attitudes. The Law is now used by God to guide us into holy thoughts and deeds.

The Law is not evil – it is good. It is our use or view of it that is evil or good.

 Pharisee’s version of grace vs Paul’s view of Grace

Pharasaic Judaism believed in grace – but their view of grace was based on a nationalistic basis. God, in His Grace chose Israel, so if you were born into Israel you were chosen by virtue of your nationality. In this view, Gentiles could only enter into God’s grace if they were circumcised and became Torah-observant proselytes.

Paul taught that the basis of God’s grace to us is demonstrated by Abraham’s believing God’s promise, and that in believing, God justified him. And as this event with Abraham preceded Moses and the Law, then the Abrahamic event takes precedent. 

 Paul and his opponents

Paul was a Pharisee, a very strict religious order within Judaism. He was trained by Gamaliel and was the church’s most brilliant apologist, being able to bring understanding of the Torah to the Gentiles. On several occasions, he was publicly attacked by other Pharisees, and other scholars from the Jewish faith, and in each case he bested them. Of all the Apostles, he was the only one that had intimate knowledge of both sides of the conflict, having been a chief persecutor of Christianity before his conversion. In the few times he actually confronted his accusers face-to-face, he bested them with little to no problem. I found it interesting that these opponents of Paul waited until he was away from Galatia to come and try to undermine his work there. I seriously doubt they would have had any success had they opposed him to his face.

Paul’s opponents can not best him in the arena of ideas and knowledge, so they turned to turning the Galatians against Paul, besmirching his reputation, bringing doubt on Paul’s qualifications and motivations.

The Problem with Legalism

Embracing legalism means rejecting God, because it means substituting a human being for God in one’s life.

Let me explain that. There is a problem with legalism. There’s always somebody really, really, really smart about the rules and the law. People tend to look to somebody to tell them what to do and are easy targets for these smart Law-minded folks. Very few people actually investigate the law to any real depth on their own, but those that do can sound very authoritative and if they are in any way a charismatic individual, they are a perfect match for those who want to be told what to do. Cults are full of people who have granted permission to a person to dictate how they live their life. A “leader” has taken the place of God.

Accepting the Gospel is more than Intellectual assent

“As we’ve already said, I say it again. If anyone is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted,” 

“let them be under God’s curse.” 

This word “accepted” comes from the Greek word paralambanō. It is a combination of two words, para + lambanō. Para means to come alongside. lambanō means to take or to receive.

παραλαμβάνω paralambanō

“If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you came alongside and embraced from me…” 

 Galatians – this was yours. You embraced it. You called it your own. You came alongside it and it became part of your life. You called it your own. You loved it. You lived it.

The Cowardice of the Judaizers

Their reason for circumcision isn’t based on their desire for Judaism and the law of Moses. The purpose for getting them circumcised is so that THEY won’t be persecuted. No,  THESE false teachers are the real people pleasers. They are cowards – trying to convince the church to look more Jewish so as to avoid persecution with Rome. At this time the Jewish religion was allowed by Rome and in the beginning of the Christian movement they (followers of Christ) were considered a sect within Judaism and therefore recipients of the same protection from Rome that Judaism received. So these legalistic minded members of the Church wanted to avoid the undue attention Rome was beginning to focus on Christianity. In other words…

“Look more Jewish, fly under Rome’s radar.”

The schism between this movement which became known as Christianity and Judaism was continuing  to widen and Rome would soon quit identifying the followers of Jesus with Judaism. Much of this schism was due in no small part by the preaching and teaching of Paul. So it’s possible that these false teachers were using circumcision as a subterfuge to keep Rome from coming after them.

 Do we grant concessions to our surrounding culture in order to avoid persecution, criticism, or conflict? Is there a danger of today’s church adopting parts of the surrounding culture in order to avoid conflict with the culture?

Summary of Paul’s Apostleship 

The gospel he preached didn’t come from a man.

He wasn’t taught it. 

It was given to him through the revelation of Jesus Christ personally. 

He didn’t ask permission from the other apostles in Jerusalem. 

He just went to work.

The Truth of the Gospel

What is the truth of the gospel? Quite simply put the good news is that men and women are not accepted with God because of anything they’ve done or can do, but solely on the basis of God’s grace shown in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Everybody has access to the throne of God. Everybody has access to the family of God by grace through faith.

There’s an argument called “antinomian” which means lawlessness. That objection says that if you rely on justification by faith alone, eliminating the law encourages godless living. That is based on a false assumption. The element that the proponents of this argument are leaving out is the supernatural element of the conversion of the believer. The Holy Spirit enters our life and becomes the agent of change, working on our attitudes, thoughts, and behaviors. This is what Paul is referring to when he says in another letter that we “become a new creation.” There is a supernatural element to the conversion of a person that changes their heart and is expressed in a changed lifestyle. 

Here’s a summary of Paul’s argument:

“Did you obey a bunch of rules and then the Holy Spirit showed up?” 

Or… 

“Did you believe what I preached to you and then the Holy Spirit showed up? 

What WERE the circumstances under which the Holy Spirit showed up?”

Hinted at, but not explicitly stated, 

“Did the Holy Spirit show up when you listened to these other false teachers and their rules?”

Who did God intend salvation for?

1. The blessing and promise to Abraham was from the beginning intended to include Gentiles, not to exclude them. 
2. This gospel promise preceded everything else in God’s dealings with his people, including the giving of the law. 

What happens when you become justified?

If you believe in God, then that will change the way you live. Until I sit down in this chair, you don’t know that I believe this chair will hold me. Until you see me reflect the character of God (the fruit of the Holy Spirit), you can’t know that I am of the family of God. 

Today, I wear my confession on my shirt sleeve for everybody to see. I do not care who knows that Jesus is MY Lord. I don’t care who knows that I believe that Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day, which is a ridiculous proposition to a lot of people on this planet. I don’t care. It doesn’t matter to me. I confess that. I use the Lord’s name in my conversation on a regular basis. I’m concerned about how I live my life. I’m concerned how the world views Christ in me. When they look at me, do they see someone emulating Christ, or do they see a faker, a sham artist? That concerns me. My life has been changed. I have physically changed my life since I became a Christian.

That is the core issue for these Galatians. Paul wants them to realize  

“Look, the Holy Spirit showed up and did miracles in your midst when you believed, not when you followed the law.”

He wants them to know that these false teachers are indeed preaching Abraham to them – but so was he! The difference is that the false teachers say say

“…if you want to become part of the family of Abraham, you have to become circumcised and follow the law.” 

Paul says 

 “I’m saying that you became part of Abraham’s family the minute you believed the Gospel. There is nothing more to do. Look, your life changed when you believed the gospel, not when you started learning the rules of the law. The law does not bring life. Your belief brought you into the family of God. Your belief in the gospel is what started the ball rolling, not the law.”

THAT is the lesson of Abraham. 

Being in “Right Standing” with God

“I am the Lord your God. You will have no other gods before me.”

 Relationship is implied. This is God saying, “Look, we have a relationship, you and I, and as a result of this relationship, you won’t have any other gods before me.” And he continues, “and because we have this relationship, you won’t steal, you won’t kill, you won’t commit adultery, you won’t lie, you won’t covet.” 

One rabbi that I read compared that opening part of the Law to a marriage declaration. 

It’s like the husband says to the wife, “Wife, we have a relationship, you and I, and as a result of this relationship, there won’t another man in this relationship.” Or the wife saying to the husband, “Dear husband, we have a relationship, you and I. As a result of this relationship with each other, there won’t be another woman in this relationship.” 

So – when Habakkuk says, “The righteous will live by faith,” he is saying that those who are in right standing (i.e. “righteous”) with God are going to live their life on the basis of this relationship, in the same way that Abraham did…not rules.

The Abrahamic Covenant

And when the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abraham and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the wadi of Egypt to the great river of the Euphrates, the land of Kenites, Kennizites, Kavanites, Hittites, Parazites, Raphaitites, Amorites, Canaanites, Grigorsites, and Jebusites..” 

If you and I were to engage in a covenant using this ritual over the sale of a piece of property, we would take animals, kill them, and put their carcasses on either side of a little path. You and I would then walk through this path holding hands and signifying to each other, “So be it done unto me if I break my terms of this contract.” And the other person would be saying the same thing, “So be it done unto me if I violate the  terms of this contract.” Basically, I’m saying I’m liable for the death penalty if I break this contract. And both parties are held to this. That’s the covenant.

In this case, only GOD walks between these two severed halves of animals. This is God signifying, “So be it done unto me if either you or I violate this covenant.” Wow! God is saying, “I’m willing to die if I break this covenant. I’m willing to die if YOU break this covenant.” 

From Slavery to Freedom 

The ultimate contrast to the freedom they had in Christ was the bondage to Satan and his evil spirits that they were part of before. Paul is reminding them of the true nature of the slavery they were under prior to their salvation. And to carry this example forward further… their “father” in that scenario was NEVER going to set them free. Their only hope for freedom was to be adopted into ANOTHER family, one with a truly benevolent father.

To bow to the Law as necessary for salvation, is to turn away from liberty and grace and return to the bondage of the world, whether that bondage be via Gentile paganism or Jewish religion.

Paul isn’t saying that the law is evil. No. The law is good. It comes from God. Nevertheless, the Law, when distorted into a way of trying to earn salvation, becomes a tool of the enemy of our souls.

The Believer’s “Dance”

I don’t know if anybody’s seen those movies where they show these ballroom dances back in the 14th, 15th, 16th century, where there are very ornate motions and movements between the dance partners.

I kind of picture my Christian life like that –  a dance. And here’s the dance.

My dance as a believer. 

1. I want to please God.

2. I pray. I read his word in order to find out what pleases him.

3. God and I develop my personal punch list to work on. This punch list, if I’m to be honest, is never ending. There’s always improvements to be made. 

4. I have to resist the urge to demand your compliance to my punch list.That’s legalism or nomism, while at the same time 

5. coming alongside you and your walk with God, helping and encouraging you to glorify him with your life as you work your way through your own punch list.

It’s a delicate dance. The Judaizers were forcing (or trying to) the Galatians to adhere to a “punch list” that God had not given them. They were luring the Galatians away from their dance with God… and Paul… to a dance that would suck the joy from their lives.

Realize that everybody who’s a believer is in their own dance with God and part of that dance involves dancing with other believers.

In our dance together as fellow believers, we encourage each other and we help each other. We come alongside each other, but there is a fine line between encouraging you in your walk with God and coming up with a “punch list” I think you need to follow.

How we interact with the Law is one of those dances. Before we were saved, the Law was a teacher. It taught us that we were unable to meet God’s standard for purity and holiness. After we are saved, the Law is STILL a teacher. It teaches us now what the nature of God is like. The main difference between pre-saved Paige and post-saved Paige is that now I can pursue what the Law teaches i.e. no idolatry, no thievery, no lusting etc without the death penalty looming. I can spend the rest of my days on this planet learning how to 

“Love the Lord with all my heart…”

and to

“Love my neighbor as myself”

There are THOUSANDS of ways to apply these two principles (Which Jesus says contains all the Law) that I can explore in my life. More than enough to keep me busy for the rest of my life. There is freedom in that approach to the Law.

What False Teachers want

They want you to depend on them. They want the financial support aimed at them. They want their follower’s zeal to be on them. When you start seeing somebody that brings the focus on themselves and not the gospel consider that your warning, and leave.

What God Wants

The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

What the false teachers produce

15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

THIS is the result of that false teaching brought by those teachers, those Judaizers.

If you get sucked into the maelstrom of trying to follow the law as the false teachers taught, this biting and devouring and all kinds of dissension will be the natural result. The law does not impart holiness.

It points out how holy we are NOT. Following the law as prescribed by these false teachers does not unite, it divides.

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Conceit was the fruit of the false teacher’s teaching. When you try to live a life of legalism, you can’t help but develop a sense of pride in all the rules you can do and keep. This is not a good pride. The word used here for pride is kenodoxos – a “state of pride that has no proper basis.”

Paul is implying in my opinion: 

“This fighting and devouring each other is the result of the teachings from the Judaizers. The Gospel I taught you teaches you to love each other, not to fight each other.”

What Paul’s Gospel produces

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 

If you’re evidencing ever-increasing fruit of the Spirit from this list, this is proof that the Law has no jurisdiction over you.  You are in Christ, and the evidence of your life bears this out. 

 

Final thoughts

This is my second time through the New Testament since 2022, and one overwhelming message is in front of me:

“Love God with all your heart soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.

Upon these hang all the law and the commandments.”

Every epistle is saying “This is what loving God looks like…” or “This is what loving your neighbor looks like…”

Galatians is no different… Paul is very specific in telling us that Legalism is NOT loving God. He also gives us very specific examples about what “loving our neighbor” looks like.

Paul also challenges us to consider that if the fruit of the Spirit is not evident, then you need to consider the possibility that you are NOT in relationship with God. Why? Because an encounter with God WILL change you. And if you haven’t changed…..?

In His Grip

Paige