Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Okay, so we are continuing with what we've been doing, which is what? What have we been studying?
What?
Theology. But more recently we've actually switched to something different, which you may have missed because we just started doing it for a couple of weeks. What have we been doing?
Galatians, Inductive study. Those are both right. Good job. Different answers, but they're both right. What is an inductive Bible study?
Yeah, it's where you look back at different parts of Scripture to try to.
[00:00:46] Speaker B: Figure out what they're exactly saying or meaning for any scripture that you're reading.
[00:00:51] Speaker A: Yeah. So you're trying to figure out the meaning. And you said by looking back at other parts of Scripture. So we're trying to figure out what the Bible means and doing it from basically the inside out. So we're not saying, okay, well, what does this philosophy or this scientific thing. Tell me, what does the Bible say first and foremost, and how does that help us interpret the passage? So we work from inside to out. We work from the letters and then the words and the phrases and the sentences and the paragraphs and the chapters and the books of the Bible and the whole Bible as a whole. So we kind of work from small to big so we can get the full picture. And we don't do all of that. So meticulously we kind of summarize it and make some assumptions just for the sake of time. That's kind of what we're doing now. So that's an inductive Bible study.
Now, can anyone. You might need to turn to Galatians 1, if you haven't already. Can anybody maybe summarize at least some of the things we've talked about in Galatians 1:1:9?
Just done nine verses.
What are some of the highlights? Things we've learned, important points.
[00:02:17] Speaker B: There are people who want to preach a false gospel.
[00:02:22] Speaker A: Yeah. There are people wanting to. And even probably actually doing the preaching of false Gospels.
Do we know anything about this false gospel being preached?
Does anybody recall any. Anything that might be hinted at? I don't know if he said specifically. We've gotten some hints, so it might have something to do with the grace of Christ. Paul keeps reminding them that they've received grace. What does grace do for Christians?
[00:03:58] Speaker B: Grace is receiving a gift you don't deserve.
[00:04:00] Speaker A: Yeah. Receiving a gift you don't deserve. What sort of gift have Christians received that they don't deserve?
[00:04:08] Speaker B: Salvation.
[00:04:09] Speaker A: Yeah, salvation. Thank you. I know there are some Christians in the room, so I would hope you would know that God's grace is the source of your salvation. If you don't know that, you should write it down and remember it, because it's really important.
And so it has something to do with grace. He keeps reminding them of the grace of God in Christ. We'll see more clearly. But this other gospel is not understanding grace appropriately. Does anyone know how?
I'm assuming not.
The grace is irrelevant. They're throwing it in the trash. They don't need it. That's why he is astonished that they would do this. God has saved them freely with a free gift, and yet they are turning to laws and customs to be justified. They're confusing the old covenant with the new covenant. They're blending them too much together so that they are requiring Jewish customs to be members of the church. So they're throwing the grace of God in the trash. That's basically what they're doing. And again, we'll see this more clearly. But that's kind of what he's been hinting at. And that is where he ends up going.
Now let's look down in verse. Starting in verse 10, we're going to read what I hope we can get through. We may not be able to get through all of these verses, but we'll try our best. But starting in verse 10, just follow along. Paul writes, for am I now seeking the approval of man or of God, or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, and in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me. But I went away into Arabia and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him 15 days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother. In what I'm writing to you before God, I do not lie. Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, and I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, he who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy. And they glorified God because of me.
We'll stop there. I doubt we get any further than that. But looking now at verse 10, let's try to walk through this and understand what's now going on.
So he says, for I am now seeking the approval. For am I now seeking the approval of man or of God, or am I trying to please man? Does anybody know, just in general, what is the purpose of beginning sentences with the word for? What is the word for indicating?
It could be a because. So what do you mean by that?
Yeah, it's maybe a good near synonym. Right.
But along the same lines, it's indicating a cause or a reason. It could be a reason.
And so he's responding to something with his reasoning, but in this case, he's responding to something he's assuming they're asking. So he's assuming, okay, they're asking something, some sort of question, or maybe they're accusing him of seeking the approval of man.
And so, though we don't know if they said this to him, he's assuming this is the sort of question they're asking.
And then he uses a literary device in these first two sentences. What is it? What is this. What do we call these. This literary device he's using in the first two sentences of 1? 10.
[00:08:45] Speaker B: Rhetorical questions?
[00:08:46] Speaker A: Yeah, they're rhetorical questions. What's a rhetorical question? And what's the purpose of it?
[00:08:55] Speaker B: You're not really asking a question. You're trying to get a point across.
[00:08:58] Speaker A: Yeah, so it has an obvious and assumed answer.
And so it's more just used for rhetorical sake to make a point.
So they should know the answer to these questions, and they definitely know how Paul would answer them. He's not seeking the approval of man. He is seeking the approval of God. He's not just doing this to please man. He wants to please God.
He says, then if I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. So Paul then clarifies that what they should all know that if he or anyone else seeking to please man with his teaching rather than God, then that teacher is not a servant of Christ.
No one seeking to please man or to lift himself up is actually serving Christ. Even if he. I should say this isn't what Paul is saying, but as a point, even if someone apparently is teaching the truth, but they are doing so to please man and to lift themselves up, they are not serving Christ. And so we can maybe take this into our own lives and think, are there things I'm doing which I'm really just doing for myself? Even if they are good, we want to be oriented and focus on how we can be servants of Christ in everything we do, especially if it's teaching. But in normal things, in everyday life, it's. It can be really hard as we just do normal things like study for a math exam or drive to school or work. But we should be thinking the best we can and praying that we would serve Christ even in the little things.
Now, verse 11, he then says, for I would have, you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel.
Now I want to note, what does he call the recipients? What does he refer to them as?
Brothers. Yeah, verse 11, he calls them brothers.
And an accepted translation would even be brothers and sisters, as he's referring to just the members of the church. But the masculine pronoun or noun would have been referring to everyone generally.
So even though their turning to other teachers is happening more and more, he still writes to them with love and care, calling them brothers.
They might even have some of them accusing Paul of seeking, you know, the praise of man. He's not a real apostle. He was made afterward. He's just getting what he's heard from other people. He didn't actually get this from Jesus, but he is still showing them love and care. You can kind of tell that he hasn't given up on them. I'm not sure he would have written them a letter if he had given up on them. And so even as we get into these rebukes of the Church, which continue throughout the letter as we go further, he loves them and everything he's doing, even if it sounds harsh. And if you were to imagine our church receiving a letter like this, saying that he is astonished that we're deserting the gospel, he's still doing this out of love.
That's important so we can correct other people and help point each other in the direction of the truth in a hard way, but do so lovingly and remembering that if we are in Christ, we are brothers and sisters. We are likened to a family with a bond stronger than even natural families have, because we share the bond of the gospel.
Now, why might the Galatians think that Paul's Gospel is not truly From God. What are some examples? Why might they think Paul's gospel is not truly from God?
Because they didn't hear the gospel directly from God. They heard it from Paul. Yeah, yeah. So they might just be questioning, is he a reliable messenger, reliable source?
Right. It almost seems reasonable. We might might think we can understand that. At least.
[00:13:30] Speaker B: He used to oppose the gospel he's preaching.
[00:13:33] Speaker A: Yeah, he used to be. Yeah, he used to be an opponent, tried to shut out the gospel.
What were you going to say?
Same thing. Yeah, he was persecuting the church, which we read.
Yeah. I think those are some good examples.
They might also be just believing the other teachers more. Perhaps these false teachers that are coming to them are appealing to them. They're scratching an itch, their itching ears are looking for something and these teachers are giving it to them. This might actually answer why a lot of people listen to prosperity gospel preachers. Because they tell them nice, easy things that they might want to hear. That if you just believe hard enough and pray, then anything is possible. You can make money or you can be healed of anything if you just believe enough. People want to hear that, but it's not true. So maybe similarly, these preachers are telling them things that they want to hear. You don't have to give up the traditions of your fathers. You can continue these and require them of the church. This is not true.
They might also have been skeptical because Paul was becoming pretty well known. Perhaps they were thinking, he's just doing this for fame and fortune.
And we kind of get hints that maybe some of them were skeptical because he was not there with Jesus in his life in the same way that the other apostles were.
So maybe he's just gotten what he knows from a long game of telephone. How does he really know what actually happened? He wasn't there.
But then he goes on in verse 12 to say, for I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. What's he saying here? What does that mean?
[00:15:32] Speaker B: Yeah, that he didn't get it from a man.
[00:15:35] Speaker A: He didn't get it from a man. So where did he get it? From the Lord. So when he says, I got it from a revelation, what's he referring to?
What does that mean?
Yeah, God himself revealed it. So revelation is a revealing.
And we might actually be familiar with this exact moment. Right. Go to Acts 9. We can actually read exactly what Paul is referring to.
Acts, chapter nine. Just going to read verses one through nine.
But Saul still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord went to the high priest. So Saul is Paul. Same person, just different forms of the name. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to. To the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the way, that would be the church, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now, as he went on his way, he approached Damascus. And suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do. The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice, but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground. And although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight and neither ate nor drank.
So the way that this is informing what Paul is saying in Galatians is that he did receive revelation from the Lord Jesus, the risen Lord Jesus. This is a criterion for being an apostle, being commissioned by the resurrected Lord Jesus, which did happen to him as well, as there's a time where he was without sight, he was fasting, he neither ate nor drank. And whether on the road or in this period of waiting, God revealed to him the truths of the Gospel. And it could have even been in a moment, for God can do anything in revealing his truth to people, even miraculous things. And so Paul was given this special knowledge from God, and indeed it was even witnessed by people around him, though he probably did eventually learn some things from the apostles and disciples. The point is that the Gospel message itself, the fundamentals of the faith, they were revealed to him in this scene that we just read.
And in fact, he may have already known the Gospel message itself and rejected it. And the appearing of the Lord could have been enough to say, okay, that message is true. But regardless, he heard it from Christ as Christ intervened on that road. That's exactly what he's referring to.
Now, verse 13 says, for you have heard of my former life in Judaism. So we kind of just heard a little bit about his former life in Judaism in that passage in Acts.
And so what we're seeing here, and we also see again, this word for, for you have heard of my former life in Judaism, he's helping the Galatians to see that the revelation of Jesus to Paul really did happen. So he's saying, yeah, it was revealed to me for. And here's a reason that you should believe that. So these are connected in that way. He's explaining, why should you believe that it was revealed to me because you've heard of my former life in Judaism.
Why then is he bringing up this former life in Judaism?
Or what does he mean by what's he referring to?
[00:20:01] Speaker B: I assume the time whenever he was.
He saw us, whenever he was persecuting the church. So whenever he was in favor with the world of man.
[00:20:11] Speaker A: Yeah. And even in favor with the Jews in particular.
We see even some more hints about this. But I think one thing that seems interesting and important is that he's using his life story, his testimony, you could say, in a way to show them how the revelation of Christ and how God converted him is evidence for his message.
He is a believer. He has been had this revelation because they know of his reputation. And as you see, as you continue to read, his reputation was fierce.
It was large. He's well known even now as an apostle, but he was well known then as a persecutor. So what does he say? He says how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.
Just in case we're not familiar with this word. What does persecution mean?
Yeah, it could be like a punishment.
Attacking. Yeah, yeah. Going after in like an oppressive way.
So we. We might think we probably use the word oppression more. I think that's similar.
Persecution seems to maybe have more of an active connotation. Maybe not. Maybe that's just me.
Are there any examples of Paul doing persecution violently?
Yeah, he at least stood over.
We read in Acts 8. 1. You don't have to turn there, Saul. Remember, that's Paul approved of his execution.
And so this is referring to when Stephen was stoned to death for preaching the gospel and Saul was there approving of it.
So, yeah, we do have examples of him violently trying to destroy the church, and he was well known for that. And if we continue to read in Acts 9, we would read of the disciple of the Lord Ananias that sent to him. And he's worried to go to Paul because he's heard what he has done to the church.
But moreover, we've heard of his former life in Judaism. He violently persecuted the church of God. Verse 14, he says, and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many my own age, among my people. What's he saying here? What does this mean?
I'm sorry.
Yeah, kind of rising in ranks. He's. He's being trained up. He is a prodigy. He's like, he may have been like the Anakin Skywalker of Judaism. And then he turns, except it's to good rather than evil. He's training up. He's really, really good and knowledgeable and people look up to him. That's why they were laying their garments at his feet while they killed Stephen.
And so he's saying, look, I. I violently persecuted the church, I was rising in the ranks, I was gaining stature and knowledge.
He then says, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. What does zealous mean?
Maybe we don't use that all the time.
[00:24:02] Speaker B: Yeah, it's like doing something with passion or with great effort.
[00:24:07] Speaker A: Yeah, great passion, zeal. That's a great way to kind of help us know what that means. So he was zealous for the traditions of my fathers, who were Paul's fathers.
Is he referring to his dads?
No.
Who are his fathers?
[00:24:32] Speaker B: The Jedi masters. You trained him?
[00:24:35] Speaker A: Yes. And the Jedi masters before them, the Jewish forefathers, tracing all the way back to Abraham and all the way up through the current time for him. The masters of Judaism had taught him, the scribes, the priests he had learned from. What were their traditions?
What's it referring to? You don't have to like say specific. What does he mean by the traditions?
The law. The law, Yeah. I think, at least in part, because I think what he's referring to, he is referring to the law of Moses, but I think he's maybe even referring to how the law that God gave them had been maybe even transformed into more just traditions that were done in a Pharisaical way. We read elsewhere in the Bible that Paul referred to himself as a Pharisee before his conversion.
So here as he was referring to how he was zealous for the traditions of his fathers. Yeah, he's giving more of an emphasis for why you should believe me because of the great change I've made. But he's also giving us a more clear idea of the issue among the Galatians.
So he hasn't said what other gospels they've been following. Exactly. But we're getting again another clear idea that maybe this has something to do with these traditions of the fathers.
And so it seems like maybe it has something to do with man made traditions. It's not purely just that the Galatians are, well, you know, they're just living in the old covenant instead of the new. But they're even holding to just traditions of the fathers that aren't necessarily even necessary.
Now, are there ways that we do this? Are there ways that we hold to unbiblical traditions?
Maybe. What are some examples that maybe you don't hold to, but you've heard of people holding to you, meaning the church? Yeah, yeah.
Like modern Christians. What are some examples of ways this happens?
Would you further explain the question?
Further explain it?
Yeah. So the Galatians are holding to traditions that they don't need to be requiring of others. I'm asking, are there any ways that more modern Christians hold to traditions and require them and maybe elevate them a little too highly?
Maybe. What are some examples?
[00:27:51] Speaker B: The sacraments of communion and baptism.
[00:27:55] Speaker A: Yeah. Can you explain how that happens or what you mean by.
[00:28:00] Speaker B: In many churches, they believe that baptism and communion are saving?
[00:28:05] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:28:06] Speaker B: They're actually giving the spirit instead of just a symbolic.
[00:28:13] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. I mean, I guess. Yeah. You could maybe say that the churches that are teaching that baptism regenerates or converts you, that is a false tradition that they've probably held and passed down. I think that that's a decent example. I can even think of maybe more casual examples of just people wanting to do things a certain way. And that's like, you know, they make that I won't go to a church unless they do this. But it's not really something that needs to be held this way. Like they need to have this style of music or I'm not going to that church. That's not really a tradition that we need to hold. There's even a church in London that is a gospel preaching church, but will refuse to work with any church that uses any sort of modern music, even very biblically rich modern music. And that's a tradition that they've held that is just not biblical and causes division. I think that's one example.
Verse 15. While we have time, he says, but when he who had set me apart before I was born and called me by his grace, who set Paul apart.
Who's the he?
Christ. Right. We also know this because we've talked about grace and peace to them from God and the Lord Jesus Christ. So we know God is the source of grace. And so he says, called me by his grace. He's referring to He, God who set him apart.
He was set apart before he was born.
What does that mean, though? That he was set apart before he was born?
Yeah, I think he's referring to predestination. He must be.
Before he was born, he was set apart. God had this plan. He knew it would happen. He put it into play and guided things so that Paul would Be raised up, even allowing Paul to be such a persecutor of the church and then converting him as a display of the power of the gospel.
And what does this teach us about God?
He's all knowing he's outside of time. Yeah, he's powerful.
Yeah. It doesn't matter who you are. God is kind and loving and even, you know, a violent persecutor of the church can be redeemed by the blood of Christ.
That is remarkable. So whether it's you or someone you know, that you might think, and I've thought this before, oh man, I don't want to share the gospel with him. There's just no way that would go well. There's no way he would ever believe.
You should never think that.
Never ever think that. In fact, those people might be even more likely. You just never know. I've been proven wrong in that thought in the past. You never know because God can change any heart he so pleases if he calls them by his grace.
Verse 16.
This God, who he is referring to. The God was pleased to reveal his son to me is what Paul says. So God was pleased to reveal his son.
The he of verse 15 must be God himself he set apart. He was predestined by God. He was called by God. It was God who revealed Jesus to him. It is God centered salvation all the way through.
And that's important as he's pointing these Galatians, turning to another gospel, relying on traditions of man. And he's pointing the whole reason I'm here is completely because of God.
I mean, it couldn't have been more God centered of a conversion as he was stopped on the road by God himself.
It was God that revealed his grace. It was God that set him apart before he was born. It was God that revealed his son to him. And he did this in order that Paul might preach him among the Gentiles.
Gentiles are non Jews. So Paul is still proving to the Galatians that his calling, his apostleship, his mission, his message are not from man, but from God himself all the way through, completely from God.
And he says, then I did not immediately consult anyone. Again emphasizing that he didn't get this from any man, just from God. Verse 17. Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me. But I went away into Arabia and returned again into Damascus.
So Paul is inserting this information because he wants them to know that he's not dependent even on the other apostles.
He really did just receive this gospel message from God. Even if he did receive it from Peter or James. That's not necessarily a bad thing. But he just wants to point out, look, I didn't even receive it from them, even though that is a fine source. He got it straight from God and he took it from Damascus to Arabia and then back again before he ran into any of them. He really was only dependent on the revelation of Jesus Christ.
And while we don't typically, I don't know of any of you that has been stopped on the road by the risen Lord Jesus.
You know, I'd have some questions if you said you did even. But we do have a very full revelation of Jesus Christ sitting in front of all of you. The Word of God. And so as we run out of time, I just want you guys to consider how you can learn from Christ from God's Word himself.
Now, I don't think we should do this always independently. The church is important. Reading and studying together is so important. But consider the beauty of the fact that you can see God's clear revelation just in your hand and you can read it every single day.
And also this week, just reflect on the beauty of God's love, that he can change the heart of anybody. Maybe even think about and write down the name of somebody who needs to hear the gospel, who maybe seems unlikely to believe it and trust God to give you the boldness and the words to proclaim and share the gospel with that person.
Let's pray and then we can go worship with the church. Father, thank you for your word. We thank you that you are a sovereign God, that salvation is completely in your hands for God. We know that our sinful human hands would fumble it. But God, you keep us secure.
Lord, give us the boldness this week to proclaim the gospel to those that need to hear it. We pray this all in Christ's name. Amen.
