HEELCATCHER

12I plead with you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you. You have done me no wrong. 13As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. 14Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. 15What has happened to all your joy? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. 16Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

You see Paul’s heart in this passage. The Galatian believers have departed from the simplicity of the gospel. They received Jesus Christ in humility and faith but then slowly drifted into self-righteous, legalistic Christianity. Paul is grieved in his heart. The relationship he had once had with the Galatian believers has been strained…not because of personal issues but because of their change in focus, belief, and practice.

I can think in my own life of times that fellowship with another believer was strained over similar differences. Additional beliefs and legalistic practices were added to the simplicity of the gospel. Baptism, speaking in tongues, Bible versions, observance of holidays, music preferences, evangelism styles, etc. All of these things can be elevated to the level of essential doctrine. Soon the cross is lost in a myriad of new regulations, rituals, and requirements. And the beauty of fellowship is turned into a bone of contention.

There is a key phrase that pops out to me in Paul’s words. What has happened to all your joy? That about sums it up. When the joy of our salvation is gone, then something is out of whack. When I start walking around with a sour attitude, a critical spirit, and complaining words, then I can be sure of one thing…I am not walking in the Spirit. I need to stop and check my focus. I need to ask what has replaced God’s grace and the cross of Christ in my life. May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Galatians 6:14)!

As someone once said, “We need to preach the gospel to ourselves every day.” I am a sinner. I fall short. I have no room for pride or arrogance. I am saved by grace. I am reconciled through the cross of Christ. I am a child of God through the mercy of God. I can do nothing apart from His strength, His Spirit. I am called to bless others (1 Peter 3:9). And I am an ambassador of good news, telling others in love how they can be reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:20). That is the simplicity of the gospel.

Lord, fill me with Your Spirit this morning. Correct any critical spirit or negative attitude in me. Deliver me from self-righteousness. Remind me of the beauty of grace. Open my mouth to praise You today. Give me Your joy.

¹⁷“If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! ¹⁸If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. ¹⁹For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. ²⁰I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

On the surface, it is hard to follow Paul’s argument here. I had to read it several times to try to sort it out in my mind. To understand it, you have to know the context. Paul’s words come right after his public rebuke of Peter.

Here’s the story…Peter comes to the church in Antioch where Paul and Barnabas are ministering. He sees all these new Gentile believers. He is excited about how the gospel has impacted so many Gentiles and he freely eats with and fellowships with these new Gentile believers. Then some of Peter’s more conservative Jewish friends arrive in Antioch. These Jewish “believers” are convinced that Gentiles need to become Jews first in order to be truly saved. They are not going to eat with “Gentile sinners” until they become Jewish in nature. Peter feels awkward and embarrassed to hang around the Gentile believers while these Jewish friends are around. He pulls away and reverts back to his conservative, separatist ways. Paul rebukes Peter for his duplicity and his cowardice. “If Gentiles are saved by faith alone, and not by following Jewish laws, then act like it, Peter!”

Ever had something like that happen? Someone is buddy-buddy with you until another set of friends shows up and then they pull away from you to “save face.” It is a cowardly move to begin with…but in this case it was worse because it was also an affront to the gospel of grace. And Peter’s actions, as a leader in the early church, had enormous ramifications.

With that story in mind, in verses 17-21, Paul deals with a big question/objection that is on the conservative Jewish “believers” minds…”If Gentiles can become righteous before God without keeping the law, then it is too easy! If we don’t tell them to keep the law, then they will live like sinners. Christ will actually be encouraging sin!”

It is the perennial objection to the gospel of grace. If a person is saved by faith alone, not by works, then what motivation do they have for living a good life? They could believe in Christ, get their sins covered, and then live like the devil, right? So let’s prevent that by adding some legalistic rules after salvation to keep them in line.

Paul vehemently objects to this thought. Adding rules to the gospel of grace doesn’t decrease sin, it actually increases it. Because once again, we are back to the self-righteous, prideful, I am superior to you mentality.

So what is the motivation to live righteously? It is not the law and more rules. It is a fuller understanding of grace.

Here is the best illustration I can think of…what is the best way to build a good marriage? Is it to design more rules that the husband and wife have to keep? Or is it to encourage the husband and wife to go deeper in their understanding of love for one another? You see, keeping rules is still “all about me.” I did this and this and now I should be able to expect this, this, and this from you. We like this kind of system. Lots of defined rules…with a system of scorekeeping that usually bends in our favor.

But Paul says that the greatest motivation for righteous living is not law-keeping but love. Relationship trumps religion every time.

I am crucified with Christ. Christ died my death. He took my place. He bore my sins. Thus, it was “me” on that cross with Christ.

I no longer live but Christ lives in me. My life is so tied to Christ that I no longer live “my life.” I live with Christ, for Christ, in Christ. And, miracle of miracles, Christ now lives in me, empowering me and directing my actions.

The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Jesus Christ loved me and sacrificed everything for me. That kind of love grips me, motivates me, changes me. I don’t live righteously to follow some rules. I live righteously because I am bonded with Christ and want to please Him.

I am not a huge fan of “The Message” which is a paraphrase of the Scriptures written by Eugene Petersen. (Actually I just don’t like paraphrases because they are usually marketed and read by people as if they were “Bible translations” rather than as Bible commentaries.) But in this case, I think Petersen explains Galatians 2:17-21 in a way that makes sense.

^17-18Have some of you noticed that we are not yet perfect? (No great surprise, right?) And are you ready to make the accusation that since people like me, who go through Christ in order to get things right with God, aren’t perfectly virtuous, Christ must therefore be an accessory to sin? The accusation is frivolous. If I was “trying to be good,” I would be rebuilding the same old barn that I tore down. I would be acting as a charlatan.

^19-21What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.

Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.

Lord, thank You for Your love! Thank You for the freedom of grace! Since You have demonstrated and pledged Your unconditional love to me, may I live a life of unending gratitude and joyful good works for You.

1Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. 2I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain. 3Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. 4This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. 5We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you.

When I first read this passage I was thinking that Paul was talking about Acts 15 and the Jerusalem Council. But actually, since it was a private meeting, the reference is to Acts 11:27-30.

27During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) 29The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. 30This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

Paul and Barnabas, along with Titus, go to Jerusalem to deliver a financial gift from the church at Antioch. That in itself is pretty cool. The Antioch church hears that a famine is coming so their first response is to take up a collection of money for a group of believers who will suffer more than they will. Wow. Our first response is usually to hoard what we have not give to others in need. I am reminded of the ministry of Voice of the Martyrs and their care for believers in suffering. They have an Action Pack ministry that sends needed supplies to persecuted believers around the world. It is a good project to work on with your family (or you can join our senior saints ministry and send some out with us). http://www.persecution.com/actionpacks

When Paul and Barnabas arrive, the issue of circumcision comes up. Titus, a Gentile convert, had never been circumcised. Many Jewish “believers” insisted that circumcision was necessary for salvation. This is the main issue in Acts 15 too.

Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” (Acts 15:1)

The issue seems a little odd to us today but it was the first serious challenge to the gospel in the early church. What is necessary for salvation in Christ? Faith alone. Or faith plus circumcision. Faith plus anything changes the gospel. Faith plus baptism. Faith plus speaking in tongues. Faith plus the sacraments. Once we add to the gospel, we change it.

Paul lays the issue before the apostles. What is the good news? Is it For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast? Or is it something else?

The apostles agree that it is faith alone in Jesus Christ that makes a person right before God. When a person recognizes their sin, their bankruptcy before God, their powerlessness to save themselves, and calls upon the name of the Lord and receives Jesus Christ as their Savior, they are immediately adopted into the family of God. This is the good news! Salvation is a gift…not a series of pilgrimages and tasks and rituals that I must complete. I am not saved by works but by faith.

Lord, thank You for the gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ. May I never complicate the simplicity of Your gospel. May I share that good news with someone else today.

⁶I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— ⁷which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. ⁸But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! ⁹As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!

¹⁰Am 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.

I would say that Paul is pretty worked up in this passage! He has labored among the churches, preaching the good news of salvation by grace alone, and now he has heard that many in these churches are returning to a legalistic, works-based “gospel.”

There is something inside of us that wants to work for our salvation, that wants to earn it. We feel uncomfortable receiving an unmerited gift.

Have you ever received a Christmas gift from someone that you didn’t expect to give you one? Immediately you think, “Oops, I didn’t get them anything. I better go get something real quick!” To us, even a gift has to be earned to some extent.

However, salvation is by grace. Not our works. It is a gift from God. This is good news. We can stop trying to prove ourselves and measuring ourselves against others. Instead we humbly and gratefully receive and live in the love of God through the forgiveness that is found in Jesus Christ.

This sounds too easy. Paul was accused of cheapening the gospel to win the approval of men. He responds, If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Powerful statement…and hard to swallow. When I am trying to please men, when that is my aim, then I am not a servant of Christ. Of course, Paul is not talking about being rude or purposely seeking to displease men. Love is not rude (1 Cor. 13:5) and we are called to live peaceably with all men, as much as we are able (Rom 12:18). But it is easy to shift focus. To work hard at winning the approval of others. To live by the expectations of others. To measure our lives by the accolades and “high fives” of other people. Popularity is enticing…especially in our image-based, media-saturated culture. Success is often measured with “face time” or the number of friends you have on Facebook.

Having people-pleasing tendencies myself, this is a good passage for me to meditate on. I must remember that my goal is not to please men but to serve Christ. I must walk with Him. I must seek the leading of His Spirit. I must know my limitations. I must realize the fickleness of popularity. I must be willing to face opposition and feel the disappointment of others.

The spiritual life is daily communion with Jesus. It is taking His yoke upon us. And, praise God, His yoke is easy and His burden is light!

²⁸“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

We begin with Galatians, the Magna Carta of Christian liberty. Galatians was perhaps the first letter written by the apostle Paul, around AD 48-49. It sets forth the key Christian teaching that we are delivered from sin by grace through faith.

¹Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— ²and all the brothers with me, to the churches in Galatia:

³Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, ⁵to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

In Galatians, Paul not only has to defend the gospel but also his authority. That’s why he starts off with such a bold statement. “I am an apostle–a representative of Christ send out by God’s authority and not by the authority of men.” Right off the bat, Paul makes it clear that he is delivering God’s message, validated by the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ. Hence it is wise to listen…and to listen carefully.

Grace and peace to you… This is Paul’s customary greeting and it conveys a simple truth. Grace and peace go together. Peace– shalom, wholeness, inner contentment and serenity–comes when we receive and live in the grace of God. Knowing God loves us unconditionally, knowing our sins are forgiven, knowing that God cannot love us more and will not love us less…gives us freedom. We don’t have to struggle and work our way into God’s favor. We don’t have to try to prove ourselves or measure up. We don’t have to fight for our image, impress others, or live in guilt or fear. We can simply rest in God’s love. And trust Him. And experience His peace.

Who gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age. Interesting. I have heard that we are saved from our sin, saved from eternal condemnation, saved from bondage to Satan…but not so much about being saved from the present evil age. We live in an age of evil. I looked up the Greek word for “evil.” It is poneros. Here is the definition on www.blueletterbible.org:

1) full of labours, annoyances, hardships

a) pressed and harassed by labours

b) bringing toils, annoyances, perils; of a time full of peril to Christian faith and steadfastness; causing pain and trouble

2) bad, of a bad nature or condition

a) in a physical sense: diseased or blind

b) in an ethical sense: evil wicked, bad

So we live in an age of hardship, opposition, moral evil. The world does not encourage our walk with God. We struggle against it. Distractions are everywhere. Lusts entice us. Fears surround us. Burdens weigh us down. Temptations abound. Christ died to deliver us from our sins and free us from the lusts and burdens of this world. We don’t “get saved” to wait for heaven. Christ saves us in the present. He saves us from our sins, from ourselves, from our incessant pursuit of temporary things, from our need for man’s approval, from the bondage of addiction, from the idols of our heart.So we can live in freedom and share that freedom with others.

I think Titus 2 captures this thought perfectly…

¹¹For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. ¹²It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, ¹⁴who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Lord, help me to live self-controlled, upright, and godly in this present age. May I be filled with your Spirit today and eager to do what is good.