Paul the Apostle continues his appeal to the Galatian Church to not be pulled into a legalistic doctrine by forgetting that Grace Alone through faith brings salvation.  In his appeal, he bids them to recall when he had first come to them to preach the gospel.  “ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first, and my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God” (Galatians 4:13-14).  We are not told what the illness was that Paul refers to; but, it would appear that he was forced by illness to stop in Galatia.  They may not have even been on missionary route; but, God caused an illness to press him to stop for a moment.  While there he taught the gospel message to them.

Whatever the illness was, it was one that caused him to appear repulsive.  Still during his stay, they received him with great gladness; because of the message of the gospel.  He told them of Jesus Christ and His completed work of redemption on the cross so that sinful man might be saved by grace through faith, not of works.  Yet, now, Paul is writing them because the Judaizers had begun to teach them that righteousness could only be obtained through following the law and demanding they be circumcised.  Legalism appeals to mankind’s pride, so they were quickly allowing this false doctrine to infiltrate the church.  Paul takes them back, reminding them of his own illness; which forced him to rely on the strength of Jesus Christ and not his own.  He bids them to rely on Jesus Christ for their righteousness becoming themselves putty in God’s hands.

A Note from John Piper’s Sermon “O That Christ Would Be Formed In You”

the Son of God comes and shapes us from within if we rely on him to come and shape us. The Son takes shape in those who abandon themselves to him. Christ forms himself in the lives of those who will let go of all the forms of life in which they have shaped on their own. Christ takes shape in a life that is willing to become putty in God’s hands. Christ presses the shape of his own face into the clay of our soul when we cease to be hard and resistant, and when we take our own amateur hands off and admit that we are not such good artists as he is.

 

Here we can see clearly what faith is. Faith is the assurance that what God will make of you, as Christ is formed in your life, is vastly to be preferred over what you can make of yourself. Faith is the confidence that the demonstration of Christ’s work in your life is more wonderful than all the praise you could get for yourself by being a self-made man—or woman. Faith is a happy resting in the all-sufficiency of what Christ did on the cross, what he is doing now in our heart, and what he promises to do for us for ever.

 

So it’s clear how Paul’s message and the Judaizers’ message are opposed to each other. Their message caters to our natural pride—our desire to be “self-made” people who get glory for ourselves. Paul’s message robs us of all such pride by saying we should be “Christ-made” people who get glory for God by trusting him to shape us every day. [1]

Illness Can Be a Blessing

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Within the hearts of all men and women, there is a moral compass.  This is true of the believer and the unbeliever.  The very fact that we are born with a moral compass, points to the truth that there is a God.  Evolution could never have developed within mankind a moral compass or a desire for infinity.  Look deep within, there is a desire built also within man for infinity.  The Law revealed God’s Holiness and Righteousness; but, it also proved man’s own inability to accomplish perfect righteousness by his own volition.  From the beginning of time, mankind desired something or someone greater than themselves to overcome the elements of this world.  That desire for law, order and power itself points toward the existence of God.  Under the bondage of a law which nature itself writes on our hearts, we are lead to despair, driving us to discover God.

When God gave Moses the law, it was not for the law to bring salvation.  Rather it pointed out mankind’s need for a redeemer.  It pointed them to look to God, in faith to trust Him to provide for them a salvation they could not achieve on their own.  He alone provided their protection and their provision.  Furthermore, He was their guide through the wilderness of this life. He promised them a Messiah, a redeemer.  Their only hope of salvation was faith in Him.  The sacrificial system pointed to that Messiah who would come.  Their sins were not covered because of the sacrifice; rather, their salvation came through faith that God would wash them clean by His Grace.

What the Law Could Not Do, Christ Did

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The early church of Galatia was invaded by many false teachers.  These false churches taught that Salvation began with faith in Jesus Christ; however, once having placed their faith in Jesus the continuance of their salvation was based on their subjection to the law.  Paul’s response in Galatians is crystal clear.  Salvation is by faith alone and not by the works of the law.  The purpose of the law was to reveal to mankind his inability to come to God by works of their own hand.  Over and over again, throughout history; mankind’s failure to live righteously before a Righteous and Just God through works of their own hand. How could it be then that anyone would believe they could keep their salvation by the works of the law performed by their own will?

Christ came, paid the price for our sin.  He was the ultimate sacrifice, setting us free from the law we were so inept to keep by our own power.   Rather we are called to new life in Christ Jesus.

“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:2-4).

A New Life by Faith Not the Works of the Law

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Salvation is an act of God’s Grace.  We cannot obtain it by merit of our own ability. Neither can we live the Christian life through our own strength.  We are justified by faith in Jesus Christ.  Justified by faith means that not only are our sins forgiven; but, that we are declared righteous because of the finished work of Christ on the Cross.  He paid in full our penalty: past, present and future.  When anyone accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior, the Holy Spirit seals their salvation.

That we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ.  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His Glory.  Ephesians 1:12-14.

Therefore, we no longer live under the law with it’s death penalty.  Does that mean I live a life of sin; because, I know the penalty has been removed?  Absolutely not.  Having been justified by Grace through faith in Jesus Christ, I am brought to life to a new life.  The power to live that life comes because the Holy Spirit indwells every believer, placing them in Christ.

ROMANS 8:1-3, 8-9

Continue reading What Does It Mean to Be Justified by Faith? →

Of all the Apostles, Paul was the most educated in the Scripture; having been taught by Gamaliel, a respected member of the Sanhedrin.  Paul, prior to his conversion was a Pharisee, who because of His intense loyalty to Judaism and the tradition of the elders, he began to persecute the Christians.[1] Yet, when he met and was confronted by the risen Christ; he realized that all this teaching by men had failed to teach him the truth.  Before he began his ministry, he went into Arabia where for three years he studied the Scripture with God alone being his teacher.  “But I certify you, brethren that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.  For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:11-12).

Paul had not walked with Jesus while he was on earth. Therefore, for him to become the teacher of the Gentile nation as God had called him, he would need to be taught the truth of Scripture by Jesus Christ before he listened even to the other apostles.  In his letter to the Galatians, Paul outlines this with great detail.  All too often, we as Christians find ourselves satisfied with just attending a church and only learning of scripture by what the preacher says.  Although, this is important; it does not negate our need to daily set aside time to prayerfully study the Scripture ourselves so that we might rightly discern the truth of the gospel. We must not rely solely on what other men tell us.

The Importance of Studying the Scripture

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