Galatians, Part 2

So in the Lost Bible study, we gave a little bit of the background of relations. We basically said when it was written, about 52 AD and from Ephesus, we also said why it was written.

Due to the emphasis of two groups of people, the Jewish people, that were proud and boasting about their lawkeeping and that they had a sacred idea, ceremonial law, the same was required for salvation. The other side were the Gentiles, which were bringing in their pagan beliefs and customs into the Church. We also went into that as a matter of brief review about what was the main theme of the book of Galatians and we said it is justification in one word, justification. We also went into discuss a few of the other sub-themes. And basically justification is that we made right with God freely by faith of Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ had the faith, had the trust that if he did what he was going to do and as he did, that his father would resurrect him. So he had absolute trust in his father and that trust and therefore by him dying and therefore by his blood that he gave to us and by his death, paying for our sins, but he had that faith for doing it and therefore we are justified by his actions and by his faith. Obviously we have to believe and trust in him, so it's from faith to faith, but it started from the faith of Christ. And it's not by our works or works of the ceremonial law or circumcision or whatever that we are justified. It is by the faith of Christ and his death and his blood.

So that's the main theme of Galatians. So we're going to go a little bit further into it. Today we're going to continue where we start, which was chapter 1 verse 5, and I hope to reach up to chapter 2 verse 15. We also covered why Galatians is a very disputed episode because the Christian world today is trying to create, in a sense, put it plainly, an excuse to do away with God's law and more specifically, to seven because they would deny if you tell them they say, no, no, we're not trying to do away with God's law, we still keep God's law, but really they're trying to do away.

In the end it's seven. We also, in the last Bible study, went through some keys of understanding the Bible, and we said of those keys we narrowed down to the importance of sticking to the trunk of the tree, and we highlighted two keys, the direct biblical statements and direct implications of the Bible, so we've got to keep to those. And we closed the Bible study by highlighting in verse 4 of Galatians 1. So if we turn there to Galatians 1, verse 4, and we said that in a sense is like a yes-yes of the book. Galatians 1, verse 4, it's the specific purpose statement in a sense which says the purpose of the book because it says it's talking about, let's just read it to read the whole paragraph, grace to you and peace from God the Father and from Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself.

He gave himself of his own free will, he gave himself, that he might deliver us. And we showed how it is that he would deliver us. So he gave himself for our sins, so that is what just he fives us, that he sacrifices, that he will deliver us. Deliver us, in a sense, delivering his saving us from this present evil world, from this present evil world. And therefore, he's rescuing us from this world. Obviously, the whole salvation is a process, but it's a step in that rescue process from the spirit according to the will of our God and Father.

So that was the Father's wish, and Jesus Christ did it voluntarily. He gave it himself according to the Father's wish. As we know elsewhere, he says, let not my will, but you will be done. So he did it according to the Father's will. And therefore, to him be the glory forever and ever.

Amen. So that is, in a sense, the purpose of the book is saying, look, we are justified by Christ. He did it willingly. And that is why our sins are forgiven and how we may be delivered. And so, after he's given his SPS, he gets down into the main message.

So the question is that we have here is why did he address this topic? It's because some of the people in the area of Galatia were already being affected by this. They were already being affected. There were some people coming there claiming that they had authority, and they were perverting or changing or modifying the good news. You know, it was the gospel. The good news that Christ was indeed our Savior, our Messiah, our Messiah. And they were not necessarily saying that he wasn't, but he was saying that there were a few other things that were necessary. And so they were perverting it from the point of view of saying they were not preaching a different Christ, but they were just saying it's not enough.

We need a little bit more. And that's why he wrote the book. And so right at the beginning, the first two chapters, chapter one and chapter two, and that's basically the section we're going to cover today, even though we'll not complete chapter two today. But in the first two chapters, he is actually defending his position of authority. He is basically saying these people that are coming telling you these things, they don't have the authority of Jesus Christ.

So don't believe them, because I do have Christ's authority. Christ put me in this position to do this job of preaching to the Gentiles and explaining how the gospel is going to the Gentiles. It was a position that I didn't take upon myself, is Paul is saying, but Christ gave him that authority. So that's what he's doing in this first section, chapters one and two of Galatians. And so let's start reading in verse six. And he says, I'm marveled that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel.

You know, I'm surprised, that's what he's saying, I'm surprised that you are so quickly, you've just learned the truth, and you're so quickly, you're turning away from, you know, was he deserting it? You you're leaving it, you're leaving what is the the grace of Christ to a different gospel.

Now interesting, is he's spoken about a different gospel, but you are deserting, you are apostasizing. There is an apostasy, there is a diversion from what it should be. Now who were these people? Who were these people? Because he says that you are turning away so soon from, because there were some people going there. Now let's just look in Acts chapter 20.

So keep a little marker there, because we're going to come back to Galatians. So let's look at Acts 20. And Acts 20, in this section, verses from verse 17 onwards, so we're not going to read that whole section, but just to put you in the context, Acts 20 from verse 17 onwards, it's on a lack of truth that Paul is going through Ephesus. And so he's writing to the Galatians, as I explained when we went through the Lost Time on the Bible study, from Ephesus to the Galatians, because he didn't have time during this trip to go to that area in Turkey. So he was going further down, and he was going further down to the area he wanted to go to keep the feast in Jerusalem.

And then from there, you'll go back to, as I called his home area, his home base, which is Antioch. And we did have a question, Lost Time, which Antioch was, and basically it was that Antioch in Syria, not the one in Galatians. That's where he was his home base. But he was in Ephesus, and from Ephesus, he wrote to the Galatians. You know, it was from that area in Turkey, he wrote to a central area in Turkey where the Galatian area was. But later on, he was leaving Ephesus, and he was saying goodbye to the elders and members in the Ephesus area. And you can see he was saying, and he in a speech, when he then called the elders like a ministerial meeting, and he called them. You can read that in verse 17. And he sent two Ephesus, and he called for the elders of the church. So he was in an area near Ephesus, and he called the elders from that area like a ministerial conference. And he, at that time, is saying goodbye to them, because he knows, this is your lost troop, he's not going to come back, he's going to go to Jerusalem at this time, yeah, in Acts 20. And then he knows, because the spirit that told him that he would then be going to prison, and it would be have to go on to a different part of his mission that Christ had given to Paul, which was a three-fold, as you know, one was to go to the Gentiles, the other one was to go to kings, and the other one was also to go to Israel in the latter part of his life. So, so we, he had a three-fold mission. So that first portion of his mission was coming to an end, and he knew that. And so you're saying goodbye to the elders of Ephesus. And in verse 29 and verse 30, he says, for I know this, that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you. Now, how did he know, as I'm reading in verse 29, how did he know this? Because he had already experienced, his whole literary of Galatians was already that was having these problems. And those problems are not gone away. You know, when you have people with these ideas, people with these ideas stay there, and they keep trying to come into the church. And he was saying, I know this, that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also, from among yourselves, men will rise up, speaking perversing to draw away the disciples of themselves. He knew this was going to happen. And therefore, it's nothing new that in God's church, it's happened throughout the centuries. There is this problem that keeps cropping up. Why? Because we have a enemy, we have a Satan. And look at another example we have in 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, chapter 11, verse 4, 2 Corinthians, chapter 11, verse 4.

And it says, For he who comes, preaches, and neither Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different Spirit, which you have not received, or a different Gospel, which you have not accepted, you may well put up with it. He was concerned that people will tolerate when people come into the church and give false doctrine and apostasy. People would accept, because as you can see there in chapter 11, in verse 2, he says, I'm jealous for you with godly jealousy. You know, so that he was concerned about the people, and he wanted to make sure they stayed to the truth, stayed in the true Gospel. Right. So let's go back to Galatians. So, at this moment in Galatians, he marvels that he are so quickly turning away, already going to apostasy. Later on, he didn't marvel. He already warned, and he said, I'm jealous for you people. He mentioned that to the Corinthians, as we saw. He mentioned later when he was saying goodbye to the elders in Ephesus, be careful, because it became a thing that he saw, and he kept cropping up time and time again. And he says, and he says at the end of verse 6, who are called you in the Grace of Christ to a different gospel.

But he says, which is not another. And that's an interesting combination of phrases, a different gospel which is not another. What do you mean? Let me give you a simple example. If something is different, I may think of, let's say, for instance, a laptop, and maybe it's an IBM computer.

But then he says, no, I'm going to a different one. I'm going to a Dell computer. Well, it's it's a different brand or whatever it is. But now he's saying, but it's not another.

I'm going from an IBM to another one, which is also an IBM. But it's not really an IBM. It's kind of a fake idea. I think it's an IBM. Maybe ever think of, you go and you've got to some countries, maybe you've traveled, you've got some countries, and they give you all, come and buy this watch. Look, it's a real omega. It's a real omega. And it's even says the omium, but you know it's fake. You know what I mean? It's a different, but it's, but it's not another. You know what I mean? It's, it's of the same appear brand, but it's not. That's what Satan does.

It's a different Christianity, but it's not another. You follow what I mean? It's, it's fake.

It's a deception. It's a different, but for people that look at without looking in detail, they think it's the same thing. It's the right thing. They think it's the right thing. But if we study it carefully, we can see that it's fake. That it's a fake. That's what it's saying. It's, it's a fake. Now, the question is, what is the gospel that Paul taught? What is the gospel that he taught? Because he goes on and says, he says, but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. And again, the word pervertia is the stored. It's apostasized. It's turn around the gospel of Christ. So, and Christians get, get a little bit concerned sometimes and say, oh, well, it's, he sees the gospel of Christ. Now, what did Paul teach?

Well, let's look at Acts chapter 19.

Acts chapter 19 verse eight. Just look at a few points. So we're going to look at a few little quotes here on Acts 19, verse 19 verse eight.

It says, and he went, and he's talking about EI in Ephesus, he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. He was preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God.

Okay, let's go on in verse 20 verse 25. Because then you say, okay, but then how come does it say the gospel of Christ? We'll explain that here in Acts 20 verse 25, and then on the next one as well.

He says, and now, verse 25 says, and indeed now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching, the kingdom of God will see my face no more. So this is a section where he was saying goodbye to the brethren in Ephesus. He's saying you're preaching the kingdom of God. And then, if you go a little further, in 28, Acts 28 verse 23, that is part of his ministry in Rome after when he was in jail in house arrest, and he says in verse 23, So he's preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus. In other words, that Jesus, from both the law of Moses and the prophets, from morning to evening. In other words, the Jews understood there would be a kingdom of God. It would be a messiah, the kingdom of God would be a steppe. They thought it was just for Israel. And then they thought a man would come, the messiah, and will now rule and govern. So they had the understanding of the kingdom of God, but they did not have the understanding that Christ had to come first and die for our sins. And so he went from showing them concerning Jesus. That is the bit they did not have. And so that is the good news of Jesus Christ, which is that he would have to die for us and justify us freely. And so that was part of the gospel of the kingdom of God, but it was a component thereof, a subsection thereof, that did not have an understanding. And so he had to focus in that section, which was part of the gospel of the kingdom of God, because the gospel of the kingdom of God requires a king. That king is going to be Christ, but he has to qualify, and they do not understand that component of it. And so that's why he is highlighted as, specifically in Galatians, as being the gospel of Christ. They were perverting that subsection of the bigger picture of the gospel kingdom of God, which was the good news about what Christ had done for them as part of the bigger picture, which is the kingdom of God. And so he says they all sounded up perverting that, that even if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you, then what we have preached to you? And what gospel did he preach to you? I just showed you in different sections in Acts 19 and 20 and 28 that he was preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and with specific emphasis on the role of Christ, and which they had not understood. So if even if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you, then what we've preached to you? Let him be accursed. And then in verse 9 again, as I've said before, so now I say to you again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you, then what you've received, letting be accursed. And Yah is basically a double curse. Let him be destroyed. Let him be destroyed. And then he goes on in verse 10, for do I now persuade men or God? Do I speak to please men? I'm preaching the truth. That's what it's saying. I'm preaching the truth. Whether people like it or not, I'm preaching the truth.

And I'm not trying to please any man. I'm trying to please God. And I'm going to do what is right.

So he's trying to please God. And then he goes on, for if I still pleased men, I would not be a born servant of Christ. If I still pleasing men, I'll not be through the trials and difficulties, stress, even things that I'm having now. Verse 11. And now he starts showing by starting first of his calling, he starts showing, demonstrating his authority. That was not given to him.

He did not kind of take it upon himself to be who he was. It was an authority given to him by Christ. He was making a stand as far as his position of leadership, which was not self-imposed, but was given to him by Christ. So he was saying, hey, who are these people that are telling you these things? Who are they, in other words, because they're not the human position by Christ that I have. So I have an authority. He had to tell me. So listen to what I'm saying. Not because I'm pulled, but because of what Christ called me and is working with me and is teaching me. And so that's what he's now going into that section, starting in verse 11. But I've made known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.

The gospel that he is doing, the good news that he's doing, it's not according to man. It was what Christ gave me to preach. That's really what he's saying.

For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. It was I was not a man that taught me this. I mean, I went to Paul said, he went to, let's call it universities and things of that age which were very advanced, but he was not taught this truth in those, let's call it universities or seminaries or whatever you would call it in today's age. He did not receive it from man, but he got it through the revelation of Christ.

You know, brethren, it gets down to a couple of points here important.

The first one that I want to mention is that the ministry is a calling. You know, you can't set up yourself and say, I want to preach God's Word and I'm going to make myself a minister.

And some people do that. Regrettably, some people do that. Maybe with a good intent of art, not judging in any way, but the ministry is a calling. Ministry is a calling. It's not a self-appointed opposition. Turn with me and look at it. For instance, here in Acts 26 or others, but I'm just looking at one example in Acts 26 verse 16.

26 verse 16, it says, But rise and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which are yet to reveal to you. So this is how Paul was recounting his conversion in Acts 26. And Christ specifically called him, appeared to him, to make him a minister.

Now, if Christ would do that to Paul, he does that to everybody. He calls people and makes them ministers. People are not self-appointed. It's Christ that appoints them through his government and his authority that he's laid out through his church. So let's continue with Galatians chapter 1 verse 13. For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. Now, you've heard how previously I tried to kill through Christians. How I was so, quote-unquote, sent in the Judaism ways that I actually tried to kill through Christians. So you heard that. I tried to destroy the church of God.

And verse 14. And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation. I mean, I really advanced. I was amongst the leaders there, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. I was more zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

Now, which traditions were those? Or traditions wrong? Well, some are good and some are bad. Some traditions are good. Look with me, for instance, to 1 Corinthians chapter 11. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, just a few pages back.

And verse 1 and 2. It says, he mutate me just as I imitate Christ. Now, I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you.

So traditions may be right and good. There's nothing wrong with traditions provided. They are according to God's laws and principles.

So some are good. But let's look at an example of what Christ, where Christ criticized the traditions in Matthew 15. Matthew 15, Christ criticized traditions here. Matthew 15 verse 2. Matthew 15 verse 2. This was placed because the scribes and the Pharisees came to him and said, Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? You know, it was the tradition of the fathers that Paul was referring to. They do not wash their hands when they eat bread. And what's wrong with washing hands before eating bread? I would go and wash my hands before I have something to eat. Normally I do that. There's nothing wrong with that. And he also said to them, Why do you transgress the commandment of God because of the tradition? See, the tradition is wrong when it leads to transgressing God's law. And therefore, they were very concerned about this tradition.

Look at it in verse 6. Verse 6 says, here's an example about another tradition they had about honoring the father and the mother. And it says, Then he need not honor his father or mother. Thus, you have made a commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. So if the tradition goes against God's laws, then it's wrong tradition. So there's nothing wrong with traditions, but we need to check whether they are according to God's principles of art. That's the point. Look at another example in Mark chapter 7. Mark chapter 7. Mark chapter 7 verse 3.

For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way.

You see, it wasn't just washing your hands, but they had a special way to wash hands. So it was not just hygienic, but it was something else into it. They had to roll up their sleeves, they had to do it in a special way. You see, holding the tradition of the elder. So it was not just the question of hygiene, but they had to do it in a special way. And then you continue in verse 5. Then the Pharisees and scribes ask him, Why do the disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands? And then he says, he answered and said to them, Well that Isaiah prophesied to you, hypocrites, as it is written, those people honours me with their lips, that their heart is far away from me. In vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. There was that special way of washing hands, whatever it was, exactly technically in detail, whatever it was, they were teaching that as a doctrine. And that was a commandment of man, not a commandment of God. And that's what was wrong. When you make a doctrine, which says this is an instruction by God, and it actually is not an instruction by God. And therefore you might in your doctrines of man, not God's doctrine.

You do teaching, you do wrong, traditions that nullify God's laws. And those have to be repented, and both repented of them. Because continuing back in Galatians chapter 1 verse 14, he is saying, I've gone see Judaism, and more than the others, because I was zealous in those traditions. They were traditions that will nullify God's commandments, they were against God's commandments. And so he had to repent of that. Verse 15, but when it pleased God, when it pleased God, when God felt this is now the time to do it, at the right time, when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me from through his grace. Who actually delivered me through from the womb and delivered me, it's God that does all these miracles to us.

When it pleased God who did this, to reveal his son in me that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood. So he gets back to the point, I did not go straight away and talk to people. I went and talked to Christ that instructed me.

So he was taught by Jesus Christ, taught for three years as we understand. We can see that.

Let's continue. Verse 17.

Okay. Nor did I go to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went to Arabia and returned again to the masters. So I went to Arabia and there in Arabia, Christ taught him, as we can understand, for three years because he says in verse 18, then after three years, I went to Jerusalem to see Peter and remained with him for 15 days for about two weeks. So you do not go to Jerusalem to learn the truth. He learned it from Christ himself. That's what he's saying in verse 12. He says, I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through revelation of Jesus Christ. So Christ instructed him over a period of three years in Arabia somehow, and he was personally instructed by Christ. That's what he was saying. And after three years, he went to Jerusalem to see Peter and remained with him for 15 days. And I saw none of the other apostles.

Now look at it. Except James, the Lord's brother. So look at it. James was an apostle. Now some people say, well, it's only the 12 apostles that are apostles. But for Paul was not part of the 12, for one. And he says he was an apostle. Looking in verse 1 of this very same book, Paul an apostle, not from man or through man, but through Jesus Christ. So very folksy about James, the Lord's brother, physical brother, he then later on became an apostle. But he was not one of those original 12. And we know there are others that, for instance, Barnabas was an apostle. If you turn to Acts 1414, you can see Barnabas was an apostle.

Not originally an apostle, but he became an apostle later on. Acts 1414 says, But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in amongst the multitude crying. So the apostles Barnabas and Paul. So Barnabas was an apostle. So we know of at least Paul, James, the Lord's brother, and Barnabas were apostles. So there were more than the 12 apostles. So that's an interesting point there. Anyway, continue reading, Now concerning the things which are right to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie. Afterwards, I went into the region of Syria and Cilicia, and I was known by faith to the churches of Judea, which were in Christ. I beg your pardon, I was unknown by faith to the churches in Judea, which were in Christ. But they were yearning only. He who formerly persecuted us now preaches of faith, which he once tried to destroy, and he glorified God in me. In other words, you're saying, I didn't go to Jerusalem. I wasn't even a ministering in the churches in Jerusalem. I went there briefly to talk to Pirah and some of the apostles for a period after three years, after I'd been called. But then I came back, and that's what he did. And then in chapter 2, verse 1, then after 14 years, that means he had not been in Jerusalem. And then after 14 years, I went again to Jerusalem, Barnabas, and I also took Titus with me.

Now, he is actually talking about after his first apostolic trip, because he left Antioch, he went to Goliath, etc. And then after that, he went to Jerusalem. Why? For the Acts 15 conference, when there's a whole debate about circumcision and ceremonial law. That's the Acts 15 conference. So he's actually describing here when he went to Jerusalem to what is called the Acts 15 conference.

And he took with him Titus. Why is Titus specifically mentioned? Because he's a Gentile.

And because he's a Gentile, he was not circumcised. And he went to the Acts 15 conference, and they did not tell him that he had to be circumcised. He's bringing the point about this justification that you don't need to be justified by circumcision and all that. So he's bringing that point by saying, hey, I went there with Titus to the Acts 15 conference.

And you know the letter you got, etc. That now I'm, that didn't resolve, and now you people want me to go there, but I need to go down to Jerusalem to keep the feast. And therefore he wrote to them this letter of Galatians. So he's referring to that when he went to the conference before he wrote that letter which they received, he went to Titus. And I went up by revelation and communicated to them that gospel which I preached among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means am I run or have run in vain. So he's saying, I went and communicated to them that gospel which I preached to Gentiles. In other words, he went to the Jerusalem conference and explained to them in Jerusalem to the members of the church, communicate to them what the miracle God had been doing with him to the Gentiles. And now he had got Gentiles converted and they all praise and we're happy with that. So, you know, the gospel of preaching among Gentiles. But probably to those who were of reputation, to the leadership of Jewish, of Judaism, I went in private. I didn't go and make a big scene into the Jewish areas. So he went privately because he didn't want to go there and create trouble because he just went there to speak to the church and resolve a problem in that was with the ex-15 conference that they addressed. And then he went back and then he says, yeah, in verse 3, not even Titus who was with me being a Greek was compelled to be circumcised. So he brings a point. He says, Titus went with me, he was a Greek. That means he was not circumcised. And during that ex-15 conference, the I was with the apostles and had the ex-15 conference with all the leadership there and nobody compelled Titus to be circumcised. So yeah, these people coming to you now saying that you've got to be circumcised. I was there in Jerusalem with the leaders and with Titus and nobody compelled him to be circumcised. And this occurred because of false brethren. It was this whole apostle ex-15 conference occurred because of some false brethren secretly brought in who came by stealth to spy out our liberty, which we have a trust and that they might bring us into bondage. Now this is where people get caught up. So let's go through this verse slowly and carefully. In first place, it's false brethren. Secondly, they came in secretly. And thirdly, they came by stealth. Now today we have these stealth fighters, you know, and radar doesn't pick them up, you know.

Quite significant, you know. They are these people coming into the church and your radar could pick them up because they're coming in by stealth. So they're coming in secretly by stealth. Why? To infiltrate into the church and twist the gospel of Christ into the wrong thing. It was unique to the circumcised. You need to have the cinema laws and that stuff. So they came in and these were false brethren. Now, who are these false brethren? So we're talking about the ex-15 Conference and they had to go there and they had to do this because of false brethren coming there to causing problems and therefore they had the ex-15 Conference. So let's go to ex-15 to see who is he referring to. Ex-15.

Ex-15. Starting in verse 1.

He says, "...and certain men..." These are the so-called false brethren. They're referring in Galatians. "...and certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren. Unless you circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." In other words, Christ's justification is not sufficient. You have to have circumcision and the ceremonial laws. We read later basically the custom of Moses, which was referring to the ceremonial law, the rights and offerings and things like that. And therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small deception and dispute with those people, as he calls them, the false brethren and came in by stealth, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question. So they went to the leadership. And so being sent on their way by the church, they passed through different areas and describing the conversion of the Gentiles, and the people were very happy about it. Verse 4. And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all the things that God had done with them.

Verse 5. But some of the sect of the Pharisees. So these were the false brethren. He says, who believed? So they were as brethren, seen as they are believing Christ, but they actually were false brethren. And they were of the sect of the Pharisees. They had infiltrated. They'd come secretly by stealth into the church. They infiltrated to cause this problem. And some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying it is necessary to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of multisigner wars, the ritual, the ceremonial law, the sacrifices, the offerings and those things, which pointed to Christ. Christ is the true sacrifice.

So let's go back to the Latians, chapter 2, verse 4. And so this occurred. So they had to go to the Acts 15 Conference because of false brethren. So we've seen who they were secretly brought in.

So they came in secretly. We came in by stealth to spy our liberty, which we have in Christ. And this is where people say, ha ha, we've got liberty in Christ. We don't have to keep the law because the law brings us into bondage. That's exactly where they picked it up. They say, well, they take this and say, you see, we have liberty in Christ. We don't have to keep the law.

Brethren, what is liberty? What is liberty? Is it liberty to do what it pleases me to do? Is that liberty? To do whatever I want to do.

If that is the case, then I can kill. And that causes pain and suffering. I mean, we just saw last night and this morning, somebody just did what it pleased me to do. So we had liberty and killed 20-odd children in the school. Is that liberty? How? You could say, well, he's liberated. He could do whatever he wants to do. What is the cause? Pain and suffering. That's not liberty. That's not liberty. So what is true liberty? What is true liberty? True liberty is to live as we should.

True liberty is the liberty to live as we should, not to live as it pleases us. That's true liberty. So what are we liberated from as Christians? From the law, so we can kill?

No. So what are we slaves to? What were we slaves to? We're slaves to sin. Slaves to the death pain. We've got that guilt. We are slaves of Satan, of this world, of the society. Slaves of sin.

And that's why we read this, which are called SPS, or chapter 1, verse 4. Christ came us, who gave himself for our sins, to deliver us, to liberate us from this present evil world. That's what we're liberated from this present evil world. That's what it makes from this present evil age. That's the liberty gives us, to liberate us. It's not from God's law that says, ha ha, the law is back. No. The law doesn't bring into bondage. What brings into bondage? It's sin. Sin brings us into bondage.

So we, through Christ, we are liberated from this condemnation to die, because the wages of sin is death. And by Christ, we're liberated by this condemnation. So it's not a calling for us to live and to be free and do as we please, but it's a calling for us to be free, to live as we should.

Turn with me, please, to James chapter 1.

Verse 22.

James chapter 1 verse 22.

Let be doers of the world and not yours only, deceiving yourselves.

And then in verse 25, he looks into the perfect law of liberty.

It's a law of liberty. Thou shalt not kill gives us liberty.

Thou shalt not steal gives us liberty. Why? Because now people are free to live as they should. You don't have to lock up everything, because people are not going to steal.

You don't have to be in fear that somebody's going to kill you or your children, because you have liberty, because people live as they should. That is true liberty. It's the law of liberty. So he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it is not a forget-all-year, but a doer of the work versus the one who's blessed in what he does.

And then just turn one page up onto James chapter 2 verse 10 and 12.

James 2 verse 10 through 12.

For whoever shall keep the whole law and yet stumble in one point is guilty of all.

So he can keep all the Ten Commandments except one.

You murder. You're broken the law.

You keep all the Ten Commandments except one. You steal. You're broken the law.

You keep all the Ten Commandments and you break the Sabbath. You're broken the law.

So the law is got it. It says you understand whoever shall keep the law and yet stumble in one point. The law has ten points. So if you stumble in one of those ten points, he's guilty of them all. As we heard in the sermon, which is very nice and appreciate for the sermon, there was this young boy that was stumbling. He was not stumbling because he wanted to stumble, but he was planning to stumble. That was not his intent and desire. His intent was to walk and to run, but he stumbled. We all stumbled. And that's why we liberated by Christ.

Because we all stumbled accidentally. That's different. The intent of the heart is correct, is to walk in the light. But we stumbled and we all stumbled. We're all imperfect.

But our provider, our intent is right. So we all have the wrong thoughts. I'm not saying that we are all going to kill or steal. No, that's not the point. But we may have some wrong thoughts. And those things are stumbled because once you do it in a mind, the same thing is physically doing. So those are stumbles. And we've got to get it and overcome that. But we liberated by Christ. That's what we liberated. And he goes on continuing. He says, for he will say, do not murder, thou should also say, do not murder. Now, if you do not murder, but you do murder, if you break a different point, you become a transvestite all along. So I speak, so speak, and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. God's state commandments are a law of liberty. Christ has liberated us from the penalty of that law when we fail. He's paid it for us. He's paid the price. That's what he has. And he says, continuing there, he says, relations, chapter 2, verse 4, who came in thyself to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ, what liberty to live as we should from the commendation of sin, okay, in Jesus Christ, that they might bring us into bondage. In other words, they say, no, we're not liberated yet of sin. We still are in sin, and therefore we have to do the ceremonial law to get out of it. We have to do the sacrifices. We have to do circumcision, bringing us back into the bondage of sin.

You see, they were distorting the gospel of Christ. The good news of what Christ has done for us, that's why he said in relations, chapter 1, verse 7, they perverting the gospel of Christ. Sure, it's a component of the big gospel, which is the kingdom of God, but that section, that's what they're twisting and distorting it.

Let's continue reading them. To whom we do not yield submission even for one hour? We do not succumb to those false features, not even for a minute, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. But from those who seem to be something, whatever they were, it makes no difference to me, whoever they are. No bother about who they are. They think they've got a big air. God shows personal favoritism to no man. For those who seem to be something, he added nothing to me. God does not show any favoritism to anybody. So if they think they're better, God shows no favoritism. What does God look at? What does God look at? Does it look at the way you dress? Of course we should dress properly and clean and all those things, but what does God look at?

What does God look at? Turn with me to 1 Chronicles 28 verse 9. 1 Chronicles 28 verse 9. What does God show favor towards? Does it show favor towards man? No. 1 Chronicles 28 verse 9.

As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father and serve him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind. For the Lord searches the hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. That's what God searches. That's what God wants. That's what he's looking for, the heart.

And he separates people according to the heart and the intents of the thoughts of the mind. That's what he's looking at. Is it not a this person is better than that? No. He's looking at the hearts and that's the issue. He shows no favor to man, but he looks at the hearts. So let's continue in verse 7 of 2nd Galatians. But on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision had been committed to me as the gospel to the circumcised was to Peter, you see, he's now getting to the point, hey, when the people there, the apostles, the leaders, etc., when you went to the Acts 15 Conference, they saw that the gospel to the Gentiles had been committed to me as the gospel to the Israelites had been committed to Peter. In other words, I'm equal.

He is establishing his authority as his position. Not that I made myself more important, he said, what God put me in that position. God shows no favoritism to no man. But God put that position, he looks at the hearts and he decided and he called and he chose me. Not that I'm any better. God shows no favoritism to people, but that's what. So, on the contrary, when they saw the gospel had been committed to me, for he who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised, also worked effectively to me towards the Gentiles. And he could be seen by fruits, by the fruits that were displayed. As we saw, in Acts 15, they went and the poor body had been done to the Gentiles and they praised God. And when James and Cephas, which is Peter, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right kind of fellowship. They said, we're equal. Let's go on. We're the team. We're together. You go and do on that section of the world and I go on this section of the world. We are together. We're doing the same thing. Our intent and the side of we're doing the same work. You go into that area and I go into this area. They despise, they part of the first thing, they decide only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I was so eager to do.

So we go into the same thing, but please, whenever we do, don't forget the poor.

So, and then he says, but then in verse 11, But when Peter came to Antioch, I would stood him to his face, because he was to be blind.

Now, the eyes are cast and he says, God shows no favor to man, but even Peter made a mistake.

We all make mistakes. Even Peter made a mistake. Look at the mistake he made. I stood him to his face because he was to be blind. For before certain men came from James, he would eat towards the Gentiles. But when they came, he was through and separated himself, fearing for those who were of the circumcision. So he kind of did one thing, but when other people were looking, then he did not do it. And he says, that's hypocrisy. You act the same thing all the time. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him. So that when Barnabas was carried away, so that even Barnabas was carried away, even Barnabas was affected and he would start doing the same thing. Now, when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the Gospel, I said to Peter before they moved. I said it publicly, because he was doing it public in front of those people. And before it was a situation, it was public. And I said, if you being a Jew live in a manner of the Gentiles, yes, because you were eating with the Gentiles' privacy when the other Jews were not there, and not as Jews, why do you compel the Gentiles to live as Jews? So he corrected him. Basically, was Peter breaking any of God's laws by by eating with these people and they're not eating them? No, he was actually following a human tradition. It was a human tradition. It was a tradition of so-called fathers, a Judaic tradition. And he corrected him and said, hey, you're following that tradition. That's wrong. That tradition is wrong.

For we who are Jews by nature and are sinners of the Gentiles, and it goes on. And now, I just want to emphasize one last point, yes, Jews by nature. You see how he uses the word Jews by nature. What do you mean they were Jews by nature? By genealogy, by the way they were born, they, into the families they were born, they were Jews. The other people are not Jews by nature. Why? Because they were born into other families. For instance, by nature, I'm of Portuguese descent. That's by nature. I'm of Portuguese descent. And so, that's what he's referring to, by nature.

And sometimes people use this term by nature to mean something else. I'm going to give you an example just where he uses the same term and how people twist it. In Romans 2, verse 14. Romans chapter 2, verse 14. Romans chapter 2, verse 14. Romans chapter 2, verse 14.

For when the Gentiles who do not have the law by nature? Oh, what do you mean they do not have the law by nature? People get all carried away with that. You see, the Gentiles were not Jews, of course. And therefore, by nature, that they do not have that law. The Jewish, the commandments, and that by nature, they had not been given as part of the Jewish heritage to have that those principles. And so by nature, the Gentiles did not have that. They did not say that they did not know God's laws or things like that. But the point is, by nature, they were not part of that heritage. So it's just an interesting point that you have that you've got to be careful when you read things, reading in the whole context and see the meaning. And yeah, by nature, in Galatians 2 verse 15, he's referring to Jews by nature. We were Jews by nature. In other words, we are of this group by nature, by birth, by the way we're born. And not sinners of the new Gentiles. And then he goes on, and verse 16, onto a section which is very, very key, which is, in a sense, it's kind of the nuts and bolts of what he is addressing. And that will do it in the next Bible study. We just wanted to bring that point where he was establishing himself, giving in the background why was this issue, and now he's going into the real issue, which starts in verse 16. But that obviously is a whole different area, and I'd like to cover that into the following Bible study.