Saturday, June 12, 2010

Paul has the salutation out of the way and is getting ready to unload on the churches of Galatia.

Galatians 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
Galatians 1:7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

It sounds like no sooner than Paul had left, someone (most likely someone from the Jewish religion) came in right behind him and added to the gospel of Christ. Notice that he says in verse 7 that it is not another gospel. This passage puzzled me for a bit. How could it be another gospel and Paul turns right around and says “which is not another”? Sounded like double talk to me at first. The end of verse 7 gives us the clue “and would pervert the gospel of Christ”. So, if the gospel of Christ is perverted it is called “another gospel”.

Just for review. The gospel of Christ is that:
• Christ died for your sins
• Was buried
• Rose again the third day



The gospel for us to believe today is found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. How could anyone make that complicated? Well they (we) have messed up God’s Word since the Garden of Eden. Read Genesis 3 and see if you can pick up were God’s Word was changed. We mess it up by adding to it.

Denominations today add things to the gospel all the time. Some say we have to be water baptized. Others say you have to tithe, keep the Sabbath, make Jesus Lord of your life, confess your sins so they will be forgiven, be real sorry for what you have done and don’t do it again. Bottom line is, if you are trusting in ANYTHING you are doing for salvation you missed the boat. We are called to do good works (Titus 2:12), but not for salvation. Christ did it all at the cross.

Make sure you are not being preached or taught “another gospel”. In the next couple of verses we will see what happens to those who preach another gospel.

Grace and Peace
Jack

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Galatians 1:2 And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia:
Galatians 1:3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,
Galatians 1:4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
Galatians 1:5 To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Ok, we will try 4 verses today. The brethren that were with him I believe were in Corinth. From what I have read this is debatable. If anyone has some verses which verify where he was please share with the rest of us. It really doesn’t matter where he was, just that he wrote the letter. He was with saved people writing to saved people in the churches in Galatia. In Paul’s letters he uses the terms brethren, false brethren (Gal 2:4), and kinsmen.

Brethren= Someone who has believed the gospel that Paul delivered to them.

1 Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
1 Corinthians 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
1 Corinthians 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

False Brethren = one who ostentatiously professes to be a Christian, but is destitute of Christian knowledge and piety (OK, I went to the Greek on that one. In good old Georgia terms they AIN'T saved.)

Kinsmen = Israel, Paul’s kin by blood line.

Verse 4 in Galatians 1 is awesome news for us. “Who gave himself for our sins,” We were all born sinners because of the fall of Adam. We had no hope, our punishment is death. Jesus Christ giving himself for our sins is our way out of this evil world. Christ did it all at the cross for us. All we can do is believe He died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day.

As we get into Galatians we are going to see that this group has been tricked into believing that they have to do something more than what Christ already did. Have you been tricked? We will see as we continue our study.

Grace and Peace,
Jack

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Galatians
Verse by Verse

Galatians 1:1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)

At first glance it doesn’t look like there is much to this verse other than an introduction to another of Paul’s 13 books. Here are some of the questions that can be answered.

1. Did Paul get his apostleship from Peter or any of the other apostles?
NO. Not of men, neither by man.

2. Where did he get his apostleship?
By Jesus Christ, and God the Father.

3. Who raised Jesus Christ from the dead?
God the Father

A lot of people tell me that they think that Paul and Peter preached the same message. This verse (Gal 1:1) by itself doesn’t tell us that they didn’t preach the same thing. They didn't preach the same message, but this verse doesn't prove that. Notice it is talking about Paul’s apostleship. This does raise some questions for me.

If Peter and Paul were preaching the same message, why didn’t Peter or one of the other apostle’s come to Paul and recruit him?

The answer is they were not preaching the same message. Jesus Christ appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus to give him a different message. (More on this later)

Was there room for another apostle in the Kingdom message? `

No, in Jesus Christ earthly ministry He had set up 12 apostles to rule over 12 tribes in the kingdom. Judas betrayed Him so God replaced Judas with another apostle in Acts 1 to get it back to 12. Not only did God not need another apostle for the kingdom gospel, there was no more room for another apostle. Some preachers try to explain this away by saying “man” picked Mathias, and God stepped in and chose who He wanted. Acts 1:24 says that the Lord chose the replacement.

Stay tuned for Galatians 1:2 coming soon. Please post your comments or questions. I will add them to this. Thanks Jack