By Pastor J.D. Link

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Galatians 5:1 says, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” The Greek literally says, “Persevere, triumph - do not be moved off of - the freedom through which The Messiah (Jesus) has liberated us; and never be ensnared again with the yoke of slavery”. From many hours of study in the book of Galatians, I believe this is the key verse - the verse that sums up the whole book. We must stand firm on the grace of Christ, which is the Gospel of Christ (Gal 1:6). There is no other Gospel. There are many teachings and doctrines in the world, but there is only one Gospel (Gal 1:7). Paul was so passionate about the purity of the Gospel, that he made the bold proclamation that if anyone preached anything else, they should be accursed (condemned to Hell). What was the false doctrine that the Galatians were being tricked by? The doctrine of works righteousness. And sad to say, this false doctrine still permeates Christianity - as it started to in the first century.

Galatia was not a town, but a province. It included Antioch Pisidian, Iconium, Derbe, Lystra, and the surrounding communities. Paul preached the Gospel and established churches, then he would remain and preach there for months, or in some cases, years. He then would set pastors over these churches and move on to evangelize new areas. After Paul would leave, false teachers would come in behind him and subvert the Gospel. They would teach that while Jesus is the Christ, you still had to keep all or some of the Old Testament rituals to be saved (circumcision, feasts, special days, abstain from certain foods, etc.). Paul’s letter to the Galatians was a strong rebuke of these lies.

Why was Paul so adamant about grace and freedom? Because he knew firsthand the utter fruitlessness of trying to be right with God through the works of the law. “For by the works of the law, shall no flesh be justified (declared righteous) Gal 2:16, Rom 3:20. If anyone could have been declared righteous by keeping the law, it would have been Paul. Paul was a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee, and the son of a Pharisee. He was of the tribe of Benjamin. He was circumcised the eighth day. Concerning the law, he was blameless. In other words, no one tried harder to be right with God through keeping the law (Philip 3:4-10). However, Paul failed. In all of his zeal and passion, he always fell short. Even on his best day, the law would still show him somewhere he missed it. That’s what the law does. It shows us God’s perfect standard - and that we can’t keep it. It doesn’t bend. It doesn’t except 99% completion. It demands perfection.

Paul knew first hand you could not be justified by the law (Act 13:19). He knew it made nothing perfect (Heb 7:19). He knew people that tried to live by it were under a curse (Gal 3:10). He knew that the law brings forth death (Rom 7:11, 2Cor 3:6-9). This personal, first-hand knowledge made Paul a warrior for Jesus Christ. It made him uncompromising in the salvation that comes by God’s grace through faith in Jesus (Eph 2:8-9). It caused a holy anger to rise within him to see his churches being led away into legalism and bondage. Any attempt to be right with God through your works is a futile effort. If you could be justified by your works, then Christ death was for nothing (Gal 2:21). And I guarantee you, Christ death was absolutely the most necessary event in history. We owe everything to Him. Everything.

Paul, nor I, are against the law of God. It is pure and holy (Rom 7:12). What Paul, and I, are against, is the idea that by keeping the law, you can be right with God. Why? Because you have to keep all of it, or you fail (Jam 2:10). Your hard try and good effort means nothing. It’s perfection or rejection. Ultimately, mankind has two choices: He will try to be right with God through his own effort and works - or he will put faith in the One who did keep the law perfectly, which is none other than God in the flesh, Jesus Christ. I’ll make it easy for you, and tell you which one to pick. Pick Jesus! Don’t stand before God in your own measly effort. Stand before God in the finished work of Jesus. Don’t stand in your own righteousness (which, by the way, is like a filthy rag - Isa 64:6). Stand in God’s righteousness (Rom 3:21-22). You must humble yourself. You must put down your pride. You must utterly abandoned your “good person” mentality. Lord only knows how many “good people” are in Hell right now. Follow the “Romans Road”, (Rom 3:10, 23; 5:12, 6:23, 10:9-10, 13) and get right with God RIGHT NOW! Until next time, rejoice in the Lord!

Paul and Christian Liberty, Pt.1

By Pastor J.D. Link

agf-blanco.com

Galatians 5:1 says, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” We learned last week that there is no possible way that a person can be justified by the works of the law. If the apostle Paul couldn’t do it - don’t fool yourself into thinking you can. Concerning the law, Paul was blameless, but he was not perfect; nor could he ever be by the law. Let’s examine this further this week, and get into The Word of God.

As we saw last week, the law made nothing perfect (Heb 7:19). Why did the law make nothing perfect? Because by the law comes the knowledge of sin, not the solution to sin (Rom 3:20). It just let’s you know, without a doubt, what sin is. It does nothing to help you overcome. It’s like your bathroom mirror. When you look in it in the morning, it let’s you know you have a problem. It shows you your hair is messed up. It shows you need a shave. However, it doesn’t comb your hair or shave your face. It just shows you the problem. That is what the law does. That’s why the Ten Commandments need to hang in every public building in the U.S. The law is for the unrighteous man (1Tim 1:9), and there are plenty of unrighteous people that need to see it. No, it doesn’t help them overcome their unrighteousness - but it does let them know what right and wrong is - so they are without excuse.

Why do you think these American Communist lawyer unions are always trying to get the Ten Commandments and The Bible out of public sight? Because it reveals their sin problem, and they think that if they can get God’s Word out of sight, that their problem is solved. That’s like thinking that breaking your mirror will solve the problem of you looking ugly. The problem is still there, regardless. Don’t put tape over your service engine light!

So we see the Law of God in itself is pure, holy, just, & perfect. We also see that it is made for the unrighteous man, not the righteous. It’s purpose is to slay, to kill, to condemn, to bring forth death, to work wrath, to curse (Rom 7:11, 2Cor 3:6-9, Rom 4:15, Gal 3:10). The law does not help you nor bless you. It is simply the vehicle by which you are driven to the destination - which is Christ. If I went to visit family and stayed in my car the whole time out in the driveway, they would think I’m crazy, or they would be offended. Why? Because my car just gets me to my loved one; it is not my loved one (Gal 3:23-26). Once you have been brought to Christ by the law, then the law has served it’s purpose.

Being right with God by keeping the law is not truth. The law was given by Moses, but grace and TRUTH came by Jesus Christ (Jn 1:17). The law was a type, a shadow, a temporary appeasement. It was and is and shall always be about Jesus Christ. Notice Paul rebuked the Galatians because they were not obeying the TRUTH (Gal 3:1). What truth were they not obeying? Imputed righteousness through faith in Christ. What lie were they believing? Righteousness through doing the works of the law. This was the great sin of the Galatians. In fact, it was so great a sin, that Paul worried if they were truly saved (Gal 4:10-11)! They were turning back to the weak and beggarly elements of the law (Gal 4:9). Were they crucifying the Lord Jesus again (Heb 6:4-6)? Were they treading the Son of God under their feet (Heb 10:26-29)? Wasn’t the theme of the entire Book of Hebrews a warning for the Hebrew Christians to not go back under the law? Indeed it was.

Sometimes when you teach on this subject, people get the idea that you are encouraging folks to forsake God’s Word and go live in sin. As Paul would say, “God forbid!” Being free from the law of Moses does not mean we are free from the law of Christ. The law of Christ is the law of love, or the royal law. We are free to love: love God and love our neighbor. We are not free to live like the devil. Our freedom is to live for God without fear of rejection. To be confident in our relationship with God. To be no longer under a sin consciousness, but rather a righteousness consciousness. This is spiritual freedom. This is true freedom - true Christian liberty. Until next time, rejoice in The Lord!