Sunday Evening Bible Study
December 3, 1995
Introduction
Paul
is writing to a group of churches which he had helped to establish.
Note: When Paul preached the gospel in a certain
place, he didn't just see who would "come forward", or who would pray
"the sinners' prayer" with him.
When he left an area, there would be a church established. There would be ongoing ministry going on in
these peoples' lives.
After
having established these churches, there were a group of teachers called
"Judaizers" who came in and began spreading their own doctrines.
The
Judaizers felt that a Gentile couldn't really be saved apart from first
becoming a Jew.
They
taught that after a person came to Jesus, they would have to then be
circumcised, and begin to follow the Law of Moses.
:6-10
Another gospel
:6
I marvel that ye are so soon removed
As
our beloved Raul Ruiz would say, "It's amazing!"
lit.
- "You are transferring yourselves"
Paul
is blown away that it has been so little time since they were converted, and
they are already going away from the truth.
It's
my understanding that the cults will often work this way.
They
will sometimes prey on the new believers.
Calvary
Costa Mesa used to have Mormon missionaries sneak in and sit in the back, and
then after an altar call, they would seek out the new believers and hit them
up.
The
Harvest Crusade also has had all kinds of groups try to come out on the field
during an altar call, and try to pass out literature among the new believers.
:6
from him that called you into the grace of Christ
What
was Paul's gospel?
Gospel
= good news, what good news?
The
good news is that though you are a sinner, and separated from God by your sins,
God has made it possible for you to come to Him and have a relationship with
Him.
Romans
3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans
6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans
5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
What
God has done for us is to have His Son, Jesus Christ, die on a cross, and in
dying on the cross, He paid the penalty of our sins for us.
2Corinthians
5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
All
we need to do to receive this payment for our sins is to believe in Jesus, and
accept God's free gift of salvation.
John
1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he
power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
It's
not about cleaning up your life, to somehow become worthy of knowing God.
We
are totally unable to do anything to merit God's blessings on our lives.
It's
only what God does for us that counts.
The
idea of grace is what the gospel is all about.
What
is grace?
charis - grace ;that which affords joy, pleasure, delight,
sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech; good will, loving-kindness,
favour
It's
based on: chairo - to rejoice, be
glad
The
New Testament idea of grace is that it's God's loving goodness that is shown
toward us, not because we deserve it, but inspite of our deserving it.
Paul
writes:
Ephesians
2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and
that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Our
salvation comes as a result of God's loving grace.
We
receive our salvation through the agency of faith.
It's
as if faith is the hypodermic needle that injects the life giving serum of
grace into our veins.
And
even the faith that we have has been given to us from God.
Lesson:
Our
salvation is totally God's work.
We
need to keep this always in the forefront of our faith.
It
wasn't because we cleaned up our lives that we got saved.
It
wasn't because we stopped smoking or drinking.
It
was only because Jesus died in our place, while we did not deserve it, and we
have accepted His payment on our behalf.
It's
important to keep in mind how we began, in order to understand how we continue.
Read How
Grace Changes Everything, page 40.
:6
unto another gospel
These
Judaizers were preaching another message than what Paul preached.
RWP: These men as in #2Co 11:4 preach
"another Jesus" and a
"different gospel" and so have fallen away
from grace and have done away with Christ (#Ga
5:4).
2Co
11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth
another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit,
which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye
might well bear with him.
Ga
5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by
the law; ye are fallen from grace.
:7
Which is not another
Paul
uses another word in the Greek here than "another" used in verse 6.
in
verse 6 - heteros - the other,
another, other; to quality, another: i.e. one not of the same nature, form,
class, kind, different
in
verse 7 - allos - another, other,
as compared with heteros denotes numerical in distinction from
qualitative differences
In
other words, Paul is saying in verse 6, that these guys are preaching a
completely different gospel, but in verse 7 he's saying that it's not just one
more gospel, it's not good news, it's bad news!
:7
but there be some that trouble you
trouble - tarasso - to
agitate, trouble (a thing, by the movement of its parts to and fro); to cause
one inward commotion, take away his calmness of mind, disturb his equanimity;
to perplex the mind of one by suggesting scruples or doubts
These
Judaizers had moved in on the Galatian churches, and where there had been peace
of mind in these believers, there were now all kinds of doubts and anxieties.
Lesson:
Difference
between grace and legalism - anxiety
When
our relationship with God is totally dependant upon God's work for us, then
there can be peace.
When
our relationship with God is dependant upon our keeping of some code or law,
then we're constantly having to be on guard, and worried about falling short.
If
you have anxiety over whether you're right with God or not, maybe you've
strayed into legalism.
I'm
not saying this to start making you worry about losing your salvation, but
because maybe we need to rediscover God's grace instead.
:7
pervert the gospel of Christ.
pervert - metastrepho
- to turn around, turn around
How
was it perverted?
Instead
of the gospel being all about what God has done for us, it becomes all about
what we must do for God.
:8
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach
More
than one cult has been started by someone claiming to have new revelation from
"an angel".
:8
let him be accursed
anathema
1) a
thing set up or laid by in order to be kept
1a)
specifically, an offering resulting from a vow, which after being consecrated
to a god was hung upon the walls or columns of the temple, or put in some other
conspicuous place
2) a
thing devoted to God without hope of being redeemed, and if an animal, to be
slain; therefore a person or thing doomed to destruction
2a) a
curse
2b) a
man accursed, devoted to the direst of woes
It's
the word in the LXX used to describe the stuff in Jericho that was "under
the ban", the things that were set aside to be destroyed, and were not to
be touched.
Lesson:
God
doesn't take lightly those who pervert the gospel
Illustration:
Charles
Edward Pugh exclaimed before his death, "The Christian way is horse sense.
It is sanity. And anyone who thinks otherwise is a damned fool, and I am not
swearing when I say that."
Illustration:
On a cold winter day in 1986, Diane Elsroth
entered a store in Bronxville, New York looking for something to relieve her
pain. She bought a bottle of medicine,
not knowing that someone had opened the bottle's tamper-resistant wrapping,
tainted the capsules with cyanide, and returned them to the store's shelf. Within a short time after Elsroth left the
store, the cyanide-laced capsules killed her.
Like a medicine mixed with cyanide, a
perverted gospel has the power to kill rather than make whole.
:9
so say I now again ... let him be accursed.
Do
you think that Paul is very serious about this?
Do
you think we ought to be serious about this as well?
10
For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I
yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
NIV:
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.
Apparently
one of the many accusations made against Paul was that his gospel was just a
message designed to please people.
Paul
responds to say that if he was living to please people, he would never become a
servant of Christ.
Most
of the time, the last thing the people in the world want is for you to be a
servant of the Lord.
Lesson:
Be
careful about living to please people rather than God.
Illustration:
An old fable that has been passed down for generations
tells about an elderly man who was traveling with a boy and a donkey. As they
walked through a village, the man was leading the donkey and the boy was
walking behind. The townspeople said the
old man was a fool for not riding, so to please them he climbed up on the
animal's back. When they came to the next village, the people said the old man
was cruel to let the child walk while he enjoyed the ride. So, to please them, he got off and set the
boy on the animal's back and continued on his way. In the third village, people accused the child
of being lazy for making the old man walk, and the suggestion was made that
they both ride. So the man climbed on
and they set off again. In the fourth
village, the townspeople were indignant at the cruelty to the donkey because he
was made to carry two people. The
frustrated man was last seen carrying the donkey down the road.
We smile, but this story makes a good point:
We can't please everybody, and if we try we end up carrying a heavy burden.
Well- meaning Christians may offer us advice, and much of it is valuable. But
when we try to do everything other believers want us to do, we can easily
become frustrated and confused. That's
why we need to remember that the One we must please above all others is Christ.
And we do that by obeying God's Word.
If
we're trying to please people, we're gonna have a crazy time keeping them
happy!
Illustration:
Samuel
Johnson once wrote, "Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible
objections must first be overcome."
Lesson:
Know
who you work for
By
the way, it's Jesus:
Colossians
3:22-24 Servants, obey in all things your masters
according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness
of heart, fearing God: 23 And whatsoever
ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; 24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the
reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.