From God and Through God
Galatians
1:1-5
“Paul, an
apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus
Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead), and all the brethren who are with me.
To the churches of Galatia:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.”
To the churches of Galatia:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.”
Paul is not lacking
in his introduction here. We see a clearly directed point, and we know why he
adds it here. These Galatians had quickly abandoned the Gospel of Christ for a
counterfeit, and there had to be a number of reasons as to why they did this. One
was an attempt to please men, as we see later in this first chapter. So Paul
writes, in the very introduction, a point that should give them a hint of
something important down further in the letter.
Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ. I think, for the sake of the authority of this letter, we ought to look further into what an apostle truly is. If you go through and look at all twelve apostles being called, they have something in common, and that point is very much related to this introduction. Paul, like the other apostles, was called to be an apostle by Christ Himself. This is important in understand where Paul gets his authority, words and overall person.
Paul gains his authority because it is Christ who calls him, not any man nor group of men. Paul certainly lived a very brutal life, being constantly mistreated, and almost killed a number of times. (More on his history comes later, however.) And so one must wonder why he did what he did. Why on earth would a man (especially one as Paul, being a Pharisee) allow all of these horrible things to happen to him? Because this ministry was from God, not man. No man would suffer the things that Paul, or any of the other apostles, suffered. It is clear that his calling was from God, as he makes clear here. In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul speaks of all he had gone through, not for his own praise, but to point to God. The only reason any words of Paul matter to any degree is because they are the words given to him from God, not man. This is very important to understand, because many start to fall into the trap of worshiping people. These Galatians had made the mistake of following other men, simply because they may have offered seemingly more significant words, and obviously, they carried a more appealing gospel, as far as this church knew. Many make the mistake of following other men as well, such as the Reformers, or modern day theologians. This is grave error, because it neglects a very key point for the Christian, that being the fact that this is the Word of God, not mankind.
Paul’s overall person is also important to note, not because he was spectacular, but rather the opposite. Paul was not an impressive figure by any means, but that was never the point. Paul made it clear to the churches he wrote to that he was not a good speaker, writer nor physically appealing. (See 2 Cor. 11:6, 22-33; Gal. 6:11)This was to take away the glory from Paul, and to put it upon the Lord who called him. (1 Cor. 1:18-31)
We see something else here as well. No organization of mankind had called Paul to this. He makes it clear later in this chapter that he never even went to see the other apostles when he was called to this apostleship- he never saw any of them during the first two years of his apostleship. (See Acts 9) And yet today, you’d think that, without any sort of organization, there could be no ministry in the world. (And by “organization,” I mean a sort of corporate gathering or positional authority system.) Missionaries cannot go out into the world unless a group of people from a church sends them, right? You see such a focus on the organizations today that little emphasis is ever put upon the actual Word itself. A system of authority is fine, but it is never key to sharing the Word. Because these things are from God, not men. Mankind had nothing to do with Paul’s apostleship, and mankind has nothing to do with our being saved. Pastors, though called to serve a congregation, are not truly called by men (not even the church), but by God. Because all of the focus and glory go to God, not man.
One may ask, however, why being sent from Christ Himself gives any sort of authority? (Obviously you’d be lacking severely if you had to ask that question.) Paul makes it clear in 1 Corinthians 15 that the Father raising Christ from the dead provided true proof of both Christ’s deity and His actual authority over all. The Father “furnished proof” that the sins were dealt with. Christ’s resurrection from the dead was also validated by more than five hundred people at one time, as well as by the other apostles. And Paul mentioned himself in 1 Corinthians 15, that he himself knew Christ was risen from the dead. And let’s face it, not just anyone can rise from the dead. Thus was the point of the resurrection- to prove that He is the Christ, and that death could not hold Him. Sin was now dealt with. Read through 1 Corinthians 15, and you’ll see that the resurrection of our Lord was very key. If He did not rise from the dead, we are still in our sins, and are false teachers, and are “of all men most to be pitied.” (vs. 19)
So Paul shows here that his being called to apostleship was from Jesus Christ specifically, and that our Lord Jesus was certainly God, as the Father raised Him from the dead. The authority of Christ was proven here, and thus the words of Paul were only authoritative as long as they were the words of Christ, who is the image of the invisible God.
This is a directed introduction. That is, an introduction aimed to, from the very start, attack the false teachings they were believing. Remember, this letter was not written all-of-a-sudden. It was written as a response to the error of this church, and thus, even the very introduction is key to understand here. But he goes on.
Despite their crucial error, and significant (and wrong) changes, Paul still begins with a rather calm start, wishing them well, but at the same time, adding the Gospel into this. It was a rather obvious reminder to this church, which had quickly deserted the Truth for the counterfeit.
What was one of the errors of this church? They were striving to please men, and so Paul gives another jab, as it were, to their sin, reminding them that we were rescued from this "modern" age- we were saved from this world, and thus we are now separate from it. Christ had rescued us from the danger which was, in all reality, present. He did not save us from an coming doom, as much as He saved us from the sin which was already in us now. The coming judgement upon sinners comes only because they are sinners. And so, this "present evil age" is the time in which we live, and at the same time, it is that evil that has been with us since birth. No one is born without sin, and so, throughout our lives, before salvation, we have this sin, which has infected all the world, with us right now. The guilt is in our hands from birth, and we cannot escape the sin through our own efforts. But Christ rescued "us from this present evil age; according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen."
These Galatians had focused too much upon men, and what they desired, and they made the exact same mistake as Peter (Cephas) as is dealt with later in Galatians 2. For what does Paul bring to Peter when he confronts him in that chapter? The Gospel. The error of Peter, and likewise of the Galatians, was their forgetfulness, and/or neglect of the Gospel of Christ.
This evil they were fighting was not an passive sort of evil either, nor was it yet to come. We are not dealing with an evil that will come in the End Times, but an evil that is here now. (Plus, we are, really, in the last days anyhow.) Look at Philippians 3:17-21:
Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ. I think, for the sake of the authority of this letter, we ought to look further into what an apostle truly is. If you go through and look at all twelve apostles being called, they have something in common, and that point is very much related to this introduction. Paul, like the other apostles, was called to be an apostle by Christ Himself. This is important in understand where Paul gets his authority, words and overall person.
Paul gains his authority because it is Christ who calls him, not any man nor group of men. Paul certainly lived a very brutal life, being constantly mistreated, and almost killed a number of times. (More on his history comes later, however.) And so one must wonder why he did what he did. Why on earth would a man (especially one as Paul, being a Pharisee) allow all of these horrible things to happen to him? Because this ministry was from God, not man. No man would suffer the things that Paul, or any of the other apostles, suffered. It is clear that his calling was from God, as he makes clear here. In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul speaks of all he had gone through, not for his own praise, but to point to God. The only reason any words of Paul matter to any degree is because they are the words given to him from God, not man. This is very important to understand, because many start to fall into the trap of worshiping people. These Galatians had made the mistake of following other men, simply because they may have offered seemingly more significant words, and obviously, they carried a more appealing gospel, as far as this church knew. Many make the mistake of following other men as well, such as the Reformers, or modern day theologians. This is grave error, because it neglects a very key point for the Christian, that being the fact that this is the Word of God, not mankind.
Paul’s overall person is also important to note, not because he was spectacular, but rather the opposite. Paul was not an impressive figure by any means, but that was never the point. Paul made it clear to the churches he wrote to that he was not a good speaker, writer nor physically appealing. (See 2 Cor. 11:6, 22-33; Gal. 6:11)This was to take away the glory from Paul, and to put it upon the Lord who called him. (1 Cor. 1:18-31)
We see something else here as well. No organization of mankind had called Paul to this. He makes it clear later in this chapter that he never even went to see the other apostles when he was called to this apostleship- he never saw any of them during the first two years of his apostleship. (See Acts 9) And yet today, you’d think that, without any sort of organization, there could be no ministry in the world. (And by “organization,” I mean a sort of corporate gathering or positional authority system.) Missionaries cannot go out into the world unless a group of people from a church sends them, right? You see such a focus on the organizations today that little emphasis is ever put upon the actual Word itself. A system of authority is fine, but it is never key to sharing the Word. Because these things are from God, not men. Mankind had nothing to do with Paul’s apostleship, and mankind has nothing to do with our being saved. Pastors, though called to serve a congregation, are not truly called by men (not even the church), but by God. Because all of the focus and glory go to God, not man.
One may ask, however, why being sent from Christ Himself gives any sort of authority? (Obviously you’d be lacking severely if you had to ask that question.) Paul makes it clear in 1 Corinthians 15 that the Father raising Christ from the dead provided true proof of both Christ’s deity and His actual authority over all. The Father “furnished proof” that the sins were dealt with. Christ’s resurrection from the dead was also validated by more than five hundred people at one time, as well as by the other apostles. And Paul mentioned himself in 1 Corinthians 15, that he himself knew Christ was risen from the dead. And let’s face it, not just anyone can rise from the dead. Thus was the point of the resurrection- to prove that He is the Christ, and that death could not hold Him. Sin was now dealt with. Read through 1 Corinthians 15, and you’ll see that the resurrection of our Lord was very key. If He did not rise from the dead, we are still in our sins, and are false teachers, and are “of all men most to be pitied.” (vs. 19)
So Paul shows here that his being called to apostleship was from Jesus Christ specifically, and that our Lord Jesus was certainly God, as the Father raised Him from the dead. The authority of Christ was proven here, and thus the words of Paul were only authoritative as long as they were the words of Christ, who is the image of the invisible God.
This is a directed introduction. That is, an introduction aimed to, from the very start, attack the false teachings they were believing. Remember, this letter was not written all-of-a-sudden. It was written as a response to the error of this church, and thus, even the very introduction is key to understand here. But he goes on.
Despite their crucial error, and significant (and wrong) changes, Paul still begins with a rather calm start, wishing them well, but at the same time, adding the Gospel into this. It was a rather obvious reminder to this church, which had quickly deserted the Truth for the counterfeit.
What was one of the errors of this church? They were striving to please men, and so Paul gives another jab, as it were, to their sin, reminding them that we were rescued from this "modern" age- we were saved from this world, and thus we are now separate from it. Christ had rescued us from the danger which was, in all reality, present. He did not save us from an coming doom, as much as He saved us from the sin which was already in us now. The coming judgement upon sinners comes only because they are sinners. And so, this "present evil age" is the time in which we live, and at the same time, it is that evil that has been with us since birth. No one is born without sin, and so, throughout our lives, before salvation, we have this sin, which has infected all the world, with us right now. The guilt is in our hands from birth, and we cannot escape the sin through our own efforts. But Christ rescued "us from this present evil age; according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen."
These Galatians had focused too much upon men, and what they desired, and they made the exact same mistake as Peter (Cephas) as is dealt with later in Galatians 2. For what does Paul bring to Peter when he confronts him in that chapter? The Gospel. The error of Peter, and likewise of the Galatians, was their forgetfulness, and/or neglect of the Gospel of Christ.
This evil they were fighting was not an passive sort of evil either, nor was it yet to come. We are not dealing with an evil that will come in the End Times, but an evil that is here now. (Plus, we are, really, in the last days anyhow.) Look at Philippians 3:17-21:
Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.
This is one of many examples of the fact that sin is still present, in from our point of view, still ruling this world. Notice in the passage above the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ "will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory..." This has yet to occur. We still live in evil times, when men go about as though they will never be judged, living as though they are free from the power of God. And yet, as Jonathan Edwards spoke about in his sermon, "Sinners in the hands of an angry God," these people, despite their confidence, are on the brink of complete destruction. But that destruction has not yet come. Sin is still ever present in this world, and we must still fight off the flesh. But the promise remains nonetheless, that our Lord will conform this flesh to be in perfect order with our perfection in Him.
And why do we even call it the "Gospel of Christ" if we
never seem to treat it as such? ("We" as in, the modern professing
church.) People so often treat the Gospel as if it were their own, or that of
some other man or group of men. Rarely is this Gospel given out as salvation from
God. Or, to the contrary, people take it the other way around. Some make
the Gospel all about "you!" But this is not the case either! People
treat the Gospel of Christ as though it were a gospel of men, either from men,
or completely for men. The Gospel saves, yes, but for the glory of God, not
man. We dare not treat the Gospel as though it is about us. We are those
depraved beings in need of justification before God, through God, and from God.
And thus we look back to what Paul said at the very start: "not sent from
men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father,
who raised Him from the dead..."
And thus we have the conclusion of the introduction in Galatians 1. The only way we are spared from this present evil age- the only way we are spared from living for ourselves, for sin, and for all futility, is by the will of our God and Father. When you read through the Psalms, you are constantly reading praises being given to our God. And people like King David had not yet even seen the Salvation that would come. So surely we, of all people, are without excuse. We of all people should most naturally respond to these things, "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! ... to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen." (Rom. 7:25, Gal. 1:5)
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