Galatians 1:1-9 “Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. No Other Gospel 6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.”
This week will be our first week in the book of Galatians. We will follow Pauls letter from start to finish. We are going to do this for a couple of reasons: first the best way to study Gods word is to study it the way it was written, and to hear what God has already spoken. Secondly, some of you might not understand how to study Gods word, and by studying a book at a time we will be able to provide an example of how we should study his word.
God is Truth, His Word is Truth, and Truth is absolute. Truth is consistent, never changing, and the basis for our own moral code, ethical guidelines and justice systems. When we try to change Gods word we are attempting to change Truth. Truth cannot be changed while still remaining true. Truth does not need to be changed. Truth is not molded to the social standards of society. Instead the social standards of society must be molded to Gods Truth.
Galatians 1:1-2 “Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers who are with me,…”
Verses 1-2 begins with Pauls typical introduction. He first declares his authority to speak not of his own authority, but by the authority of God. Paul is declaring that his words written to the Galatians (and now to us), are not of his own design but given to him by God. Paul is declaring that he is not attempting to fabricate Truth to fit the Galatian culture, but instead choosing to proclaim the Truth of God. Paul does this in the hope that the Galatians might be shaped in the likeness of God.
It is important to understand why Paul feels it necessarily to declare his authority. In this moment in time, the Galatian church is faced with teachings of false gospels and false teachers attempting to change God’s Truth to fit a cultural narrative. Examples of this have happened through out history, and are happening today. It is not hard to find “so-called” christian groups who twist scriptures meaning to fit it to a social, political or immoral justification. Gods word does not need to be made to fit into a narrative, instead we need to fix our narrative to follow His Truth.
Galatians 1:3-5 “3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. No Other Gospel”
In verses 3-5, we can find Paul reiterating the authority in which he speaks. He is informing his readers that his authority comes from the Truth and Power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He is not speaking the words of a god who has come, died and now is gone. He is not speaking the words of a great man. He is declaring that he is speaking the Words of The God, The Conquer of Death, and the Author of our Salvation. The whole Bible has a single theme, and that theme is “Men are sinful, unable to save himself from the eternal death, but God loved us so much, he came and saved us” The theme of the Bible can be summed up to one word “Salvation". We can find this through out scripture, and I’ll post a few of the many references to this theme. Acts 4: 11-12, 2 Timothy 1: 8-14, Psalms 62: 1, Luke 19: 10, Hebrews 9: 28, Habakkuk 3:17-18, John 3:16-17, Isaiah 33:22.
Galatians 1:6-7 “6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.”
Verses 6-7, begins the meat and potatoes, of the ‘why’ God is having Paul write this letter to the church in Galatia. The church in Galatia began to follow teachers who taught a variation of the Truth. We spoke earlier that their cannot be variation to Truth. Truth is black or white, there is no gray area in truth. Truth is absolute, as Gods word is absolute, and God himself is the absolute authority.
Teachers, or we can call the false prophets, false witnesses, came into Galatia, and began to preach their own perversion of the truth. I would imagine it would look something similar to the perversions we see today. We can look at the cultural norms of our society, and compare them to Gods word, and we will find that our cultural ethics do not align with God in most cases. Most people find it hard to give up the world, give up the cultural norms they were raised to follow, and turn to the Truth of our God.
A pretty recent example of this can be found in the abortion debate. No matter how you feel on this issue, Gods Truth is the only thing that matters. I want to first state that I am not advocating for anyone political position, I am only going to preach the Truth that God has already given us. God tells us that all lives are precious and are His creation. Genesis 1:26-28, we find that God created each of us in his own image. This means from the smallest molecule that begins to create a human being, we are at that moment created in the likeness of God. Psalm 139:13–15, We were made, starting in the womb, Fearfully, and wonderfully. Genesis 9:6, even warns us that those who kill a human are killing the creation of God. Now we could spend weeks discussing this subject, but I only wish to touch on it as an example. It is not uncommon to see people who claim to follow God and still advocate for abortion. You will even find church leaders who tell us the Bible is outdated or will twist Gods Word to support the extermination of the unborn.
Truth is a hard to follow, if you are immersed in the culture of modern society. Many churches understand this, and instead of setting their own selfish ethics aside to grasp hold of Gods Truth; these churches begin preaching a perversion of this, or tell their congregation that Gods word is outdated and does not apply to the current world. 2 Timothy 4:3-4, even talks about this, warning us against those who take Gods word and try to bend it to their own desires. We already discussed that Truth is absolute, Truth is consistent, and truth does not change. Truth is not touched by time, only we are. Truth is not molded to our whims, but we surrender ourselves to Gods Truth. This is one of the first steps we take when becoming a Christian. We do not get to pick and choose what Truths we follow, there is one Truth and we must follow it fully.
This is what Paul is combatting. He is finding that instead of the believers in Galatia surrendering to Gods Truth, they are following the teachings of those who try to change the Truth to fit an easier narrative more in line with their cultural norms. We as human beings want to belong, we have an internal desire to fit in. Christianity is not about fitting in with the world around us, but separating ourselves from it to follow God. James 4:1-10, warns us against worldliness . James tells us we can either be friends with the world or followers of God but not both.
Galatians 1:8-9 “8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.”
Verses 8-9, Paul is issuing a warning that, no matter who or what comes to change Gods Truth, to immediately know that it is false. Paul is telling the Galatians to test the messages preached by anyone who comes to them, and measure them up against the Truth of God. If any message preached has one flaw, or is not consistent with the Truth of God then it is false. Remember Truth is consistent, if any inconsistencies exist then it is not absolute and therefor not Truth.
Why must we be weary of false truth? First, God does not look kindly upon those who preach lies, or a deviation from his truth. Ezekiel 13:9, God is against those who preach falsely, he turns his back on them. Secondly, God knew false prophets and teachers would arise. Satan is the Lord of Lies, and the best lie is one founded upon Truth. The best lies are ones that pervert Truth so that it may sound right, making it more difficult to detect as false. Mathew 24:24, Jesus warns us of these false teachers. He warns that they could be so convincing, they will lead astray even the believers of Gods Truth. Thirdly, God instructs us to test all spirits, all teachings, and see if their is any variation or diversion from Gods Truth 1 John 4:1-6.
Now as a new Christian, you might be wondering “how you can tell what is Gods Truth to begin with?”. Well it begins with prayer, you open a line of communication up between you and God. You seek him out, asking him to open your eyes to his Truth and fill your heart with his teachings. Secondly you open the Bible and you begin to read, it does not matter where you begin, or what you read, for it is all God’s Truth. If you are intimidated by the Bible and are struggling where to begin, then I recommend the Book of James. James is where I began, and it is where I always go back too. The book of James is easy to understand, and if you take it verse by verse, diving into it like an archeologist does into an historical burial site, you will discover Gods Truth in abundance everyday. The third thing you must do is seek out Godly counseling, a mentorship with a Christian more mature in their walk. If you're a man then find a mentor who is a man, if you're a woman find a mentor who is a woman. Study Gods Word together, seeking out his Truth. If you find something you don’t understand, pray about it, and seek out further mentorship. Which leads us to our fourth directive, you need to be plugged into a body of believers. Go to a church, try it out for a few Sundays, or Wednesday nights. See if they are teaching Gods Truth, teaching the Gospel as it is written in the scripture. If they are then odds are they are teaching Gods Truth.
Remember when you're studying, praying, and seeking out other believers to learn from, you must test their words against the master curriculum. The Bible is our master curriculum. Remember God is Truth, his Word is Truth, Truth is absolute, Truth is consistent, Truth does not change, because it is perfect and has no need to change. We are what must change, we must allow God to change our hearts to fit His Truth.
Thank you for joining us this week. We at Triple Hares are in constant prayer for you. If you need any assistance, prayer, questions answered, family support; please let us know. Below Are some guiding questions journal, and answer. These questions are meant to help guide your study, and help you to reflect upon your own walk with God.
Do I study scripture regularly enough to know Gods Truth from a falsehood?
Do I pray daily, seeking God to reveal his Truth to me, and change my heart?
What cultural/social principles do I follow that are not inline with Gods Truth?
Am I ready to surrender those cultural/social ideas to follow Gods Truth?
Do I have a mentor, who I can study the Bible with, or do I need to be praying that God sends me one?
Do I have a church body that I’m apart of, that preaches the Truth or a variation of truth.
Kyle Statham
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