Galatians 1
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.
No Other Gospel
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.
Paul Called by God
11I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. 12I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
13For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15But when God, who set me apart from birth[a] and called me by his grace, was pleased 16to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, 17nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.
18Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter[b] and stayed with him fifteen days. 19I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord's brother. 20I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie. 21Later I went to Syria and Cilicia. 22I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23They only heard the report: "The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy." 24And they praised God because of me.
Footnotes:
[a] Galatians 1:15 Or from my mother's womb
[b] Galatians 1:18 Greek Cephas
8 comments:
this is a neat intro. kind of like being in a movie. it's always interesting to me to think about how christianity has spread when in fact, as paul points out, there were people (and i assume many of them), who were doubting or turning away or being influenced to turn away from Christianity. But i really like when he says "this is no lie". kind of reassures me. and the fact that Paul is now a supporter of something he used to preach against is a huge credibility builder.
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 have to admit that I struggle with this. Genetic code, call it what you will, but the fact is that I tend to seek approval.
Father God, let me seek your approval first and foremost.
In Christ,
cas
clark, verse 10 is a tough one for me too! i can honestly say that almost every day i "concern" myself with thoughts of approval...mainly through work and coworkers. Am i liked by this person? if i bow my head at lunch while sitting at the table with others who are not christians, will i offend them? does so and so think i am doing a good job at work? and so on. wow, the words "...i would not be a servant of Christ" really hit me!
I certainly understand and struggle with the same things timmcd6 and cas mentioned. When I've got Third Day or someone else playing on the radio, I'm constantly worrying if I'm offending someone. Instead I should be hoping that someone hears the message.
11I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. 12I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
I was sick yesterday with the flu and stayed home, and was even more sick thanks to all the infomercials dealing with ways to fix this or that or to "change one's life". It certainly is comforting to know that we are on a divine diet.
Lord, help us to be servants of Christ, not self-serving or trying to please other men. Let us help others in Your name, and please you throughout the day.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
crb
Great chapter and book. One of my favorites. Actually it was one of the very first books of the Bible I read.
Lots in the first chapter. Some random thoughts on it:
vs. 4 says that Christ came to rescue us from the present evil age. I confess I don't always see this age we live in as a present evil age. In fact, I have carved out quite a comfortable life here. I just don't have an "outpost" mentality that I think Paul and the early Church lived with daily.
vs.6-9 Wow! Say it once and it must be important to Paul, but say it TWICE--watch out. I can't remember Paul being so clear and strong on anything before. In an age of relativism/Post-modernism, Paul charges boldly into the world of absolutes. His sterness is a reflection of his love for the Galatian christians. You almost hear the parent so concerned about their child's future in his words. This is a great reminder to me that it is o.k. to stand firm on God's Word/revelation.
vs. 10 I am with ALL of you on this. What a constant struggle...not in the middle school "I want to be cool" way, but in a much deeper longing way. It is hard to explain, but I have consistently chosen to live beyond the gravity of "pleasing other men" but the pull is always there. That is one reason I hate conflict, yet God has directed my paths through conflict. It is not initiated by me, but it seems it is part of the refining fire God seeks to cleanse me with. The gravitational force of pleasing other men is also one of the reasons I really don't spend any time staring at the TV. I find that it plays on that same deep desire (CAS, nailed it by saying it was "genetic") and makes it even stronger. This is an ongoing area I covet all of your prayers in.
vs. 11-24 Wow again. Paul--Apostle Paul, Missionary Paul, Radically Transformed Paul--even Paul, had to defend the Gospel, his calling, and his ministry. Why do I get so frustrated that people do not merely accept the Gospel or God's call on my life. If Paul had to write these words to the Galatians, what would we have to write? It is amazing that Paul sees his life "set apart from birth" for God. He does not negate his past. It is as if without such a radical life before and after encountering Christ, he would not have been seen as authentic by the Galatians and perhaps other gentiles too. How amazing that God does not waste our pre-Christ years. In fact, I am coming to see more and more that I should not regret them. He allowed them for a reason. HIS GLORY. It makes the story of His redemption in my life even more miraculous and in line with the passage in 2 Corinthians 4 dealing with the 'jars of clay." In the end of any of our lives, if people gave the one true God praise for our lives, then our lives have been spent well for His glory.
God, I thank you for these men. I thank you for your call on each one of us. Transform our minds to think of life as you do. Transform our eyes to see as you see. Transform our mouths to speak as you speak. Transform our hearts and hands to love as you so graciously do in our lives each day. In the end, Father, we ask for your glory to be shown through each one of us so others can come to know you and be transformed by you.
soli Deo gloria,
ER
something i was pondering and would like to hear from you guys...paul refers to his past and admits his transgressions. he of course changed and became a follower of Christ. when a person does this, i kind of feel like it is a shedding of your skin. and you have a new body. but with that new body, is a new heart and new attitidue. At one point in my life, i went through that transformation. But, even after that transformation, i have sinned miserably and often. While i know i cannot be perfet (or without sin), it just makes me wonder about my commitment to God. how deep is it? why would i continue to sin over and over when i call myself a follower of Christ? often times i feel as if it is more OK to look back at your sins prior to being a Christian. I sometimes think, "well i/you did these things but i/you wasnt a Christian and those things you did are part of your own self". But when i look in the mirror and know i am a Christian, and know i sin the way i do, i have a much harder time with that. i feel hypocritical. I feel like a traitor at times. I know God still oves and forgives me, but it just never sits well with me. what do you guys think?
Posting this from the email I received from CAS, in order to keep this conversation on the web:
timmcd6,
i feel your pain brother. this might help. i read it often and remind my selkf that Paul wrote this. hope this helps. Chp 8 reminds of us of grace
Romans 7 (NLT)
Struggling with Sin
14The law is good, then. The trouble is not with the law but with me, because I am sold into slavery, with sin as my master. 15I don't understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate. 16I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience shows that I agree that the law is good. 17But I can't help myself, because it is sin inside me that makes me do these evil things.
18I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn, I can't make myself do right. I want to, but I can't. 19When I want to do good, I don't. And when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway. 20But if I am doing what I don't want to do, I am not really the one doing it; the sin within me is doing it.
21It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22I love God's law with all my heart. 23But there is another law at work within me that is at war with my mind. This law wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin?[c] 25Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin
Posting this from the email I received from CRB, in order to keep this conversation on the web:
TIMMCD6-
I think alot of these same things, but I think its important to remember that Christ died for the sins you already committed AND the ones you're still going to commit. I think that the closer we grow to Christ the less we will sin, but the one thing that will never change is that we are still human, and that means we are imperfect and prone to sin. I've gone back in forth in my life, from sinning alot, and being far away from God, to being very strong in my walk, and back again. I think that it is both a testament to grace and the true meaning of grace to understand that God really does want you forever, no matter how scarred we make ourselves as humans. The biggest thing to remember is Romans 8:1"Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus, ", which means that while we are convicted by our sins (recognizing it is wrong, repent, and want to change) we are no longer condemned (thrown out of God's good graces), because of Christ's sacrifice. Remeber that verse. It has changed alot of what I do. That being said, feeling the conviction is important, its a part of helping Christ shape us into his image. It's alot like playing quarterback or cornerback, you want to recognize you did something wrong, learn from it, but forget about the negativity and get right back on the field. We're certainly no good to God depressed and sitting in our houses by ourselves. I went through that last year, and it took me about 2-3 months of getting over my depression. But remember that you have the best teammate ever, Jesus, on your side, which makes all of the trials that God throws at us doable. I'd be happy to share more if this helps,
CRB
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