How many of you remember the children’s story of “The Pied Piper”?
Of course, that story was a work of fiction, though for many centuries, literature sleuths have tried to tie it to an event in real history. Totally without success, I might add. One could go mad researching this story, trying to find the Truth of it!
For the sake of time, the words "pied piper”, became a metaphor for, “a person who attracts a following, through charisma or false promises”. It's interesting to look at the name “pied piper”. Most of us know that a “piper” is someone who plays a musical instrument, like a flute or similar kind of musical wind instrument.
I wonder though, how many of us know the meaning of the word “pied”? I didn’t, until I researched it.
It means “…a piper is one dressed in multicolored ("pied") clothing”.
As I researched further into the story of “The Pied Piper”, I found that this children's story, had actually shown up in real life, in c.1300 a.d. as a stained glass window, in a church in Hamlin, Germany. Think about that for a moment, especially in today’s mega Churches and all that’s going on there. A fairy tale makes it into the Church of that day and time. It really is true, that if we don't learn from history, we are bound to repeat it.
You would be surprised to know just how many times a “pied piper’ in history, has shown up at Church, in real life, espousing some heresy. I’ll bet you can think of a few. Adolf Hitler is one.
Now, let's go back in time to the days of The New Testament. Paul, the author of Galatians, has heard some very distressing news about several of the Churches in the area of Galatia. So, he writes a letter to address some well known “Pied Pipers”. These “Pied Pipers” were called “Judaizers”. They would follow Paul in his Ministry of Church planting, and leading the lost to Christ. These false teachers would, wait for Paul to leave, and then come in and try to undo, or at the very least, altar Paul’s Gospel message of true Redemption through Christ alone.
We will get to the verse by verse interpretation in a moment, but first, I want to try to recreate through a parable or story, what was taking place in the Churches of Galatia.
Imagine for a moment, you have a computer before you. Try to get a mental picture in your mind of a computer.
Okay, now that you’ve got a mental picture of a computer in your mind, think of this computer as a very special computer. Its not your normal everyday garden variety, computer. It’s a Spiritual computer.
It's not like an Apple, or an Android, or a Microsoft computer. No, this is a computer built specifically by God. He has ordained it, and has it transported to Earth. Now every person on the planet, will be given one of these Heavenly computers.
There’s another thing about this special computer and this is unique to it alone. It can only perform ONE task. It's a one and done type thing. Once you have chosen the Icon that best describes your Faith beliefs, you are done. The computer will start up with that selection only. Got it?
This out of the ordinary Heavenly computer, has only four “icons” on its screen. Only four! And there can NEVER be any more icons added.
This computer is so perfect that it cannot be hacked. What? Yes, our modern day computers can, but never this one. Why? God is the coder. No mere mortal can alter God’s original purpose for this special computer.
I need you to bear with me for one more children’s story. But don’t forget about our Heavenly computer, as we will come back to that and make a Biblical Application of it.
This illustration or story, is called ‘Aladdin’s Lamp’.
“I wonder who recalls the number of wishes the possessor of the lamp got?
Yep, you remembered, three. I wonder what would you have wished for? When the lamp was rubbed, three wishes were granted. No more! No less!
On our computer you click on your wish. Remember, you can only choose one Icon, no matter how many times you rub it. Whatever icon you click on, what comes next, is the application that adheres to the icon's representation. That, and only that, is what you will see on your screen from that point on.
The selection of whatever icon you choose, will represent one of four, very distinct, and this is very important, listen up, permanent outcomes. When you move your cursor over one of these Icons, and you tap on that icon, it’s corresponding App, or Application, will pop up. But, and let me caution you again here, before you tap on one of these four icons, for the purpose of this illustration, you can’t go back and pick another icon.
It’s as I said before, this decision is……“A one and done thing”. Only one icon can be chosen, EVER! Yes, I know in life we do have chances along the way to change our earlier choices, but in this parable we don't.
From this point on, your computer will work only in the context of its chosen Application. Whatever your chosen Application is, that’s all you are going to get to work with.
This Application, BTW has “ETERNAL” consequences.
You see, we are not going to be playing “Candy Crush” on our computer. This is a Heavenly computer. There are no games on it, only the REALITY OF GOD’S TRUTH & WORD!
One other thing to remember, God has given us a Free Will, so choose your Icon wisely!
( Now, lets turn to Galatians 5:1-6 / Read the Passage)
“1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free;
*therefore keep standing firm and
do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.
2 Look! I, Paul, tell you
that if you have yourselves circumcised,
Christ will be of no benefit to you.
3 And I testify again to every man
who has himself circumcised,
that he is obligated to keep the whole Law.
4 You have been severed from Christ,
you who are seeking to be justified by the Law;
you have fallen from grace.
5 For we, through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.
6 For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision……… nor uncircumcision
means anything,
but faith working through love.”
Now, I want to show you a picture of our special Heavenly computer, to see if in your mind, you have the correct picture of what I described.
Let’s look together at the 4 Icon’s as to what each represents.
In life, we only have 4 options available to us in reality.
The first Icon, well let me ask you, what do you think the first Icon means?
Wow, some of you are awake. Right! So,There Is No God, and No True Religion!
This is a total rejection of God, and by extension, Jesus and His Gospel.
This is the Icon of the Atheist!
When the person that taps that Icon, they are saying, I’m an Atheist!
There is no God, no Heaven, and when I die, that’s all there is!
This is one of the saddest decisions a person can make.
He or she has decided “I want nothing to do with God or any religion.
If anything, I’m my own god.”!
What about the second Icon?
Okay, it stands for Religion, but specifically, it represents Judaism.
This choice for some says “I accept there is Religion, and this is sometimes a code word for “All Religions lead to the same god”, but in this case, it specifically means Judaism only.
But here, this is a specific symbol meaning, “ I am a Jew” or "I want to follow Judaism".
I accept Judaism as the only truth in its entirety, and nothing else. I only believe in The Law and Good Works spelled out in The Law! The Messiah has not yet come i.e. “NO JESUS as yet has come as The Messiah"!
This too is just as tragic as the first of our Icon’s Atheism! It leads to the same result! A Lost soul!
The 3rd. Icon is fairly obvious,
Its Jesus plus nothing! Yet, in Paul’s day, and oddly enough, in our day as well, there’s a problem. Then, as now, many are trying to mingle two faith's into one, AGAIN. This modern version is as bad as was the first attempt at marrying the Old Covenant with the New Covenant. What Jesus did for us stands ALONE and without any assistance from The Jewish Old Covenant!
JESUS + NOTHING (not even our best works)= GRACE / JESUS + ANYTHING = NOTHING! Actually it represents worse than nothing. It means WE must DO something to ADD to what JESUS DID! No wonder Paul bristled so strongly against such heresy.
We will see Paul telling us this exact same thing in just a bit.
____________________________________________________________________
The 4th. Icon represents what the false teachers/Judaizers were teaching, here in Galatians.
We are zeroing in on Galatians chapter 5:1-6. Look well at this Icon. It is a hodge podge of the old and the new.
Do you remember what Scripture says about putting the old into the new?
Luke 5:37 Berean Standard Bible
“And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will spill, and the wineskins will be ruined.” Jesus ushered in The New Covenant, not of ceremony, or of the Law, but of The Spirit!
Paul certainly didn't die a *martyr for The Mosaic Law. That might have been the way he would have gone out as Saul, but NO WAY as Paul! Paul went to his death believing and preaching there's only ONE WAY and that WAY is JESUS and HIM ALONE! Paul believed in the Church, the BODY of CHRIST, not the OLD Covenant!
Well, this illustration is exactly what some wicked, false teachers were attempting to do behind Paul’s back. They snuck in stealthily and had begun to teach the Galatian's a false, or a different Gospel. Trying as it were, to add the old wine of the Law, into newly converted Christian Jews understanding that Jesus died for their sins, once and for all. These folk were just too new to the Faith in Jesus and not well grounded, to know how to fight this heresy. So, many gave into peer pressure and followed what these legalists were teaching. These false teachers tried to say Paul had no real authority to teach his brand of theology, namely Jesus was the only way to true salvation. Paul could out do any zealot for the Law. Just listen to him here:
"“If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless” (Philippians 3:4-6).
But THEN this happened...and it changed EVERYTHING! Acts chapter 9...
The Damascus Road: Saul Converted
9 Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way (a term used in that day of a follower of Christ), whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. 4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”
Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”
6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”
Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7 And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. 8 Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
Ananias Baptizes Saul
10 Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.”
And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”
11 So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. 12 And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.”
13 Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.”
15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
17 And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.
19 So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus.
Saul Preaches Christ
20 Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.
21 Then all who heard were amazed, and said, “Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?”
22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ.
Saul Escapes Death
23 Now after many days were past, the Jews plotted to kill him. 24 But their plot became known to Saul. And they watched the gates day and night, to kill him. 25 Then the disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall in a large basket.
The Gospel Paul now preaches, doesn't look anything like our 4th. Icon. This is the Icon of the Judaizers! Paul/Saul, just days before the above happened, would not been happy with the new converts to Jesus, and most especially these false teachers either. Saul would have had them both beaten. BUT, NOT NOW, as HE HAS BEEN CHANGED by JESUS!
The above is a perversion of TRUE “GRACE”, which Jesus came to Earth for. He lived a Sinless Life, was Beaten within an inch of HIS LIFE, Sentenced to Die on a Cross, was Buried 3 days, and Rose again on the third day, all on His very own. Neither you nor I, had any part in that process, except that He took our place. We were the ones who had sinned, and needed to be punished, not Jesus! Yet, He ALONE took our place. No ceremony, or feast day, nor any of the Law, could do what Jesus did. Never in a million years! Paul now has come the area of Galatia to settle the score on this issue.
I would seriously like to be a fly on the wall, if it were possible, for Paul to come back in our day and see that the same old tired satanic scheme came up again. Now that would be some sermon I'd wager.
The false teachers had apparently not read or didn’t believe Luke’s account here in
Romans 10:4 (ESV)
“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
These heretical teachers of a false doctrine taught a much different version of The Gospel than that which Paul had preached to the Galatians at the first.
This version said ; “Yes, Jesus came to Earth, born of the virgin Mary, lived for 30 years, and then began His Ministry for 3 years, was put on trial, flogged, put on a Cross, and died. He was Resurrected the third day, and was seen by many, and then ascended back to The Father in Heaven. “ YES" these false teachers would say, "But" …
? What’s wrong with that? Isn’t that what we believe? NO!
These Judaizers also said; “That is not enough! Jesus and His GRACE, is not sufficient to be truly saved." One must add another ingredient to the mix…. Keep The Law of Moses! That ingredient is the Law! More specifically the” Mosaic Law”, and includes circumcision!
JESUS IS NOT ENOUGH for them! The Cross, Death, Burial, and Resurrection was NOT ENOUGH? That is the way all legalistic "ism's" work. There is ALWAYS more WORK for them to pile on unsuspecting, and unlearned, as to God's WORD, folk. No! You can be a friend of the Law, or you be saved by Faith in Jesus, but you can't have both. you can not serve two masters.
Galatians 3:24...
New International Version "So the law was our guardian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith."
New Living Translation "Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith."
English Standard Version
So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.
Berean Standard Bible
So the law became our guardian to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Berean Literal Bible
so that the Law has become our trainer unto Christ, so that we might be justified by faith.
King James Bible
Wherefore the law was our *schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
New King James Version
Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
*Strong's Concordance #3807
Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine
Transliteration: paidagógos
Phonetic Spelling: (pahee-dag-o-gos')
Definition: a trainer of boys, a tutor
Usage: a boy's guardian or tutor, a slave who had charge of the life and morals of the boys of a family, not strictly a teacher.
3807 paidagōgós (from 3816 /país, "a child under development by strict instruction") – properly, a legally appointed overseer, authorized to train (bring) up a child by administering discipline, chastisement, and instruction, i.e. doing what was necessary to promote development.
Jesus plus the “Law” (in Galatians, Law is represented by Circumcision). Let me repeat that, Jesus plus the “Law”, was the true way to be saved, so said the Judiazer’s, but NOT Paul here in Galatians or anywhere else in The New Testament!
All the ordinances and practices of Judaism:
*Sabbath worship,
*the Feast days,
*The whole shebang’, as some folks used to say around here would say, which meant … ALL OF IT! That which makes up the total of the Religion of Judaism.
* Especially “Circumcision”! (The Gateway to JUDIASM!)
One would think that these new Jewish converts to Christianity would balk at the Judiazers heresies. Had they not ever heard Paul preach to them the TRUE GOSPEL? But, remember they did not have the maturity of the “Bereans”.
Turn to Acts 17:1-13
17 Now when they (Paul, Silas, and Timothy) had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.
2 And according to Paul’s custom, he…
(a) visited them, and * for three Sabbaths
(b) reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
3 (c) explaining and giving evidence
that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.”
4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and * a significant number of the leading women.
This next verse describes what kind of men the Judiazer’s were.
5 But the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and they attacked the house of Jason and were seeking to bring them out to the people.
Now look at the conduct of the "JEWS" in the verse above. Ask this yourself this question:
If Paul was not preaching a NEW GOSPEL, why would the Jews get upset. You have to see this fact if you are truly seeking a proper understanding of this Scripture, That Paul was completely upsetting the Judaizers applecart. Paul is saying that system which has governed them for many hundreds of years, is now NULL AND VOID! So one cannot believe in good conscious that Paul would agree with ANYONE who believed that the Law of Moses was now still active and relevant AFTER JESUS DIED AND ROSE AGAIN! Much less would tolerate Circumcision alongside The Graace of JESUS!
6 When they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have upset the world have come here also; 7 and Jason has welcomed them, and they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, *saying that there is another king, Jesus.” (Say what?)
Yes! These false Jewish teachers are actually saying that this Jesus, whom Paul is preaching about, is ANOTHER KING! What they meant by that was the man called Jesus, is NOT THE MESSIAH of The PENTATEUCH ! The first 5 Books of the Old Testament which was all they had at the time.
8 They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things. 9 And when they had received a pledge from Jason and the others, they released them.
Paul in Berea
10 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.
11 Now these people were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.
12 Therefore, many of them believed, *along with a significant number of prominent Greek women and men.
13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Berea also, they came there as well, agitating and stirring up the crowds.
Do you see how wicked these false teachers were? The same is true today! These folk are stirring up and agitating. That's NOT THE WAY GRACE IS TAUGHT IN SCRIPTURE!
“1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free;
[Paul uses the Greek word “eleutheria”: (el-yoo-ther-ee'-ah) = liberty, freedom …… especially: a state of freedom from slavery.
Here it is spoken of with the idea of being free from the Yoke or Bondage of the Old Covenant, the Mosaic Law, which Jesus, not the Judiazer’s freed us from.
*therefore keep standing firm ……
[ “στήκω” (stay’-ko) = to stand firm, persevere with the connotation of “ don’t fall back into sin, specifically into the sin of going back into the slavery. Either of fleshly sin and/or bondage of the Circumciser’s]
The great evangelist D. L. Moody illustrated this point by quoting an old former slave woman in the South following the Civil War. Being a former slave, she was confused about her status and asked:
“Now am I free, or is I not? When I go to my old master, he says I ain’t free, and when I go to my own people, they say I is, and I don’t know whether I’m free or not. Some people told me that Abraham Lincoln signed a proclamation, but master says he didn’t; he didn’t have any right to.” That illustrates perfectly the false teachers how they confused the Churches in the region of Galatia.
Many Christians are confused on the same point. Jesus Christ has given them an “Emancipation Proclamation,” but their “old master”, tells them they are still slaves to a legal relationship with God, no matter what Jesus or Paul says to the contrary. These Judaizers wanted the new converts to Christ, to still live in bondage. Why? Not because their “old master” The Law had deceived them. NO! But because they did not believe, then as now, that Jesus was/is THE TRUE MESSIAH! (Part of the above is From Enduring Word and part from my few insertions)
and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.
[Don’t go back (as in time) when we found you enslaved to the Jewish Law and circumcision.]
2 Look! I, Paul, tell you ……
[Paul is getting straight to the point. Listen up you who believe that adding the Law to Grace is God's Will, I tell you this plainly]
that if you have yourselves circumcised,
Christ will be of no benefit to you.
WOW! Paul is not pulling any punches here. Look! If you follow these false teachers, and get yourself circumcised, in order to add something to which Christ has already done for you, then I tell you
Christ Jesus is of no value to you.
You are saying “I don’t fully trust in what Jesus did, so I’m hedging my bets.
I will continue to have Faith in Jesus, but also trust in what the Law says as well”.
NO! NO! NO! It does not work like that. That is a damnable heresy, and will not stand up in the day of Judgement before God! Be very clear about this. You will have nothing to stand on when you go before God! This is a VERY DANGEROUS FALSE BELIEF, WITH ETERNAL CONSEQUENCES THAT YOU ARE BASING YOUR FAITH AND FATE ON! REPENT!
Do you still remember our Heavenly computer? When you chose which Icon you believed in, and tapped on it, what was the outcome?
You got whatever Application that the Icon you chose represented. From that point on, you only had access to that Applications rules, requirements, and provisions.
On our computer, there is no way to combine, or use two Applications at once.
Just as Paul was telling the Galatians, that Circumcision or Judaism, PLUS Faith in Christ Jesus are not compatible. The two will NEVER MESH!
Let’s say for arguments sake that we were given a Touch Tablet. Maybe, then we could tap two Icon’s at one time, and that would allow us to have the combined benefit of two outcomes. Sorry, when you do that, nothing happens, as the two actions cancel each other out. ( I asked a computer expert of some note about that point )
a) If you chose “No God”, you lived by the Atheist’s creed. You are your own god , and when you die, that’s all there is. On Judgement Day, your excuse and ignorance will not save you from Hell.
b) If you chose “Judaism”, you got the Law, and had to abide by its 613 or so rules, including the original 10 Commandments, in order to be saved. If you failed in just one area, even if was just one time, you failed the whole Law, and will have nothing to cling to on Judgement Day. Hell is your “Payday Someday”, as one famous Preacher Dr. Chriswell once preached a sermon on this.
3 And I testify again to every man ……
This is such a serious a departure from the true Gospel of Jesus, that Paul feels he has to reiterate it one more time for emphasis.
who has himself circumcised,
that he is obligated to keep the whole Law.
Can someone give me an example of a real flesh and blood Jew or gentile convert who ever completely followed the Law perfectly? Exactly! Jesus is the only human/God man who actually did that. That’s why He was so uniquely qualified to be our Sacrificial Lamb on the Cross. If the Law could have made us permanently Righteous before God, then God had Jesus hanging on the Cross for no good reason. NO LAW ever saved anyone! Jesus was the only permanent sacrifice to do that!
4 You have been severed from Christ,
you who are seeking to be justified by the Law;
you have fallen from grace.
Paul has come to the end of his rope, and now has to deal a harsh blow to these foolish Galatians. These confused and drifting Galatians. You who are now doing the same thing in 2024, the year of this Scriptural Study, are committing the same sin. You are trying to work your way to salvation by adding to what Christ accomplished all on HIS OWN!
You have become separated from Christ.
(You are no longer attached to JESUS), if …
you also want to keep the Law, along with the Free Gift of Grace,
given you by Christ Jesus!
Not only that, but you ... have fallen from your place of Grace!
Now, folks if you have any sense of Biblical discernment about you, and you heard Paul say those words to you, you would stop Paul, and say to him; “ Say, What?”
We are wading not in the shallows here, but the deepest of waters. These waters are deadly!
We have left the shallows of the kiddie pool and ventured out where the sharks are. These Judiazers were religious sharks then, and as they are now. Avoid them at all cost! That is if you truly believe in the Atoning Work of Jesus.
There are two major interpretations here:
1) If you followed the Judiazer’s teaching, you would lose your salvation.
If this is what Paul means, then he does not believe one’s Salvation is forever secure in Jesus. I don’t think that is what Paul is saying here.
I think he is saying; “ If you have believed this different gospel; Jesus + circumcision, and now want to be saved by the Law plus Grace, you won't be saved. It is not possible to be truly saved this way.
2) The other is, some of these new Jewish converts have truly been saved by Grace alone, through their Faith alone in Jesus’ work at Calvary alone. All is good, but now, they have been confused by this Jewish heresy, and have again erroneously submitted to it’s teaching;
“I still believe in Jesus, so what’s the harm in following the Law again?’
This makes the Christian ineffective and unfruitful, as to their personal walk with Jesus, and of no real usefulness to God’s Kingdom Work. They are confused and they will stay confused, until and unless, they repent and turn back to Christ Jesus, and Him alone! This however does not cause them to lose their Salvation, which they submitted to when Paul first preached it to them on his first missionary journey to their area. They had received the TRUE GOSPEL already, but now have been fooled into error.
A word of caution here is needed. I could be wrong, and Paul actually meant what he said. Anyone who puts the two together will actually "fall away from the Grace and be separated from Christ", if you or I accept what these Judaizers were/are saying! This is a very scary part of Scripture! Be sure to work out your own Salvation with fear and trembling. Don’t look lightly at these verses! There is Life or Death in them!
5 For we, …… Who?
Those of us who have chosen to accept
Christ ...... Alone and ONLY, as our LORD & SAVIOR!
By Grace alone, through Faith alone, in Christ Alone, it is a Gift from God!
Remember, we are the one’s who tapped on the Icon of JESUS ALONE!
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NASV) …
“8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.
We are operating now not by a legal system , but are in a Love Relationship and are being led by The Holy Spirit, til that last part of our Salvation is completed in Glorification. Oh Hallelujah PTL! Friend that day is not far off, if I’m reading and interpreting Scripture correctly.
Whose “righteousness” ? … One thing is for sure, it Ain’t the Righteousness of any religion, be it Judaism, or any other “ism”. Nor is it OUR righteousness (= filthy rags). It is now no longer the righteousness, nor ceremony, of any Earthly Priest either. It is none other than that of JESUS, and His ALONE!
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything,
but faith working through love.”
Matthew Henry, that stalwart old man of God wrote in his commentary in bygone days ,
‘
True faith, is a working grace; it works by love to God AND to our brethren.’
In the Church’s of Galatia, not only was the Grace of God being diluted, but the Love of God was being diminished, by the levin of Judaism.
The works of that old system/Covenant, which had just been fulfilled by Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, was now being used by satan to once again, try to thwart the Work of God. How? By causing people to turn aside form the True Gospel to a poor imitation of the real thing, their outward works demonstrated by the Law plus Grace!
What will your choice be?
WHICH WILL YOU CHOOSE?
Love or legalism! (Circumcision)
Love or license! (The flesh) as they both lead to Bondage and not Freedom!
*Love by the Indwelling of The Holy Spirit!
Application:
All of us struggle with choices in life. Rarely, if ever, is there a choice that so clearly shouts as loudly, as to the choice of….. To Be Free IN CHRIST or be a Slave and in Bondage to SOMETHING or SOMEONE ELSE!
We, even as true Christians, we can allow false or damaging thoughts or actions or even false, yet sincerely held beliefs into our lives. Additions of some work or other ceremony, thought to originate from The Holy Spirit, but left untested by Scripture, came by way of satan to deceive you.
Sometimes we don’t even know we have walked into danger.
We often live like we are “of the world”! How?
We spend so much time, money, effort, on the things that matter only in this life, that we miss the most important Spiritual Matters!
Guess what that makes US look like? The gullible Galatians!
Who are we listening to? ( Hollywood or The Holy Spirit or even our own inventions of doctrine? )
What are we listening and watching? (Trash TV? Or Fill in the blank)
When are we spending time in God’s Word? (At bedtime?)
How often are we in Church? (You can’t take Hebrews 10:25 out of Scripture!)
Are we allowing others more mature than ourselves to correct us?
Or do we balk at the notion that we could be wrong and seek only our own counsel?
1Samuel 15:23 King James Bible
"For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king."
Rebellion = Hiph`il Infinitive absolute הַפְצַ֑ר 1 Samuel 15:23 to display pushing (i.e. arrogance, presumption; "" מֶ֔רִי; compare Dr).
Witchcraft = 2 of false prophets כָּזָב ׳ק Ezekiel 13:6 (but see [קָסַם]); ׳ק as accusative of congnate meaning with verb Ezekiel 13:23 (Co Berthol Krae כָּזָב as Ezekiel 13:9; Ezekiel 21:34; Ezekiel 22:38); צֱלִיל ׳ק (so Gf for ᵑ0 וֶאֱלִו֯ל Jeremiah 14:4 (all "" חזה שׁוא or שׁקר) קֹסֵם קְסָמִים); prohibited Deuteronomy 18:10; 2 Kings 17:17; reprobated 1 Samuel 15:23 (poem; "" תרפים).
Where are we spending our TIME, TALENTS, TREASURE?
At Work? … Working our whole lives just to advance our station in life, or make more money?
That sounds & looks more like a workaholic, that a Workman that needeth not to be ashamed of The Gospel, rightly dividing the Word of God to the Lost !
At Play? …. Using our free time as our FREEDOM for the flesh, instead of in a Kingdom Ministry!
At Home? …. Rarely there with our family, building relationships and fellowshipping with people other than our wive’s (no not polygamy) or children?
This tragically can, if carried to the extreme, be the exact opposite of the above. Staying at home and building your own unique brand of faith/heresy!
My Point?
Sometimes, we too act like the Galatians, instead of stalwart godly men, women, boys, and girls of God!
Whether it be a person, or some activity, or thought process that takes our focus off Jesus, we all have these decisions to make that will define our walk with our Lord.
(Tap on the video)
If you are IN Christ, what is hindering you from fully living for Him?
Have you been struggling with trying to stratal the fence on some spiritual matter?
Are you battling the push and pull of some secret sin?
Is the cloud of depression keeping you from seeing victory IN JESUS?
Are you even in Church as Hebrews 10:25 commands us to be?
Whatever it is, be very sure that JESUS is THE ANSWER!
You and I get to choose, but sometimes, we only have one shot! So make it not a good one, but a GODLY ONE!
Galatians 2:19-21
19For through the law I died to the law so that I might live to God. 20I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live (now) in the body, I live (now) by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 21I do not (will not) set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness comes through the law, ( then) Christ died for nothing. (Don’t gloss over that last bit of Scripture)
Don’t live your life for nothing, Looking for religion to be your righteousness. Why? Because Nothing but Jesus Alone can do that!
Give your all to Christ Jesus ALONE!
GET IN AND STAY in a Relationship with JESUS, not a religious WORKS based faith, that is NO Faith at all! Trust completely in Jesus and The Holy Spirit will fill you with FREEDOM, and the Abundant Life, filled with Fruit of The Spirit, and *Joy!
*( Jesus Our Yokefellow)
One last thing… Go to the YouTube video above to see an illustration of how we as humans are wired to add things. Here a Father and Son are building a bridge and its not quite right (Law). The father is an engineer and looks away, when he turns around the Son has taken away the thing that made the bridge unusable (sin).
Conclusion:
The Judaizers of Paul's day, as well as Judaizers of our day, are still trying to stitch up The Veil of The Temple that JESUS TORE FROM TOP TO BOTTOM AS HE CRIED, "IT IS FINISHED! “ What did He Die for if you have to add to His Finished WORK on Calvary?
Why? Why? Why? are you still trying to prop up and patch together a gospel that is no gospel at all, and is anathema to God The Father? It was He who sent His One and ONLY SON to FULFILL, YES “Fulfill”, not tack something onto His Grace! Especially the Old SHADOW, the Mosaic Covenant, which foreshadowed, for a specified length of time, Things to Come = JESUS! Jesus changed it ALL! He changed it for ALWAYS AND FOREVER! THERE IS NO GOING BACK TO ANYTHING BETTER! EVERYTHING ELSE IS DOWN HILL FORM JESUS!
WHY DO YOU NEED SOMETHING TO ADD TO HIS PERFECT SACRIFICE?
The old Law that has passed away! The one where no man NEVER EVER, SAVE FOR JESUS, completely satisfied it to the FULL ! All failed! That includes your own attempts at fully adhering to the Old Testament Laws, customs, ceremonies, feast days and even The Sabbath!
WHY ARE YOU STILL TRYING TO DO SOMETHING TO EARN GOD'S FAVOR, MERCY, & GRACE outside, or alongside ,of what HE has ALREADY DONE for you and me, ALL ON HIS OWN? He did not need you to get up on THE CROSS with HIM did HE? Of course not. That would be foolish!
If you do this, Scripture says in Galatians 5 “Jesus will be of no benefit to you, and you Will fall from GRACE”!
Does that not give you pause? It should!
Repent, if you have added anything to GRACE, and fully lean on what JESUS did for you/us through HIS ATONING GRACE ! It’s the Righteous thing to do!
George Emerson
PS
If you are still not clear, watch this sermon https://youtu.be/_aenar_GEnY?
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