EIGHT STEPS IN UNITING THE EARLY
CHURCH IN GOD’S MISSION
TO THE NATIONS (Part 2)
KEY VERSE – It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Gal. 5:1) SECONDARY THEME VERSES: “A man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ” (Gal. 2:16); “If righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing” (Gal. 2:21).
THEME: Salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone releases us from the yoke of the law, freeing us to live a life of love through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Legal (Imputed) Righteousness: We are justified by faith in Christ (Gal. 2:16). Imparted Righteousness: Immediate Moral Change at conversion (Gal. 6:15); Gradual Moral Change through the fruit-growing work of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22) which requires our cooperation (Gal 5:16-17, 25, 6:8). We cooperate by using CCRC (Concentration, Choice, Reflection, Confession/Thanksgiving. Foundational verse, “By one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” (Heb. 10:14)
Good Teachers: (1) Constantly re-evaluate what they are doing; (2) Set large goals; (3) Ask – Does everything I do contribute to learning?; (4) Prepare well; (5) Check for understanding; (6) Like teaching; (7) Get results from their teaching; (8) Have perseverance. Don’t give up.
TEACHING GOAL: How to maintain unity in the church while focusing on God’s worldwide ministry of the Gospel.
REVIEW
The problem Paul is facing is “How can I prove to the Galatians the essentially supernatural source of the gospel I preach?”
Paul’s thesis: My Gospel was received by divine revelation. (Galatians 1:11-12)
From 1:13-4:31 Paul defends his position as an apostle and the divine authenticity of the Gospel he preaches. Paul shows his independence from: (1) Human Teaching (1:13-17); (2) Judean churches (1:18-24); (3) Jerusalem “pillars” (2:1-10); (4) Apostle Peter (2:11-21).
TEXT FOR THE DAY:
1Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. 2I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain. 3Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. 4This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. 5We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you.
6As for those who seemed to be important—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not judge by external appearance—those men added nothing to my message. 7On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews. 8For God, who was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles. 9James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews. 10All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.
STEPS IN UNITING THE CHURCH
IN GOD’S MISSION TO ALL NATIONS
1. Paul Attended the Conference with a Team
2. Paul Went to the Conference in Response to a Revelation
3. Paul Went to the Conference to Have His Gospel Evaluated
4. Paul Resisted Those Who Challenged the Essentials of the Gospel
5. Paul Built the Unity of the Church on God’s Impartiality
6. Paul & the Pillars Agreed on Different Spheres of Responsibility
7. Paul & the Pillars Agreed on the Need of Practical Service – in This Case Care for the Poor
8. Paul & the Pillars Kept Their Focus on What God was Doing
SO WHAT??? (From Previous Lesson):
1) We hear so much about Paul but forget how much a church is blessed when they have members like Barnabas.
2) When seeking to make your case for a certain ministry it is always best not to be a ‘lone ranger’ but speak as a team.
3) We need to get back to really asking God’s direction in making a move, entering a new ministry, starting a new job. Do we believe that God can guide us in these things?
4) We must be willing to let our guidance (and message) be evaluated by others who are spiritual men and women. If our ministry and message is of God there will be confirmation from the body.
IV. PAUL STRONGLY RESISTED THOSE WHO CHALLENGED THE ESSENTIALS OF THE GOSPEL
Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you. (Galatians 2:3-5)
CIRCUMCISON
QUESTION: Why was circumcision so important to the Jews?
Circumcision was the sacred mark of Jewish identity, the symbol of salvation.
Since the time of Abraham circumcision was a command and determined if someone was inside or outside the covenant.
Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” (Genesis 17:9-14)
A covenant is an agreement where promises are made and which requires certain behavior on the recipients. In the Abrahamic covenant one behavior on the part of the people was to practice circumcision.
“Circumcision” was a synecdoche [sinektekee] (substituting a less inclusive word for a more inclusive term) for the law.
In all of Paul’s reference in Galatians to circumcision he sees it as the sign par excellence of adherence to the Law. (JLM, 194)
Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. (Galatians 5:2-3)
So making the Gentiles submit to circumcision was in other words making them submit to the whole Jewish law. Just requiring circumcision alone would make it difficult for Gentiles to convert and placing the whole burden of the Jewish law on them would slow down evangelism tremendously.
The Jerusalem conference in Acts 15:19 concluded: We should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.
FALSE BROTHERS
This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. (Galatians 2:4)
The New English Bible translates “false brothers” as ‘sham Christians.’ J.B. Phillips says ‘pseudo-Christians’. Others call them Judaizers, intruders, interlopers.
It is important to note that the ‘central block’ of the Jerusalem church were orthodox Jewish Christians. You see this in Acts 21:20 when Paul hears a report from the church leadership in Jerusalem, “You see, brother [Paul], how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.”
The problem these Jewish Christians faced was complex. How do we dump 2,000 years of Jewish culture and embrace the new absolute freedom found in a Christian culture.
We criticize these orthodox Jewish Christians as not grasping grace, the core of the gospel but then rip churches apart by a cultural switch in the kind of music we play in our worship services.
Now, out of these thousands of Jewish Christians were a sub-group of ‘false brothers.’ They were not true believers and were set on forcing the implementation of Jewish culture on the Gentile Christians.
It seems that some members of the ‘circumcision party’ had been smuggled into the meeting the Antioch team was having with the Jerusalem leadership – “. . . had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom . . .”
It appears that the “circumcision group” was still having some influence in the second century since church history records strands of ‘anti-Paulinism.’
FREEDOM
This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. (Galatians 2:4)
Freedom is a major theme of Galatians: “You, my brothers, were called to be free. . . .“ (Gal. 5:13)
The false teachers may have taught that observing the law would give Gentile Christians power over the flesh. (Gal. 5:16) In other words the law was the key to overcoming fleshly desires.
Of course Paul refers to Jewish law-keeping as a “yoke of slavery” no freedom – ”It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Gal. 5:1)
As pagans the Galatians had been slaves to pagan regulations. They had their own system of religion and morals. A change of masters is not an escape from slavery. Submitting to Jewish religious culture was just switching masters.
PAUL’S STRONG STAND
Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. . . . We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you. (Galatians 1:3. 5)
The word “compelled” means a real effort was pressed on Paul and Barnabas to have Titus circumcised.
QUESTION: What are some wall plaques that are place in Christian homes? Give me some examples.
ILLUSTRATION: You never see a wall plaque in a Christian home: Not even Titus was compelled to be circumcised. Yet this is a tremendously important verse.
“If Titus was forced to be circumcised in order to be accepted by the Jerusalem church, then it would be clear that Gentiles must become Jews in order to be accepted in the church. But if Titus was accepted by the Jerusalem church as a Gentile, then it would be clear that Gentiles were regarded as equal members.” (G. Walter Hansen, 54)
The same pressure that was put on Paul in Jerusalem is now being put on the Galatians by false teachers who are in their churches: Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. (Gal. 6:12)
THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL
We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you. (Galatians 1:3. 5)
QUESTION: What would Paul have gained if he had given in and permitted circumcision?
(1) Galatian Christians would not be persecuted for avoiding circumcision.
(2) Paul would not have been hounded by the ‘circumcision group.’
(3) It would have taken tension and conflict out of the church and brought internal peace.
(4) Paul would have been seen as generous and flexible.
(5) Gentile Christians would have been seen as self-sacrificing and willing to surrender their “liberty” for the sake of harmony.
The truth of the Gospel is justification by faith alone, apart from works.
“Even so do our papists at this day. For they say, that we must believe in Christ, and that faith is the foundation of our salvation, but it justifieth not, except it be furnished with charity.” (Luther, 47)
“If faith in Him here give place (as the sole means of salvation), the death and resurrection of the Son of God in vain; then it is but a fable that Christ is the Savior of the world.” (Luther, 49)
“Wherefore, if the Pope will grant unto us, that God alone by His grace through Christ doth justify sinners, we will not only carry him in our hand, but will also kiss his feet. But since we cannot obtain this, we in God are again him above measure, and will give no place, no, not one hair’s breadth to a hundred emperors, nor a thousand popes, not to the whole world.” (Luther, 52)
READING: “Let this be then the conclusion of all together, that we will suffer our goods to be taken away, our name, our life, all that we have; but the Gospel, our faith, Jesus Christ, we will never suffer to be wrested from us And cursed be that humility which here abaseth and submitteth itself. Nay rather, let every Christian man here be proud and spare not, except he will deny Christ. . . . Wherefore, God assisting me, my forehead shall be more hard than all men’s foreheads. Here I take upon me this title … ‘I give place to none.’ Yea, I am glad even with all my heart, in this point to seem rebellious and obstinate. And here I confess that I am and ever will be stout and stern, and will not one inch give place to any creature.” (Stott, 48)
V. PAUL BUILT THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH ON GOD’S IMPARTIALITY
As for those who seemed to be important—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not judge by external appearance—those men added nothing to my message. (Galatians 1:6)
Paul highly valued the unity of the church. We can see that in all of his efforts to raise money for the Jerusalem poor (I Cor. 16:1-4; II Cor. 8-9; Romans 15:25-28). So even though he tried to establish his independence he did not want to break ties with the Jerusalem church.
Paul had to walk carefully. He needed to respect the leadership in Jerusalem but he also needed to protect the gospel’s message of grace.
God is not a respecter of persons. God does not judge by external appearance. “This vice is naturally grafted into us, to highly esteem the persons and outward state of men, and more regard them than the Word of God.” (Luther, 50)
“Those men added nothing to my message” is one of the most important statements in Galatians.
“The unity of the church is based on grace, not race or place.”
ILLUSTRATION: Mission leader in India brought two workers who were in conflict and contentious to kneel with him and then asked each one what Christ had paid for their salvation. Each answered the blood of Christ. The leader than told them, that being the case they were equals since Christ paid the same for both of them.
VI. PAUL AND THE CHURCH LEADERSHIP AGREED ON DIFFERENT SPHERES OF MINISTRY
7On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews. 8For God, who was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles. 9James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews. (Galatians 2:7-9)
PROOF OF PAUL AS AN APOSTLE
QUESTION: What are the main proofs of Paul’s apostleship? Why did the Jerusalem leadership accept him as an apostle?
As apostles, Peter and Paul were the main workers of miracles. Can you think of others who did miracles? (Phillip in Samaria)
God was at work in the ministry of Peter (miracles) was also at work in my ministry to the Gentiles. Just as the miracles Peter did validated Peter’s message, so the miracles Paul did validated Paul’s message.
In Galatians 3:5 Paul asks, “Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?”
When Paul and Barnabas visited Jerusalem in Acts 15 we read, “The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.” (Acts 15:12)
The presence of signs and miracles was conclusive because God does not confirm falsehood. God would not have given miracles if their Gospel had been false.
What is key here is that Barnabas was with Paul and attested to what Paul was saying and in fact Barnabas was telling the story too.
I have made a fool of myself, but you drove me to it. I ought to have been commended by you, for I am not in the least inferior to the “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing. The things that mark an apostle—signs, wonders and miracles—were done among you with great perseverance. (II Cor. 12:11-12)
READING: “In the days before mass communications – when all long-distance messages were sent by hand – a king would place his seal on his message. This seal would be a sign to the recipient of the message that the message was authentic – it really came from the king and not from someone just posing as the king. Of course to make this system work, the seal needed to be unusual or unique, easily recognizable, and had to be something only the king possessed. God could use a similar system to authenticate his message – specifically, he could use miracles. Miracles are unusual and unique, easily recognizable, and only God can do them. . . . Through miracles, God could tell the world which book or which person speaks for him. . . . a miracle is an act of God to confirm the word of God through a messenger of God.” (N. Geisler, F. Turek, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, 201-202)
DIVISION OF MINISTRY
The fact is, the Gentiles were being converted and converted apart from circumcision and Jewish culture:
The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the brothers very glad. (Acts 15:3)
The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. (Acts 15:12)
After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.” (Acts 15:7-9)
It appears that the mantle for the evangelization of the Gentiles, that was originally given to Peter, was now on Paul.
. . . they [the Jerusalem leadership] saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews. (Galatians 2:7)
SO WHAT????
1. Even though flexibility and generosity are Christian character qualities we need to embrace we must not give ground when seeking to defend the basic content of the Gospel message.
2. As the Orthodox Jewish believers in the NT had difficulty shedding centuries of Jewish religious culture, we also have difficulty shedding cultural matters related to worship, e.g. the kind of music we like.
3. The unity of the church is based on grace, not race or place.
4. God uses miracles to verify the status and words of an apostle.