1 Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and
God the Father, who raised him from the dead — 2 and all the brothers with me,
To the churches in Galatia: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the
present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be
glory for ever and ever. Amen. 6 I am astonished that you are so
quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning
to a different gospel — 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently
some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel
of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel
other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!
9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you
a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!
10 Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to
please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant
of Christ.
- Galatians 1:1-10, The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
Publishing House) 1984.
In the name of Christ Jesus, dear friends:
Maybe it is because television shows are constantly trying to "push the envelope" to boost their ratings. Maybe it has something to do with athletes who routinely allow the most unbelievable things to come out of their mouths. Maybe it is because Madonna has reinvented herself one too many times.
Maybe it is a combination of these things that has led us as a country and as individuals to become morally numb. Because sin is so prevalent, because sin is so out in the open and in your face in the world today, our collective conscience has become dull. Things that shocked people a generation ago are hardly even noticed today. Actions that at one time prompted a public outcry are now met with indifference and apathy.
What does that mean? For one, it means that it is necessary to go even farther to get a reaction. And some people are willing to do just that, to do and say almost anything for shock value. Some are motivated by greed. Others may be seeking attention. Some probably want nothing more than to feel the adrenaline rush of knowing that all eyes are on them.
In the words of our text for today, the opening verses of Paul’s letter to the Galatians, Paul uses some pretty strong words to get people’s attention. In fact, I believe that Paul’s tone borders on harsh because he is deliberately seeking to get a reaction from his readers.
But Paul’s motive was not selfish. He had no personal agenda. He was not driven by greed. He was not looking for his place in the spotlight. His number one concern, his only concern, was the spiritual welfare of God’s people.
As we meditate on the opening verses of this letter, the correspondence between a pastor and his people, it is my prayer that we will apply these inspired words to our own lives and receive them in the spirit Paul intended, words intended to have...
Sanctified Shock Value
I. As Paul established the authority of his message
II. As Paul expressed concerns to his flock
Before we can look at these verses, we need to know some things about the people to whom they were written. The Galatians lived in the province of Galatia (modern day Turkey), also known as Asia Minor. It is likely that the recipients of this letter were some of the same people Paul and Barnabas met on their first missionary journey. Some of the cities in Galatia they visited on that journey included: Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe.
A pastor’s first catechism class is special. An older pastor once told me that I would likely confirm hundreds of people during my ministry, but my first class would always have a special place in my heart.
The Galatian Christians were among Paul’s first converts. Therefore, they were very special to him. And so the news that Paul had received about these young Christians must have been very troubling. After Paul had moved on, some other pastor-types followed him. As a group, we refer to these people as Judaizers. The problem with these Judaizers was that they did not preach the same message as Paul.
Whereas Paul liberated their souls by preaching a message a full and free salvation that comes only by God’s grace through Jesus Christ, the Judaizers sought to spiritually imprison people by telling them they had to earn their salvation by following certain rules and regulations. Because the Galatian Christians were in danger of losing what they had, Paul had no choice but to confront them. And Paul’s first objective was to establish the authority of his message.
Listen to the opening verse: "Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead" (1). Paul applied the title, "apostle," to himself. Literally, an apostle was a person who was "sent out."
In the narrow sense of the word, an apostle was a person who was personally commissioned by Jesus. In the broader sense, an apostle was anyone sent out by God’s people to preach the gospel. Paul could rightfully claim to be an apostle in both senses. He had been sent to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, but he had also been called directly by Jesus himself in a blinding light on the road to Damascus (Acts 9).
As a result, Paul was right when he said that he was "sent not from men nor by man." He didn’t learn from any of Jesus’ twelve disciples. He was not the understudy of his traveling companion Barnabas. Paul didn’t come up with his own ideas either.
Both Paul’s apostleship and his message came via direct revelation "by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead." Paul didn’t decide one day to become a missionary. He didn’t even make the decision to become a believer. Instead, Paul had been called to faith and called to serve by the crucified and risen Lord.
Paul’s credentials were impressive, but his message was even more impressive. "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father" (3,4).
Grace and peace belong to people who have an intimate knowledge of God and his Son. From God flows grace. From Jesus flows peace. The common definition that we use for God’s grace is his "undeserved love." Connected to that definition is the idea that God owes us nothing, but gives us everything.
The evidence of God’s grace in our lives is everywhere, but it is nowhere more evident than in Ephesians 2: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast (8,9)." Grace flows only one way, from our loving Father to us, meaning that...he loves us, he saved us, he cares for us, and he is accessible to us.
And through God’s only Son, Jesus, we have peace. We have peace because Jesus did what no person could ever do. We have peace because Jesus lived perfectly in our place. We can sleep peacefully at night because Jesus gave himself for our sins. We can get up in the morning on fire to serve the Lord because Jesus obeyed his Father’s will. We can meet the challenges of each new day in a hostile world because Jesus has rescued us from the present evil age.
Perhaps some of the Galatians were shocked when they read this letter. "Who does Paul think he is? Why does he have to brag?" But Paul was not trying to draw attention to himself. His only objective was to lead these people back to God, "to whom be glory forever and ever" (5). First, Paul needed to prove to his readers that his authority came from God. Then and only then could he express concerns to his flock.
Paul authored roughly half of the books of the New Testament. Every one of these is written in the form of a letter, either addressed to congregations or to individual Christians. Most of Paul’s letters follow a set pattern, especially at the beginning.
Listen to the introductions to some of these letters, beginning with Romans: "First, I thank God for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world" (1:8). Now the opening words of Philippians: "I thank my God every time I remember you" (1:3). And finally, I Thessalonians: "We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers" (1:2).
Now compare those introductions with Paul’s first words for the Galatians: "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel" (6). Notice anything different? There are no words of praise, no words of thanksgiving, no pleasantries. Paul gets right to the heart of the matter because the situation is critical.
What was the problem? The Galatians were deserting the true gospel for "another gospel," which was "really no gospel at all." Gospel means "good news." The good news is that Jesus lived and died on the cross to take away the sins of the world. That means Jesus is the way to heaven and Jesus is the only way to heaven. The Judaizers (mentioned before) were trying to convince the Galatians (and by Paul’s tone, it appears that they were persuasive) that they needed to fulfill some additional obligations in order to get into heaven.
What was the big deal? Why was Paul so charged up? Were the Judaizers’ minor additions causing any real harm? Think about it this way. If our salvation depends in any way on what we do, then we are in effect saying that what Jesus did for us was not enough. Or from another angle, if salvation depends at all on what we do, we are in big trouble because our best efforts, our most righteous acts are like filthy rags. As a result, any gospel that adds or subtracts from the message of salvation through faith in Jesus is anything but good news.
How serious was Paul about this? To him, it was a matter of spiritual life and death. "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned" (8). It doesn’t matter if the preacher is Paul or Peter or even the angel Gabriel, salvation does not depend on the messenger.
Just in case any of the Galatians missed this point, Paul repeats it in a general way: If anyone is preaching a gospel to you other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned" (9). These words could not be more clear. Anyone who preaches a message that contradicts the message of salvation through faith in Jesus alone deserves to spend eternity in the fires of hell because by his preaching he is leading his hearers down the same destructive path.
I can say with some confidence that Paul did not enjoy writing those words. He wanted to praise the Galatians for their faith. He wanted to hold them up as an example for others to follow. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t say what was not true. So Paul spoke openly and honestly to warn them. He expressed his concerns with great emotion in order to win them back.
I am not a big fan of the television show "E.R.," but I caught part of an episode a couple months ago. One of the doctors was with a patient alone in an elevator. This patient had killed several people and had even made threats against the attending doctor’s wife. As they were going up to the operating room, the patient went into cardiac arrest. The doctor grabbed the paddles to shock his heart...but then he hesitated. He hesitated as he remembered what this man had done and what he was still capable of. And then he stopped completely and allowed the patient to die.
Do you know someone who is on spiritual life support right now? Are you in a position to help someone who is in desperate need of life saving measures? Don’t let that person die. Use the tools God has given you to shock that heart back to life. He has given you the Law to show people their sin and need for a Savior. He has given you the gospel, God’s perfect medicine to revive the sin damaged soul and nurse it back to health. And he has given you a promise that when his Word is proclaimed, it will accomplish the healing he desires...every single time.
In another letter, Paul encouraged the Christians at Ephesus to "speak the truth in love" (4:15). By the way he addressed a difficult and delicate situation with the Galatians, you could say that Paul took his own advice. And his words of wisdom are not outdated.
When we speak from God’s Word, we speak the TRUTH. The gospel is clear and it cannot be compromised. Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. Everything else, no matter how good it might look, no matter how logical it might sound, is a lie.
God’s Word is the truth, and our God encourages us to SPEAK it. The gospel is something we need to hear again and again because it is contrary to the way we naturally think. We want to believe that we are basically good. We don’t want to like to hear that we are helpless and hopeless. Therefore, we need to be constantly reminding ourselves and others that God saved us because he loved us, not because we deserve to be loved.
And finally, God encourages us to speak the truth IN LOVE. Love does not look the other way. Love does not avoid conflict at all costs. Christian love sometimes shocks a heart out of its spiritual slumber. Christian love sometimes warns a soul in spiritual danger. But no matter what, Christian love looks to the needs of others, body and soul. Therefore, we speak the truth in love because God has given us his Word that love never fails. Amen.