Galatians is one of the most enlightening and unique books in the New Testament. Unlike many of Paul's other writing, this letter is "teeming" with passionate defense and frontal assault of danger to the gospel. Paul writes to a region of churches, to the northeast of the Mediterranean Sea.
In Gal 1:1-5 Paul begins the letter with the customary address, which identifies him, his audience, and a word of blessing/greeting. Paul identifies himself as an apostle...and this identification brings to bear the full weight of the office and the authority of the sender. Paul does not speak as a philosopher, but as a messenger with a specific and authoritative message from Jesus.
He wastes no time getting to the point which prompted his writing. The churches in Galatia were being influenced in such a way that the very message of the gospel was being changed (Gal 1:6-10). The changes are not slight variations...but are in essence the proposition of another gospel, which Paul says is a false gospel. A perversion of the truth is not a harmless or inconsequential adjustment...it is a fundamental change to the nature of the gospel. Paul speaks in no uncertain terms to the "gospel" which is gaining popularity in the region. He pronounces it to be a false gospel and proclaims that its preachers are to be accursed!
Paul alludes to the fact that this false gospel has arisen from a desire to make the gospel more man-centric than God-centric...something more pleasing to men. You and I cannot change the gospel in such a way to make it more agreeable to us, without making in disagreeable to God. Paul notes that salvation is by grace alone (Gal 1:6), and not by grace plus philosophy/knowledge (gnosticism), or grace plus circumcision (Judaism).
It seems that some had charged that Paul had gotten off track by being influenced by the uneducated disciples of Jesus. They accused Paul of having lost his way. Paul defends the fact that the substance of his preaching/ gospel was given by Christ and not by man (Gal 1:11-24). It is not that Paul was confused about the gospel. He knew full well what he was preaching and how it differed from his previous life as a devout Pharisee. He even proposes that his preaching of salvation by grace was not a mistake; rather, it was a tool that, when contrasted with his Jewish zeal before Christ, actually drew people to God. The transformation that had taken place in his life was the very tool that God was using to reveal Himself.
Observation: God has not changed. He has and will always use the transformation of our lives as his primary "hook" for the gospel. The gospel loses its "draw-power" when there is no transformation. To propose that life goes on as usual once we "get saved" is to propose that there was nothing really wrong with us in our lives without Christ.
Has there been a measurable, observable change in your life? Have you come to a place when you know that you were made different because you asked Jesus to save you...not because you deserved it, but because He is gracious? If not, then there is no biblical precedent for you to have confidence in your relationship with God. Every biblical model I have ever seen involves a deep work of God in a person's life that resulted in a dramatic and observable difference.
Proverbs 3:25-26 is the takeaway today. I was impressed that much of the struggle we face with obedience and authority has to do with thinking too far ahead. We want to be obedient...but we wonder, "What will this mean later...or how will this work out down the road." God is a step-by-step God. We are to live by faith, meaning we are to be obedient now...knowing that He is in control and will care for us then. Many times, we can only see two results from a given course of action. Truthfully, our evaluation may be in error. Sometimes, God interjects the "x" factor and creates a third result we did not see to begin with...because He alone is wise and good and gracious.
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4 comments:
okay so I have read this about four times now, one would think I was attempting to memorize it when I am simply trying to wrap my head around what God wants me to get from Galations 1. Well for some reason I am stuck on vv 6-10 so these are my thoughts... not real sure what this 'other' gospel really was but I am guessing in my life it is anything I put in front of God's word. I have felt God tug on me to read His word but instead found something else to do or read or watch. I pray that I desire God's will for my life so badly that I never turn away from His gospel. v 10 was big to me too, I too often answer to men rather than to God. Goodness I feel vulernable... hope I am not way out in left field somewherè Pastor. This is just what I thought today.
Oh yeah... question, I have just started following you in Proverbs (I know shame on me... just being honest) in v14-18 who is she? Thanks!
Amanda,
Good thoughts. The "false gospel" Paul speaks of here is the perverted teaching that had made its way into the church. Most likely he his speaking of Judaizers...those guys who said you must be saved by grace AND observe some aspects of the Jewish Law to be right with God (i.e. circumcision). Some say it was a "gonostic" influence (i.e. salvation by grace and a receiving some special revelation/knowledge about God). Either way...the gospel plus anything is not the gospel. The false gospel here is the "gospel" plus something.
As for the woman in proverbs...it is "wisdom" personified. The writer speaks of wisdom (and foolishness) as though she were a woman. You can draw whatever conclusion you like... (grin).
Thanks for the post. You are doing well!
Many people tie the "Wisdom" in Proverbs to God's Wisdom (obviously) and God's Word, which for the Christian would then link it to Christ as God's Word. Reread the verses and consider how they relate to what we know of Christ and add in verse 19 and compare it to John 1:3.
Now don't strain too hard on this, because if you are reading it, Brother Chris is agreeable to the link between Wisdom and Christ. (If not, I'll get an email. :0 ) Simply remember when you read about Wisdom in Proverbs, it is a foreshadowing of Christ while it is still a call to gain righteous knowledge from studying Scriptures for the Jews.
Kamatu,
Thanks for your post. True...there is a foreshadowing of Christ throughout the OT. True, Christ is the Word of God. True the Word of God is Wisdom. That is as far as I would take it.
The "woman" in proverbs that is wisdom personified is not Christ. It is Wisdom personified. Do we see Christ as wise? Yes. Are we wise to act as Christ commands and models? Yes. Is the woman in proverbs "Christ?" There is no way possible that the writer of proverbs had the OT Messiah in mind when writing.
Proverbs is a collection of generally true principles/maxims. If what you said were categorically and unconditionally true in a universal sense...then by holding to the instruction of "wisdom," we would always gain the benefit of the proverb. This is simply not experientially accurate. One example...and I will close.
Proverbs 22:6 states that if we train up a child in the way He should live his life...he will never depart from it. Many moms and dads would argue that though they labored to provide the proper foundation, their children chose a path of rebellion, some unto death. If you hold that the problem was the foundation laid by the parents, then the responsibility for the eternal soul of the child rests in lack of proper training. This is unbiblical.
One doesn't have to read his/her theology into every verse. Wisdom literature is simply that. Yes we see Christ in it, but it is overworking the text to try to say that the writer had the Messiah in mind and that is who the personification of wisdom is.
Thanks for the post.
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