The Carpenter's Chapel (4)

Tuesday, July 20, 2004

Galatians Chapter One

"Paul, an apostle...and all the brethren with me...offer grace to you ad peace from God..."

The purpose of writing this letter is twofold: (1) Paul needs to address these people who have fallen in their witness to Christ; and (2) to establish the fact that he is an apostle, and more than that, an apostle with the full blessing and respect of his peers and fellow apostles.

It is a shame, that to be effective in a community of believers, one must first establish his credentials. We think rumours travel fast to-day, but it travelled faster in biblical times. They didn't have the internet, but they must have had fast runners. What various leaders had said in one place was an item of debate in the next. Now, I don't know about you, but usually I need a little time to digest what I have heard before I can resemble intelligence with a response. These folk were ready to respond.

This does show the importance of credibility in ministry, and in the Christian life. Often, when preaching, we must go through the regimen of a full course meal. We must give a little entre- just a taster to whet the appetite. The soup should seal our presence. But what if it doesn't? Anyone who has preached in a different church knows what I am saying here, and so did Paul. He had to establish his apostleship, and also his authority among the apostles. These were his introductory remarks. There is a time when it is alright to blow our own whistle, but be as thoughtful as Paul, and include a doxology of praise unto God.

One thing Paul does not do in lifting himself up is to compromise the gospel. We are not to waterdown what we believe to become popular as a public speaker. "Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins..."

Let us never compromise our faith to accommodate the world, or to establish our own credentials. Our witness should go before us, and once we compromise our beliefs, we have indeed established our credentials as being weak, unfaithful and unreliable. Paul was none of these things and he was setting out to prove it before the church at Galatia.

Cheers,

Jim

 

Thursday, July 22, 2004

Galatians 1: 6

“I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of
Christ unto another gospel.”

To my mind, this is one of the most fascinating verses in scripture. Paul has just
finished giving the finest doxology in praise of God before these people of the
church in Galatia. One might gather the impression that this was the most devout
congregation in the land. Pauls opens with, “I marvel”. I am astonished. To-day he
might have said, I am stunned! He is outspoken about how stupid these people
could be. These are believers, my friends. Paul is not addressing some cult, or a
gathering of unbelievers. These are people who had come to a saving knowledge of
the Lord Jesus and the saving grace of God. Now Paul is stunned. Stunned at what?
That they are so soon removed...This not only suggests, but firmly indicates,
involvement on their part. They willfully decided to move in this evil direction.
Now Paul does not talk about losing faith, nor losing their salvation. He tells them
that they have betrayed himself (Paul) and the Lord. The “him that called you” has
reference both to Paul, who preached the gospel, and the Lord who called them into
saving grace. It was a double affront; Paul and the Lord. When we fail before the
Lord, we also fail before our fellow believers. What a grave responsibility is ours to
remain faithful to the word. We never act alone. How often do we think, I am not
hurting anyone with what I am doing? But this verse makes it clear that we are in
fact offending the brethren in our actions.

Where have they turned? “unto another gospel.” Remember, Paul is not talking
about salvation here. The word gospel here has a broader meaning. I think it
includes the whole counsel of God, the entire bible. These people have been caught
up in strange teachings. I am saved, but now I want more. I want to dance. I want to
hear the band, and feel it in my body. I want special signs. Obviously, I don’t know
what the specifics are, but they were additional teachings to the gospel. These are
the very things that led the Galatians to challenge Paul’s apostleship and his
authority. Paul goes on to settle this matter in no uncertain terms. He does not play
around with any group that wold present anything other than the full gospel. We
cannot toy with God’s truth. There are some areas of scripture where we are
uncertain and left to speculation. Here we follow a simple principle that one verse
does not a doctrine make, and scripture will never contradict itself. So, in seeking
truth we interpret scripture by scripture.

When I come across a verse I don’t understand, I skip over it and read on. I will
come upon it again, and perhaps next time, I will have come across the verse that
explains it. No other book in my library is so alive with understanding. Truly the
word is a lamp unto my path.

Paul says this, doesn’t he? “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any
other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be
accursed.” There is one truth, and it is the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lord, never let us become smug in our own redemption so that we adopt
another gospel. All of grace, and all of Thee.

Cheers,

Jim

 

Charles,
You are so right. Far too often we just don't get the picture, do we?

Another area of concern is when we quote scripture, and then proceed as if that scripture didn't exist. We see this so often when people are experiencing difficulties in their lives. We behave as if God never said, Lo, I am with you alway.

Cheers,

Jim

 

All my life, I have been a student of the scriptures. I wanted to know exactly what was intended by the original writer.

In the devotionals, there is a different approach. I am more concerned with the spiritual values of those same scriptures. Mind you, I am not ignoring either the context or the best translation of the text. How enlightening it can be.

Cheers, and enjoy,

Jim

 

Rather than breakup Charles' weekend devotions, I will start the new chapel to-day.

Cheers, and many thanks for attending.

Jim