Galatians 1 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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1. 0:00We're going to be studying [music]
2. 0:01Galatians. And let me give a brief
3. 0:03introduction. This book was written
4. 0:05approximately 50 AD. It would have been
5. 0:08written [music] around the same time as
6. 0:10many of Paul's other letters, maybe a
7. 0:12little bit earlier than [music] some.
8. 0:14And it's helpful to understand that what
9. 0:17Paul is writing here is in [music]
10. 0:19essence a continuation of the debate
11. 0:23that was settled by the apostles and
12. 0:25elders [music]
13. 0:27in Acts 15. the debate that erupted at
14. 0:30Antioch and that debate [music] was
15. 0:33whether people could be saved by the
16. 0:35blood of Jesus [music] apart from
17. 0:37circumcision.
18. 0:39And Judaizers are Jewish Christians who
19. 0:43believed [music] among other things that
20. 0:47the ceremonial practices [music] of the
21. 0:49Sinai law had to be observed in order
22. 0:53for someone to be saved in the [music]
23. 0:55New Testament church.
24. 0:57That seems bizarre to us today, but it
25. 0:59seemed actually quite reasonable. And
26. 1:02Paul was in the minority of Christians
27. 1:04[music]
28. 1:05uh in his day who disagreed with it
29. 1:07until the Jerusalem council. After that
30. 1:10point, there is a consensus among all
31. 1:13the leadership of the church. But the
32. 1:15Judaizers are still contesting this. And
33. 1:19one of the things that's important for
34. 1:20us to see from outside the perspective
35. 1:24is that
36. 1:26nobody debated, not Paul nor the
37. 1:28Judaizers, nobody debated that there was
38. 1:31one covenant of salvation and that was
39. 1:34God's Israel, that all the promises
40. 1:36[music]
41. 1:37that were made to Abraham were fulfilled
42. 1:40in Christ. [music] They didn't debate
43. 1:42that there was going to be a separate
44. 1:44religion. That's never the discussion.
45. 1:47Okay? They simply debated whether
46. 1:49[music]
47. 1:50we had to partake of the ceremonial
48. 1:53requirements or was the blood of Jesus
49. 1:56sufficient
50. 1:58uh to make us part of the Israel of God.
51. 2:01So Paul contends that we do not need to
52. 2:05participate in the ceremonial
53. 2:07requirements. Instead, the sacrifice of
54. 2:11Jesus is utterly complete [music] to
55. 2:14atone for our sins and that we
56. 2:16appropriate that sacrifice [music]
57. 2:19through a trusting relationship of faith
58. 2:23and we [music] walk out that
59. 2:25relationship in and by the Holy Spirit
60. 2:28which is doing the ongoing work of
61. 2:31sanctification in us. Does that make
62. 2:34sense? And so Paul is arguing not
63. 2:36against obedience to Christ or
64. 2:40disobedience. He is arguing against
65. 2:43the ceremonial law versus obedience to
66. 2:47Christ in the spirit. His one of the
67. 2:49central tensions is will you return to
68. 2:52the flesh or will you stay in the
69. 2:54spirit. It's not will you obey or will
70. 2:57you be free. The way evangelical
71. 3:01Christians abuse the book of Galatians
72. 3:03would be astounding to the Apostle Paul.
73. 3:06That is not his framework at all. But
74. 3:09let's get into it and let's see how this
75. 3:11reads.
76. 3:14Galatians 1 verse one. Paul, an apostle,
77. 3:20not sent from men, nor through the
78. 3:22agency of man, but through Jesus Christ
79. 3:26and God the Father, who raised him from
80. 3:29the dead,
81. 3:30and all the brethren who are with me, to
82. 3:33the churches of Galatia. Grace to you
83. 3:37and peace from God our father and the
84. 3:39Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for
85. 3:42our sins so that he might rescue us from
86. 3:46this present evil age according to the
87. 3:49will of our God and father to whom be
88. 3:53the glory forever. Amen.
89. 3:57So right there we have some central
90. 4:02themes emerging. Paul says, "I am an
91. 4:06apostle." Because what these Judaizers
92. 4:09are saying is that he is not a bonafide
93. 4:11apostle. Um that he has compromised the
94. 4:15truth in order to ingratiate himself to
95. 4:18Gentiles who don't want to observe the
96. 4:20law. So he says,"I am an apostle and I
97. 4:24was not sent through the agency of man
98. 4:27nor by men but through Jesus Christ
99. 4:31even God the father who raised him from
100. 4:33the dead." The word and in that he's
101. 4:37using in the Greek here can always mean
102. 4:41in addition to or it can mean even. So
103. 4:45when it says Jesus Christ, it can be
104. 4:47read Jesus Christ even God the Father.
105. 4:51It doesn't mean in addition to only. It
106. 4:54can mean that's what we're pointing
107. 4:56toward.
108. 4:58And to all the brethren, to the churches
109. 5:01of Galatia, grace and peace from God our
110. 5:04Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who
111. 5:07gave himself for our sins.
112. 5:10Jesus Christ gave himself for our sins
113. 5:13that we might that he might rescue us
114. 5:15from this present evil age according to
115. 5:18the will of our God and father to whom
116. 5:20be glory forever. So in this first
117. 5:22greeting we have that he is an apostle.
118. 5:25We have that that did not come by the
119. 5:27choice or will of men or the agency of
120. 5:30men. And we have that Jesus Christ died
121. 5:35for our sins. And that is the thesis of
122. 5:38everything that he's arguing in this
123. 5:39letter. I am a bonafide apostle and
124. 5:42Jesus Christ is the complete sacrifice
125. 5:45for our sins.
126. 5:48Verse six, I am amazed that you are so
127. 5:52quickly deserting him who called you by
128. 5:57the grace of Christ for a different
129. 6:00gospel
130. 6:02which is really not another.
131. 6:04only there are some who are disturbing
132. 6:07you and want to distort the gospel of
133. 6:11Christ.
134. 6:13But even if we
135. 6:16or an angel from heaven should preach to
136. 6:18you a gospel contrary to what we have
137. 6:21preached to you, he is to be accursed.
138. 6:28Paul is not happy. He is incredibly
139. 6:31angry with righteous indignation. And he
140. 6:35says, "Even if you get a false gospel
141. 6:38from me, if we or anybody else,
142. 6:41including an angel alike, shows up and
143. 6:44brings you a different gospel than the
144. 6:47one we brought, let him be accursed."
145. 6:50And that that word in the Greek is
146. 6:53anathema,
147. 6:55like damned forever, hopelessly excluded
148. 6:58from salvation and fellowship. It is the
149. 7:02worst thing you could say about someone,
150. 7:04let them be anathema.
151. 7:07As we have said before, so I say again
152. 7:10now, if any man is preaching to you a
153. 7:13gospel contrary to what you received, he
154. 7:18is to be accursed. He repeats himself.
155. 7:23For am I now seeking the favor of men or
156. 7:26of God?
157. 7:28Or am I striving to please men? If I
158. 7:31were still trying to please men, I would
159. 7:33not be a bondervant of Christ. He says,
160. 7:36"I I don't care if these people like
161. 7:38what I'm saying. I'm not trying to curry
162. 7:41their good opinion of me. If I were
163. 7:44still trying to please men, I would not
164. 7:45be the bonds slave of Jesus Christ. I
165. 7:48that didn't trying to please people
166. 7:50didn't get me in these chains is
167. 7:51basically what he's saying.
168. 7:54For I would have you know I would have
169. 7:56you know, brethren, that the gospel
170. 7:59which was preached by me is not
171. 8:01according to man.
172. 8:04For I neither received it from man nor
173. 8:07was I taught it
174. 8:10but I received it through a revelation
175. 8:12of Jesus Christ.
176. 8:15This is very important in the first
177. 8:17verse. And now again Paul has made it
178. 8:19very emphatic that his apostilhip his
179. 8:23gospel did not come by the teaching of
180. 8:28men or the institution of men. He didn't
181. 8:30learn the gospel from Peter and John.
182. 8:34He didn't learn the gospel from the
183. 8:35church. All of us learn the gospel
184. 8:39through men or through the agency of men
185. 8:42by the Holy Spirit. But Paul didn't.
186. 8:45Paul actually had a vision encounter
187. 8:47with Jesus himself.
188. 8:50And so he is like one of the 12 apostles
189. 8:53in a in a manner of speaking in that he
190. 8:56didn't have a filter. He got it straight
191. 8:58from the Lord. Do do you understand? And
192. 9:02that's his point. And that gives him
193. 9:03greater authority.
194. 9:05He calls himself an apostle of the Lord
195. 9:08Jesus Christ.
196. 9:12For you have heard of my former manner
197. 9:15of life in Judaism,
198. 9:17how I used to persecute the church of
199. 9:19God beyond measure and tried to destroy
200. 9:22it. And I was advancing in Judaism
201. 9:25beyond many of my contemporaries among
202. 9:28my countrymen, being more extremely
203. 9:32zealous for my ancestral traditions. So
204. 9:36he's saying, "These Judaizers who are
205. 9:39tormenting you, I was worse than them. I
206. 9:42was in this track myself. But when God,
207. 9:46who had set me apart, even from my
208. 9:48mother's womb, and called me through his
209. 9:51grace, was pleased to reveal his son in
210. 9:55me, so that I might preach him among the
211. 9:58Gentiles. I did not immediately consult
212. 10:01with flesh and blood.
213. 10:04He did not immediately go seek counsel
214. 10:07from other Christians.
215. 10:10Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those
216. 10:12who were apostles before me. But I went
217. 10:15away to Arabia and returned once more to
218. 10:18Damascus.
219. 10:20Then 3 years later, I went up to
220. 10:22Jerusalem to become acquainted with
221. 10:25Cphus, that's Peter, and stayed with him
222. 10:2915 days.
223. 10:31So Paul was preaching the gospel
224. 10:34effectively for three years before he
225. 10:38met the Apostle Peter and then he had a
226. 10:40very special meeting with him. Two weeks
227. 10:43plus a day he remembers it with with
228. 10:46detail.
229. 10:48But I did not see any other of the
230. 10:50apostles except James, the Lord's
231. 10:53brother.
232. 10:54Now in what I am writing to you, I
233. 10:56assure you before God that I am not
234. 10:58lying.
235. 11:00Then I went into the regions of Syria
236. 11:02and Cissia. I was still unknown by sight
237. 11:06to the churches of Judea,
238. 11:09which were in Christ. But only they kept
239. 11:12[music] hearing, "He who once persecuted
240. 11:15us is now preaching the faith which he
241. 11:18once tried to destroy, and they were
242. 11:21glorifying God because of [music] me."
243. 11:24So this is the end of chapter 1. And his
244. 11:27whole point is guys, I need you to
245. 11:30understand
246. 11:31that I have an authority [music] and an
247. 11:34apostilhip that does not come
248. 11:38through a derivative [music] passing
249. 11:41down on. Paul is not an apostle of the
250. 11:43church, which is a valid office of
251. 11:46authority [music]
252. 11:47that Timothy and Titus and Apaproditis
253. 11:50and others have, even Apollos. But Paul
254. 11:53instead is an apostle who was taught the
255. 11:56gospel by Jesus. He was given this by
256. 12:00direct revelation first on the road and
257. 12:03then other revelations including being
258. 12:05caught up to heaven if we're to
259. 12:06interpret [music] second Corinthians
260. 12:08correctly. Do you understand? And so he
261. 12:11has an authority that is comparable to
262. 12:13the authority that Peter and James and
263. 12:16John have. Okay? And so he's saying I
264. 12:19didn't consult with flesh and blood.
265. 12:20This didn't come by the agency of man.
266. 12:22That's very [music] important to Paul.
267. 12:24He wants them to understand that he is
268. 12:27bonafideed and authorized [music] by the
269. 12:30Holy Spirit, by Jesus himself to make
270. 12:32plain this [music] gospel. And he wants
271. 12:36them to also know that after 3 years, he
272. 12:38did go consult with Peter and James and
273. 12:40spent [music] 15 days with them and made
274. 12:43sure that he was on the same page with
275. 12:45them. The Apostle [music] Paul likely
276. 12:47brought a further revelation and insight
277. 12:50to the rest of the apostles that they
278. 12:52didn't have until Paul came on the
279. 12:54scene. But everything they knew about
280. 12:56Jesus, everything they knew about
281. 12:58spending three and a half years [music]
282. 12:59with him, seeing the resurrection,
283. 13:01knowing everything he ever said and
284. 13:03taught, it agreed [music] with the
285. 13:05Apostle Paul. Because when the debate
286. 13:07broke out, James and Peter [music] sided
287. 13:10with Paul and said that we will not
288. 13:13impose on the Gentiles this ceremonial
289. 13:16requirement. Instead, just abstain from
290. 13:18these four things, etc.
291. 13:23[music]
292. 13:34[music]