Two: A Tribute to a Christian Couple

Two

Sometimes, due to unforeseen circumstances, I have had to shorten or even delete parts of a planned sermon.  Occasionally, I have added explanatory or background materials to a sermon on this blog.  So, once in a while the sermon presented here is longer than the sermon I preached.  This is the rare occasion when the sermon presented here is shorter than the sermon as preached.  This message was part of a tribute to a couple who were leaving our church, retiring to Florida after many years of serving the church.  The omitted materials were examples of their service to our church.  These omissions do not impact the Biblical lesson.

Acts 18:1 and  others

In some religious traditions there doesn't seem to be too much room for the wife.  Some extreme forms of these religions forbid women to drive, deny them the right to an education, and insist that the may not leave the home without being accompanied by the husband or a male relative.  

From the beginning Christianity at its best—like Judaism at its best—recognized the contributions women could make to the spiritual community.  Both Jews and Christians see Proverbs 31 as a word-picture of a “noble woman.”

We sometimes forget Christianity gave women a place of honor, respect, and equality which was almost unparalleled in the ancient world.   When Paul addressed the relationship of husband and wife, as Dr. H. Schumacher, a Roman Catholic historian, argues, the apostle "...raises the status of the wife far above that accorded her by contemporary views to that of full equality with her husband."  

A Christian Couple

With this in mind, we shouldn’t be too surprised when Luke introduces us to a Christian couple who made a difference in the life of the early church.

 ACTS 18:1 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, 3 and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.

   Because of their strict lifestyle and their radical monotheism, Jews who were faithful to their religion were not always welcome in the larger Roman world.  Some Romans didn’t trust them and many just didn’t like them.  Claudius ordered the Jews to leave in one of the many purges the Jews would endure throughout history.

    Although it does not say so  here, subsequent material makes it clear that this husband and wife were Christians.  Despite the disruption they had experienced, they opened their home to Paul.  Here Paul would have both a comfortable place to stay and regular meals; moreover he would have something to do that would add to his income, ease his conscience about depending upon their hospitality, and help him find a break from the demands of his ministry.

If this were all we knew of Priscilla and Aquila, they would merit our appreciation for the hospitality they had offered Paul.  We discover more about them when they were on the road again.

On the Road Again 

18 Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken. 19 They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20 When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. 21 But as he left, he promised, "I will come back if it is God's will." Then he set sail from Ephesus. 

  

Once again, the couple was uprooted and settled in a new community.  This time the move was made without the prompting of an imperial edict.  Apparently they felt they might be able to aid Paul’s ministry further or somehow advance the kingdom.  Doubtless, Paul felt the same way.  I think verse 19 probably means Ephesus was where Paul would eventually leave Priscilla and Aquila.  In any case, he doesn’t seem to have planned to remain there long, since he was determined to return to Jerusalem.

We don’t know all that these two newcomers may have done in Ephesus but there’s no reason to doubt that they immersed themselves into the Christian community there.  They would have worshipped with their fellow believers and helped “disciple” any new believers who might have responded to the church’s witness.  

Sometime after Paul left the couple behind they had an opportunity to make another important contribution to the work of the church.  That opportunity came when they met another man whom we would dearly love to know more about.  They met a fellow Jew from the fabled city of Alexandria, a city known for its beauty and for learning.  Alexandria had a library with some 700,000 volumes.  

24 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

Luke’s account of the early church focuses on a handful of workers:  Peter, Stephen, Philip, and, of course, Saul/Paul.  Others appear in the account only long enough to whet our appetites for more information.  One of these men was Apollos, a Hellenistic Jew from Alexandria, who appears to have been a scholarly and skilled teacher.  Yet, in the early days following his conversion to Christ (Luke gives no details of that conversion) his understanding of the faith was somehow deficient.  Luke reports that two Christians heard him and recognized his need for further knowledge.  So, “Priscilla and Aquila …took him aside and explained the Way of God to him more accurately.”   Fortunately, Apollos heard them with humility and went on to become a powerful and effective witness.

As we read this account, notice their courtesy and discretion in dealing with Apollos.  We’re told “they took him aside,” so as not to embarrass or undermine his ministry.  The word translated “took aside,” can mean to befriend or show hospitality.  This is why several translations render the words as “they took him home with them.”  This commitment of their time made a difference in Apollos’s ministry that is impossible to measure.

Sometime later, Priscilla and Aquilla were on the road again, again.

On the Road Again, Again

The couple, originally evicted from Rome during a pogrom against the Jews, appears three more times in the New Testament.  In each case, they are actively involved in the work of the church. 

In I Corinthians 16:19 we learn they were probably still in Ephesus and there was “a church in their house,” that is, they had opened their home for a band of Christians to meet in.  They were most likely teachers in this “house-church.”  Interestingly, Apollos had an active ministry at Corinth; so they had indirectly been a continued blessing to the church they had left behind when they moved to Asia Minor.

Romans 16:3 suggests they were, at least temporarily, back in Rome.  The ban on Jews in Rome had been lifted in AD 54 so this would have been after that.

Then, 2 Timothy 4:19 puts them back in Ephesus.  

Of course, this still doesn’t give us as many details as we would like about the double.  Consider this, for example.

When Paul commended them in his letter to the Romans, he said, “ Greet Prisca [a diminutive form of Priscilla] and Aquila, who work with me in Christ Jesus,  and who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.”  

Wouldn’t it be great to know what circumstances prompted that statement? But we are left only to imagine what Paul was referring to.

With all this in mind, let me move on to some observation about these two.

The Two

What can we say about Priscilla and Aquila that might be instructive to us today?

1. They ministered where they were.

Every place they moved they quickly got busy ministering.  So fare as we know they never suffered fro a crippling nostalgia.  Think about this.  They were unjustly forced to move from Rome where they probably had a successful business to the wicked seaport of Corinth. Yet they ministered.  For the sake of the kingdom, they were willing to move from Corinth to Ephesus where the people not only worshipped the gods they worshipped in Corinth, some of the people even worshipped snakes.  Yet they ministered.  They seem never to have said, “If only we were back in Rome, then we could do something for Christ.”

They ministered wherever they were and wherever they were they found opportunities to minister.

Back to Priscilla and Aquila.

2.  They ministered in a way that complemented each other as they pursued a common vision.

One commentator says of Priscilla and Aquila that we never see them apart.  They are only mentioned together.  They worked side-by-side for Christ.  As such, they stand as an inspiration to every Christian married couple, reminding them of how they might  build the kingdom together.

But back to Priscilla and Aquila.  Doubtless, even though the Bible doesn't mention it, they had different talents or what we would call “skill-sets” today.

True, we never see either working alone, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t.  

We might imagine either Priscilla or Aquila working alone in a local church but this would be pure speculation.  What’s less speculative is that we can probably be sure each allowed the other to devote the time and energy needed to exercise whatever personal gifts they might have possessed.

Once again, as we look at Priscilla and Aquila, we see…

3.  They ministered by taking people under their wings.

“Mentoring” is too formal a word for what Priscilla and Aquila offered.  As we’ve seen, they were there with friendship, counsel, and hospitality to support and help.  Whether it was the famous missionary Paul or the fledgling evangelist Apollos, they were willing to open their home and provide what each needed.  In the case, of Apollos they gave him instruction and guidance that made him even more effective and accurate in his ministry.  In the case of Paul, they offered a place to stay and an opportunity to work with his hands.  We don’t know who else in Rome, Corinth, or Ephesus might have heard the names of Priscilla and Aquila and said, “I know them, the made a difference in my life.”  You can bet they were there.

Conclusion:

Of course, this message is about Priscilla and Aquila, two people that Luke didn’t really have to tell us about.  A modern editor might have said, this story about Paul making tents and Apollos getting it wrong detracts from the story line.  Omit it.

Thank goodness the story is there.  It reminds us that when a tireless, fearless missionary  was tired and afraid, God sent someone to help him regain his strength.  It reminds us that when a brilliant teacher needed to be taught, God sent someone to instruct him with tact and love.  It reminds us of how couples can make a difference.  It reminds us how God cares for the church, though the people he sends at just the right time.

Remembering the Warriors

Remembering the Warriors

         In the USA, the last Monday in May is Memorial Day.  Although it is sometimes treated as simply the first extended weekend of the summer, the holiday had its origins in the wish to remember the service and sacrifices of military personnel in American history.  This message recalls those engaged in spiritual conflict.

Eph.  6:11-20

Harold once told me he could remember when the land around the Shapter Center, the Continent, and the Giant Eagle on East 161, just west of I-71 (which wasn’t there then), was farm land.  He had been around Worthington and Columbus for a few years.

I think Harold’s only job was to take customers to their homes or to their jobs after they had dropped their cars off at the repair shop.  That’s how I happened to be riding with Harold a few years ago.  

We were listening to the radio when the announcer commented that the anniversary of the end of the Korean War was coming up.  

Harold said, “I was over there.”

I said something like, “That must have been tough.”

He said, “It was tough coming home too.”  Then he told me a story.

He had just returned from Korea when he ran into an old friend.  The friend said, “Harold, I haven’t seen you in a while, where have you been?”

Harold said, “I’ve been over in Korea.”

The friend responded, “Korea?  What in the world have you been doing there?”

Harold responded, “There’s been a little war over there, haven’t you heard?”

The friend said, “No, I guess not.”

The Korean War is sometimes called “the forgotten war” but Harold could have told us it was “the never-heard-of-it war.”  

Paul tells us  Christians are engaged in spiritual warfare.  This is an important passage on the topic.  

It’s important for us to keep in mind that some of our fellow believers may be fighting battles and feel no one knows about it.

We may be unaware that someone is engaged in war with fear.

When we’re children we dreaded someone discovering that we’re afraid;  that’s not just a childhood concern. We’re afraid someone will find out that we’re afraid—afraid, not of thing’s that go bump in the night, but of other things:  Growing older, sickness, being alone, our families falling apart, losing a job.  Such fears can confuse and paralyze a person.  Battling such fears can be a powerful ordeal.

We may be unaware that someone is engaged in war with shame.

Sometimes we confuse guilt and shame.  Guilt involves feeling of self-loathing because of what we have done;  shame involves feelings of self-loathing because of what we are.

Feelings of shame can arise out of a childhood of abuse or from growing up in a family wounded by alcoholism or drug-abuse.

Such men and women are unable to seek a better life because the feel they don’t deserve anything better.  Sure, the gospel tells them life ought to be better but the power of shame is too great to overcome.

We may be unaware that someone is engaged in war with doubt.

There are many challenges to the affirmations of Christianity.  Some are particularly susceptible to these challenges.

Others harbor more personal doubts, doubts growing out of experiences of loss, pain, and suffering.  Such people may begin to doubt the goodness of God or even his existence.

Many engaged in war with doubt feel unable to share their feelings because it seems so awful.  As a consequence they battle alone.

We may be unaware that someone is engaged in war with temptation.

The other day I saw what purported to be a “post-it note” from God.  It said, “Opportunity may knock only once.  But temptation bangs on the front door forever.”

Temptation is often a secret battle which our brothers and sisters in Christ find hard to discuss.  They battle valiantly but are often overcome.

We may be unaware that someone is engaged in war with an enemy we know nothing about.

This battle may grow out of experiences we don’t have.  For example, some of our fellow Christians must struggle with the power of racism or the memories of poverty.  

We may be unaware that someone is engaged in war with giants.

The giants with which some must struggle may have many names.  There is the giant of broken dreams, the giant of frustration, the giant of illness—and, of course, the giant family has many other members.  How frightening it must be to face these giants alone.

What can we do?  We begin by making sure our fellow believers know they can share their conflicts.  What else?

Paul is a model for us.  He shows us what we can do. 

1. We can remind them of the resources God has made available to them.

Paul calls on us to “put on the full armor of God.”  The phrase is repeated to underscore its importance.  The word “panoplia” is the source of the English word “panoply” which refers to “the complete arms and armor of a warrior…the magnificent, shining array that covers or protects.”

Paul wanted his readers to know the armor of God protects in whatever way we need protection.  

•   We can testify to the effectiveness of the breastplate.  It protects the heart.  We need such protection because the battlefield is a place of temptation.
• We can testify to the effectiveness of the boots which give sure footing.  The Roman boot had heavy, studded soles.  It gave mobility yet prevented the foot from sliding on the battlefield’s rough terrain.  In linking the boots to the “gospel of peace,” Paul is telling us that we can have a peace which allows us to face the most terrifying battles.
• We can testify to the effectiveness of the shield which protects from the enemies assault.  The Roman shield could protect an individual and used to create a solid wall when standing with others.   The Christian warrior has a shield which may extinguish the flaming arrows of the enemy whether those arrows come in the form of doubt, depression, fear, or despair.  That shield is our faith in both its subjective and objective forms.
• We can testify to the effectiveness of the helmet.  Paul may be thinking of the need for  a sense of security in the midst of battle.  We have that in the full salvation Christ provides.
• We can testify to the effectiveness of the sword.  Paul is referring to the double-edged sword the Romans used in close combat.  It was extremely effective.  Jesus used the Spirit's sword with great effectiveness when he faced the temptations in the wilderness (Matthew 4).  We need that sword for guidance and answers in the conflicts we face

2.  We can employ the power of prayer.

General prayer can keep us from being self-centered.

Specific prayer engages our minds to weigh the needs of others and  discover how we  might help them.  In prison, Paul faced an inner conflict: speak out and be at risk or be silent and be safe.  Out of the conflict, he asks the Ephesians to pray very specifically for him. He says,   “… pray for me that when I speak, God will give me words so that I can tell the secret of the Good News without fear.  I have been sent to preach this Good News, and I am doing that now, here in prison. Pray that when I preach the Good News I will speak without fear, as I should.”

If Paul needs the prayers of his fellow Christians, you can be sure that somewhere, someone near us needs our prayers.  

3.  We can stand with them.

The Roman soldiers were most effective when they stood together, shield touching shield.  They formed a wall which was almost impenetrable.

To feel alone in the middle of a conflict must be a terrible thing.  We need to try to make sure no one feels that kind of isolation.

The  “We” Paul uses is a reminder that all of us are involved in this war.  None of us have a deferment.  The reminder to “pray for all Christians” tells us we can’t be indifferent to what is happening to others.

Conclusion:  Harold’s friend only needed a newspaper or a radio to know a conflict was going on. 

We have God’s Word telling us that our brothers and sisters in Christ are engaged in a spiritual conflict.

We can’t be indifferent.

And, if you’re in the midst of that conflict, know you are not alone.  Someone remembers.

The Conflict

Galatians: A Study of Christian Freedom

Lesson 16:    The Conflict!  Galatians 5:16-18

Living in a community governed by the law of love should be paradise on earth, shouldn't it?    Okay, maybe, not so much.  As a liberated Christian aspiring to be like Christ, you should know one spiritual victory after another, shouldn’t you?  Ok, maybe that’s someone else. 

One of the realities of the Christian life is that we are in the midst of conflict and the conflict Paul discusses in these verses takes place on the battlefield of our hearts.  Let’s examine what he says.

¹⁶ Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. 

The structure of this sentence could be misleading.  Paul is not directing the Galatians to do two things.  He is saying that if we “live by the Spirit,” we naturally won’t “gratify the desires of the flesh.”  

So, in his opening words about this conflict, he tells us how to win.  We’ll come back to that later.  For now, let’s take a closer look at the combatants.

¹⁷ For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. 

So, who are the two combatants in this conflict?  You are! But it’s not as if you have a dual personality.

Paul is saying there is a you under the direction of “the flesh” and there is a you under the direction of “the Spirit.”

We Have Met the Enemy and He is Us

What does Paul mean by “the flesh?”  We need to know because it is a key category Paul uses to describe us.  While Paul uses “flesh” to describe the human body, that is not what he has in mind here or in verse 13.  And sometimes he uses “flesh” to describe human effort (3:3).  Again, this is not what he has in mind here.

“Flesh” as Paul uses it here refers to unredeemed human nature, human nature in resolute opposition to the positive influence of God.  It carries the idea of what is “merely human.”  It is our rebellious human nature that insists on its own way as opposed to God’s way.  

John Piper says the flesh is…

 the old ego that is self-reliant and does not delight to yield to any authority or depend on any mercy. It craves the sensation of self-generated power and loves the praise of men...in its conservative form it produces legalism -- keeping rules by its own power for its own glory…[in its liberal form] the flesh … produces grossly immoral attitudes and acts…. The flesh is the proud and unsubmissive root of depravity in every human heart which exalts itself subtly through proud, self-reliant morality, or flaunts itself blatantly through self-assertive, authority-despising immorality.

According to William Barclay, when Paul uses “flesh” as he does here in Galatians 

He really means human nature in all its weakness and he means human in its vulnerability to sin. He means that part of man which gives sin its bridgehead. He means sinful human nature, apart from Christ, everything that attaches a man to the world instead of to God. To live according to the flesh is to live a life dominated by the dictates and desires of sinful human nature instead of a life dominated by the dictates and the love of God.

The flesh is that which tempts us to say, “God. We don’t need God.” Listen to Isaac Asimov’s arrogant indifference to one of the most significant questions we humans ever consider.  He wrote, “Emotionally I am an atheist. I don't have the evidence to prove that God doesn't exist, but I so strongly suspect he doesn't that I don't want to waste my time.”  

The poet William Earnest Henley knew physical suffering and loss from his early years.  As a consequence, he often shifted back and forth from atheism to theism (or at least the hope there might be a God).  During one of his periods of disbelief he wrote the poem for which he is best known.  He knew a level of physical suffering that keeps me from judging him.  Yet, whether he intended it or not, some people who never knew the suffering Henley knew have used his words to proclaim their “fleshly” independence from God. Listen…

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

The flesh is that which is broken about us, desperately needs to be fixed, and which we cannot fix on our own.  Ironically, we are so broken that we often fail to see we are broken.  Our brokenness seems normal.  Yet, sometimes some of us begin to suspect that something is terribly wrong.  Compare it to that moment in the old “B-movies” when someone notices that all the jungle birds have stopped making noise. In such moments we may try to overcome the flesh on our own.    

In Jesus’ words, we become a house divided against ourselves.  We use the apparatus of legalism to try to control what won’t be controlled.  The experience of colossal failure only confirms the mess we are in.

Our Ally

In contrast to the notion of life directed by “the flesh,” Paul introduces life in the Spirit.  

Once again, let me try to make clear what he is not saying.  Notice, this is “Spirit” with a capital “S.”  One popular translation renders the verse his way, “What your corrupt nature wants is contrary to what your spiritual nature wants, and what your spiritual nature wants is contrary to what your corrupt nature wants.”  This makes it sound like Paul is discussion some kind of inward, psychological struggle between two sides of human nature.  When Paul uses “flesh” and “Spirit” he isn’t talking about a conflict between the bad you and the good you.  This conflict would not be taking place if you had not been touched by a Power outside yourself.

So, Paul is letting us know that we Christians are not on our own in this conflict; we have an Ally, the Holy Spirit.  This is very important to remember.  We need the Spirit.  In fact, we can’t hope to live as Christians without the Spirit.

As I said, this conflict is, to a degree, between you and you. If God left the you who wanted to conform to God’s will on your own to fight you the rebellious and unsubmissive, the you who might really want to be a good Christian will lose.  If, with the best of intentions, you try to defeat the flesh on your own, you will lose.  It would be like sending the Worthingway Middle School Cardinals up against the Buckeyes.  Actually, in this case, the Cards would have a better chance.  Trying to subdue our rebellious nature without the Spirit’s help has led to the gross practices of self-flagellation, near-suicidal fasting, and other excesses recorded in the Medieval monasteries.  Remember, Paul’s shocked question in chapter three: “How can you be so stupid? After you started with the Spirit, are you now trying to finish up with your own human effort?”  

With the coming of the Spirit, the whole game-plan changed.  We don’t have to depend on our own human effort; in our lives we have the one Jesus called the Helper.  As the Complete Jewish Bible translates verse 18:  “if you are led by the Spirit, then you are not in subjection to the system that results from perverting the Torah into legalism.”  

Paul and the other New Testament writers use several metaphors—figures of speech—to describe the believer’s relationship to the Spirit.  Believers are said to be “in the Spirit,” “filled with the Spirit,” “baptized with the Spirit;” and, here, “walking with the Spirit.”  While each of these word-pictures has its own lesson to teach, they all underscore one great truth.  God Almighty has committed himself to be intimately involved in the lives of his people.

This is a remarkable comment on the character of the Triune God.

The word-picture Paul uses in this passage is suggestive.  It is usually translated as “walk in the Spirit” or “live in the Spirit.”  The verb Paul uses is literally “to walk about;” we get the word peripatetic from it.  It can mean to wander, especially with someone.  The Bible uses the image of walking to suggest a way of life.  In fact, the word Paul uses can mean just that.  Taken together, we can say that Paul is telling the Galatians and us:  “Wherever you may find yourself, be sure you are influenced by the Spirit.”  We might think of it as a sustained pilgrimage with the Spirit as our Companion.  This companionship is the key to victory in this conflict.  

That’s important because the outcome of the conflict determines the character of our life and witness.  Paul will spell out the details when he writes of “the works of the flesh and “the fruit of the Spirit.”

We’ll look at these later but for now, it’s important to remember that we are not passive in this issue.  We must determine to “walk with the Spirit” as we “continue to follow the truth.”  To use the phrase Paul used writing the Thessalonians, we must endeavor not to “quench the Spirit,” that is to resist his influence.  To do so would impede his efforts to lead us to live free.  We should continue walking with the Spirit, resisting the prideful temptation to think we can reach our destination by walking alone.

 Let me speak to that by referring to a device the wandering missionary Paul could have only dreamed about, the GPS.  Most phones and many newer cars have them.  

If you’re not familiar, here’s how it works.  Supposer you need to find the nearest Starbucks or find the way to Aunt Lucy’s new house.  You tap your request into the GPS and things start happening.

The GPS uses the Global Positioning System to determine where you are, then it uses GIS (Geographical Information System) data to tell you how to get to your pricey coffee or your kiss on the cheek.

When we “walk with the Spirit,” the Spirit knows where we are—our spiritual condition, our needs, our fears.  But here I think Paul would stress that when we “walk with the Spirit,” the Spirit can direct us to where we want to go, to greater conformity to God’s will, as he mentioned in verse 5.

The Old Testament prophet Isaiah painted a rich picture of the new age of the Messiah (Christ).  The Messiah, who would give the Spirit, would initiate an age where there would be no need for spiritual confusion.  The God-Appointed Teacher would be there to guide.  Listen to Isaiah 30:21 (The Voice), “Your ears will hear sweet words behind you: ‘Go this way.  This is your path; this is how you should go whenever you must decide whether to turn to the right or to the left.”

There is something else you need to understand.  Your GPS does not discriminate, does not pass judgment.  If you ask your GPS to take you to the nearest health club with a running track, it will take you to the nearest health club with a running track.  If you ask your GPS to take you to the nearest Krispy Kreme Donut shop, it will take you to those chocolate iced delights.  It just does what you ask.  
Not the Spirit.  If you ask the Spirit to tell you how to get your neighbor’s wife away from him, the Spirit will remain silent—or chastise you.  If you ask the Spirit to tell you how to embezzle a hundred grand from your employer without being caught, the Spirit will remain silent.   But, if you ask the Spirit how you can get to the place where you can best influence your children toward faith, if you ask the Spirit how you can get to the place where you can best honor God at work, you will hear the Spirit’s voice.
But how?  I think there are three ways Christians throughout the centuries have heard the Spirit’s voice.  First, and most important, we hear the Spirit’s voice through the Bible.  Read it and learn how to dig out its gold.  Second, we hear the Spirit’s voice through a community of those committed to “obeying the truth.”  This is why the church is important to you, the right church.  Third, we hear the Spirit’ voice through inner promptings.  I mention this last because it is the most potentially dangerous.  If those inner promptings are from the Spirit, they will never contradict the Scripture and seldom contradict the community’s counsel.  Remember that.
The GPS is a remarkable device but sometimes we get distracted and don’t listen.  We go past a turn or even take a wrong turn.  Then we hear that sometimes impatient voice say, “Recalculating.”
Sometimes we ignore the Spirit’s voice; we listen, instead, to the voice of the flesh.  The conviction and self-disappointment we feel may be God’s loving voice saying, “Let’s recalculate and get back on the right road.”




[18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. ]

Discussed in lesson elsewhere.

A New Law

Galatians: A Study of Christian Freedom

Lesson 15:    A New Law!  Galatians 5:13-15

Please note: Texts in [brackets] are treated elsewhere in the lesson.

Some find the whole idea of living without clearcut rules to be very frightening. They imagine the result will be chaos.  These people like rules, like clearly defined boundaries.  That way everyone knows exactly what to do in every situation.

Paul has just spent considerable effort addressing those who are endowed with such a love of law.  Now, he introduces the notion of a law of love.  But first he urges them…

Do Not Dishonor the Liberator

¹³ For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; 

Paul had emancipated the Galatians; actually, he informed them that they had already been emancipated when Christ had entered their lives.  That was part of Christ’s great work on their behalf:  “Jesus liberated you so you should live in liberty.”

This freedom is a fact of Christian life.  There will always be legalists who persist in trying to deny this reality but their work is a distortion of the gospel and an insult to the Crucified One.  

Yet, liberated Christians may sometimes express their freedom in ways that do not honor the Liberator.  So, Paul must issue another warning.

only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, 

Paul warns the Galatians—and us—that freedom can become “an opportunity for self-indulgence.”  The phrase is literally “do not give an occasion for the flesh;” that is, don't provide an opportunity for the flesh to manifest itself.  What does Paul mean

We’ll say more about Paul’s idea of “the flesh” next time.  For now, let me say he isn’t talking about our human bodies.  The Bible does not support the notion that our bodies are inherently evil and should be despised.  That’s a Greek concept, not a Biblical one.

Several translations render “the flesh” as “sinful nature.”  That’s a better approach but it still opens the door to confusion.  For now, let’s say that Paul is warning the Galatians—and us— against the danger of using our freedom in a way that suggests we have never been touched by God’s transforming power, as if we are not beneficiaries of the Spirit’s presence in our lives.

To live in a way that regularly “gives opportunity to the flesh” betrays our claim to be one of Christ’s People.  If returning to a work-based salvation denies the efficacy of Christ’s work, so too does living totally self-centered lives.  Of those who live such lives, it seems fair for unbelieving onlookers to say, “That Christ of theirs doesn't make much difference, does he?”

To live in a way that regularly “gives opportunity to the flesh” eventually leads to bondage, just as surely as legalism does.  This is the ironic discovery of the libertine.  This is true not only of fictional characters like Faust but of real men and women like the countless entertainers and sports figures whose careers have been cut short by alcohol and drugs, by the refusal to rein in their desires.  This is why Peterson paraphrases the warning this way, “Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom.”

To live in a way that regularly “gives opportunity to the flesh” will ultimately destroy a Christian community.  Listen to Paul’s warning, ^“If…you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.”   It reminds me of the Limerick:

There once were two cats of Kilkenny

Each thought there was one cat too many

So they fought and they fit

And they scratched and they bit

Till (excepting their nails

And the tips of their tails)

Instead of two cats there weren't any!

When Paul speaks of the Galatians biting and devouring one another, he probably has in mind a continual congregational climate of criticism and conflict.  Perhaps the congregation was in turmoil over issues raised by the false teachers; perhaps the members had been fighting over issues like circumcision and diet, forgetting they were brothers and sisters in Christ.  Perhaps they were fighting over other matters, like what to do with those who had fallen for the false teachers’ pitch or who had fallen into some sin or who had allowed the threat of persecution to prompt them to deny the faith.  We don’t know for sure what the “biting and devouring” may have been about but Paul saw it was dangerous.

For this reason, Paul proposes another way to both guard our freedom and protect against the enticement of “the flesh.”

That is the way based on the law of love.

[but through love become slaves to one another.] 

Love: The “New” Law

¹⁴ For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 

Throughout the New Testament, love directs the Christian moral ideal.  Whatever the circumstance we are called to love our neighbor.  Even when we are not sure what love may mean in a particular circumstance we are pretty sure that biting and devouring one another is not an expression of that love to which we are called.

Fortunately, we are not entirely left in the dark about what such love means.  

The word Paul uses is agapao, the term that Mounce says should be defined as “to love, value, esteem, feel or manifest generous concern for” another.  Notice something, this kind of love is not really a matter of feeling; it has to do with our intentions and actions.  We can show agape love whether we “feel” like it or not.  And, of course, such love is evidenced by action, not just words.

Agapé love, the love to which Christians aspire, involves the mind more than the heart.  It doesn’t reject feelings but it sure isn’t driven by them.  It’s great aim is to seek the best for the other.  As Barclay described it, agapé always seeks a person’s  “highest good.”  Now, when you hear that, remember that to the early Christians a person’s highest good always involved having a right relationship with God.

Today, however, some tend to think that a person’s highest good is self-affirmation.  So, in  our understanding, love involves making a person feel good about himself or herself.  Love should build our self-esteem, we’re told.  Calling men and women to reorder their lives so they might experience that right relationship with God seems unloving to some. 

Then, too, some think the highest good is freedom to make as much money as you can with the minimum of interference.  This is an open door to materialism which always values the thing over the person.  To these folks the suggestion that such matters as fair-trade practices, workers’ rights, and caring for the environment might be matters loving Christians should support, makes such Christians seem naive.

If we are going to shape our behavior according to the law of love, we need a clearer view of this love.’’

 Paul provides a description of Christian love, agape, in I Thessalonians 5:15—“See that no one pays back evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for all”

   Paul describes such love negatively:  “See that none of you every pays back evil for evil."

  Resisting retaliation is an aspect of Christian love.  It calls on us to deny a very "natural" impulse to strike back at those who have hurt us.  In the tense situation the Galatian churches seemed to be dealing with, the tendency to seek such pay-back would have been very strong.

   Paul describes such love positively:  "Always aim at what is best for each other and for everyone."

   Agape transcends emotion and calls us to seek the best for others.  Because of this it must be thoughtful;  what is best for another is not always immediately apparent to us or to the other person.  Although we cannot ignore another's happiness, seeking to make the other person happy may not be in their best interests.  

   Doing the loving thing may make the other person temporarily unhappy with us.  This may be discovered when we must oppose a self-destructive lifestyle or other behaviors which are offering temporary pleasure to someone.  Since evangelism--presenting the good news--may involve beginning with the "bad news," witnessing may be another venue in which seeking the best for another may involve making another unhappy for a while.

   Paul describes love's breadth:  "...for each other and for everyone."

   Love is to be demonstrated within the Christian community, that is a given;  but it is also to  be demonstrated to those outside the community.  This was one of the distinguishing marks of the early church, distinguishing and radical.  

So, to show agape means we need to think about what we are doing, weigh our responses.  The love Paul is talking about is not sentimentality.  Sentimental love tends to make us feel good.    Of course, showing agape may also make us feel good but there may be times when acting for the best of another means going against their wishes.  And that can make us feel bad but only if we forget the big picture. 

Every parent knows such occasions.  You may have to break your feverish child’s heart to say the trip to King’s Island is off.  The trip may have been planned for weeks and it may be weeks before it can be rescheduled.  Your child may be too young to understand the danger to himself or herself and may even accuse you of being mean for canceling the trip.  It hurts you to do it but you know it’s the right thing, the loving thing, to do.

Fortunately, in most cases, we are not left to try to guess what the loving way is.  First, when Christians are called to love the neighbor they are reminded that the law gives us insight into how that love is manifested.  This is what Paul means when he says, “The whole of the Torah is summed up in this one sentence: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”  The New Life Translation is even more pointed: “You obey the whole Law when you do this one thing, ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’”  Paul may have had Jesus’ words in mind.

Jesus was being questioned by the religious authorities who hoped to show him up as a false teacher or charlatan.  He had held his own with the Sadducees but the Pharisees thought they might be able to best him.

The story is found in Matthew 22:34-39

34 When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had left the Sadducees speechless, they met together. 35 One of them, a legal expert, tested him. 36 “Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37 He replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. 38  This is the first and greatest commandment. 39  And the second is like it: You must love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Then Jesus adds, “All the law and the writings of the prophets depend on these two commands.”

While the Commandments are not the pathway to heaven, they can give us insight into how we can love one another.

Our culture is so anti-Ten Commandments that is may seem strange to suggest that following the commandments may be an expression of love.  Follow me on a couple examples to show how this fits.  Later you can finish up the list.

Surely, if you love your neighbor, you will seek to keep your neighbor’s marriage strong.  Surely, if you love your neighbor’s children and your children—who are also your neighbors—you will wish them to know a stable home.  Surely, if you love that special neighbor who is your spouse, you will strive to honor the trust that neighbor has placed in you.  Surely, if you love your neighbor, there will be no adultery.  

Surely, if you love your neighbor, you will not lose sight of your neighbor as a person and transfer your affection to your neighbor’s stuff.  So, surely, if you love your neighbor, there will be no coveting.

So, the commandments can help us define love.  

But there is a second way to shape our love:  We have Jesus Himself as a model of what this love means.  I like this comment by A. C. Craig, “…the [chameleon] word love always needs a dictionary, and for us Christians the dictionary is Jesus Christ.”  How Jesus treated others, whether they were society’s idols or society’s outcasts, demonstrates agape in its several dimensions.  

The WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) bracelets and bumper-stickers have been mocked, but honestly, how different would the world be if we did truly try to emulate Jesus?  Would we be better off if those around us asked, What would Stalin do, What would Justin do, What would the Kardashians do?  You get the point.  

Thomas Maston said this agape is “energetic and benevolent good will.” Again, this reminds us that this agape-love is active.  When we think of Someone who surely seemed filled with this energetic and benevolent good will, we think of Jesus who was described as one who “went about doing good” (Acts 10:18). 

The love that guided Jesus to heal the lame, guided him to drive the corrupt money-changers out of the temple.  In the same way, A. M. Hunter sees this virtue shaping every aspect of our lives:  “All our Christian activity, whether protesting, rebuking, sparing, or, on occasion, just keeping our mouths shut—is, or ought to be, loving activity.”

FREE SERVANTS

In contrast to “biting and devouring” one another, Paul says this love will be manifested if we “through love become slaves to one another.”  

Picture this:  only a few sentence before Paul had told the Galatians they had been set free, now he is telling them to become slaves.  The New Revised Standard Version is almost alone in this rendering of the verse.  The majority of  translations favor a more literal translation that says, “serve one another in love.”  The emphasis is on our servant-like actions directed toward others.  Still, the verb Paul used does mean “to be a servant” and the word “servant” is used of Christ’s followers elsewhere.

Martin Luther saw this seeming paradox.  He wrote in his important book, The Freedom of the Christian Man:  “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none.  A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.”

Luther didn’t mean a Christian woman is obliged to do everything others tell her to do.  Nor must a Christian man to ignore the needs of his own family to provide for another.  He is speaking of a new attitude, an attitude that seeks to serve rather than to be served. 

Certainly Paul’s vision involves stepping away from the self-centeredness that seems to drive so many people.  Life for the Christian isn’t a matter of “looking out for number one,” it’s a matter of looking out for us all.  As Paul will later make clear, the false teachers who were creating so much havoc in the churches were motivated by selfish concerns, not the welfare of the Galatian Christians. (cf. Gal. 6:12-13)  This was not the loving way, not using freedom to serve others.

Then, too, part of this means we are free to serve others for the first time without self-centered motives.  Under a law-based system for attaining favor from God, we serve others to win points for ourselves.  Our good deeds performed for others are really born out of love for ourselves; we hope to get something out of our behavior.  Under a grace-based system we may act benevolently toward others out of genuine love for them.  

In a practical sense, if Paul’s words were taken seriously churches would not find themselves caught in the all-too-common situation where 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people.  It would mean nominating committees would have more volunteers than they knew what to do with.  At the same time, these servant-volunteers would be so respectful of their fellow servant volunteers there would be far less jealousy, conflict, and criticism than is often found in our churches.  

Of course, this law of love has more far-reaching applications.  It would shape our outreach. It would inform our defense of the faith.  It would temper our interaction with the larger culture.  It would determine where and how we spend our resources.

The law of love would give direction to all we do as Christ’s people.

THE BIG QUESTION

In 1968, Peter Scholites (1938-2009) was the minister at StBrendan’s Church in Chicago, a church named after the Irish missionary who wanted to take the story of God’s love everywhere.  The church’s youth choir was scheduled to sing at an important multi-denominational, multi-racial meeting and he couldn't find what he thought was an appropriate song.  So, in one day, he composed a song.  You know it.

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord 

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord 

And we pray that all unity may one day be restored 

And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love 

They will know we are Christians by our love.

I hope this lesson has given you some things to think about.  So, instead of trying to list some implications of this “new” law, I’m going to leave you with a big question:  How do people know Christians today?

[¹⁵ If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. ]

Peril and Promise

Galatians: A Study of Christian Freedom

Lesson 14:    Peril and Promise!  Galatians 5:2-5:12

One semester at seminary I had Dr Jesse Northcutt as a preaching professor.  Dr Northcutt had an unusual system for grading sermons.  He used letters, but not A-B-C-etc.  Instead, as I recall, a really good sermon received an “E,” a moderately good sermon received an “S,” and a poor sermon received a “P.”  I’m not sure what Dr Northcutt would say about the quality of this message but I think he might suggest it should be designated “MA”  (for mature audiences) or maybe a PG-13.  I’m not saying this just to get you to pay attention but to give you a heads-up about what is coming.

In all seriousness, one thing passages like this teach us is that the Scripture writers were real people shaped by the communication styles of their day and capable of using that style to express themselves with real feelings. 

Paul has just declared the Galatians to have been “born free.”  And, being born free, they ought to live free. 

But, knowing the seductive nature of legalism, he issues a warning.  He follows his clearest declaration of Christian freedom with the most stark declaration of the peril of legalism—of any attempt to win God’s favor by human effort.  

Again, his passion runs high.  The frustration that prompted him to refer to those who had succumbed to the heresy as “stupid Galatians” now becomes the raw outrage that prompts him to graphically suggest to the false teachers what they could do to themselves.

² Listen! I, Paul, am telling you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. ³ Once again I testify to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obliged to obey the entire law. ⁴ You who want to be justified by the law have cut yourselves off from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 

Just to make sure his readers know the source of the warning, Paul begins with “I, Paul….”  He didn’t want there to be any doubt about the source of the warning; perhaps he was even concerned that the legalizers might somehow try to co-opt Paul’s name to give legitimacy to their claims.  This isn’t as likely as the likelihood he just wanted to give authority to his words.

He is very blunt in his warnings.  In fact, he sees three significant consequences for a believer submitting to circumcision.  Remember, the very nature of this warning suggests it was addressed to the Gentiles in the Galatian congregations (who wouldn’t have been circumcised); although, it might be possible that Paul used circumcision as a synecdoche or token of the entire law.  If so, the warnings would also be addressed to those Jewish-Christians who might be considering returning to a law-based salvation, returning to the position that says salvation is based on Jesus+plus.  Here are the consequences.

1.  Be circumcised and suddenly Christ has no value to you.    

The Voice translation puts it this way:  “if you undergo the rite of circumcision, then all that the Anointed accomplished will be lost on you.”  Think back to the enormity of Christ’s sacrifice, to the great work he did on the cross; Paul is saying that that sacrifice and that work does nothing to aid the one attempting to win God’s favor through self-effort.  You don’t struggle up the mountain so far and God pulls you up the rest of the way.

Paul seems to be saying that there is no middle ground.  Salvation is by faith (period).  

2.  Committing yourself to a little of the law means committing yourself to all the law.

The law is not a moral buffet line where you can pick and choose what you want to accept as binding.  Paul is revisiting a point he made before in chapter three:  “Whoever seeks to be righteous by following certain words of the law actually falls under the law’s curse [because] cursed is everyone who doesn’t live by and do all that is written in the law.”  Violate one demand of the law and you might has well have violated all of them.

So, no one could say, “Well, I’ve been circumcised, so I’ve taken care of my obligation to the law.”  No one could say, “Bacon cheeseburgers are off my menu permanently, so I’ve got the law covered.”  No one could say, “I’m faithful to my wife, I don’t have anything to worry about; I can sell cars on the Sabbath with a clear conscience.”  

Okay, anyone who would say such things is pretty shallow.  But the point remains, living by the law means living by the law.  There are no loopholes when it comes to the law.

It is a return to the drudgery we knew before the coming of grace.

3.  Attempting to redeem ourselves through self-effort puts us in the frightful position of being fallen from grace, cut off from Christ.

This is a frightful situation but it is even more frightful when we see that it is something we have done to ourselves. One commentary cites John Wesley who imagines Paul saying to those who are returning to the law-way, “‘You hereby disclaim Christ, and all the blessings which are through faith in him’ (Notes, 5:1; BBC, 18:84). [Greek scholars] Arichea and Nida emphasize that it is not that ‘grace has been taken away from them, but . . . that they have turned their backs on it’ (p. 108).”

The literal translation is “you have cut yourselves off from Christ.” The idea is to render something ineffective. So, Christ becomes ineffective for those who cut themselves off from him.  

One of the ancient symbols of the Christian faith is the Anchor.  Remember the old gospel song, “I’ve anchored my soul in the haven of rest, I’ll sail the wild seas no more.”  It speaks of safety and security.  As we try to understand what Paul is saying, think of a Christian safely anchored to Christ suddenly severing the anchor rope.  

We can leave it to the theologians to debate about whether Paul is speaking hypothetically or literally of falling from grace; for us it is enough to admit how agitated he had to be to use such language.  

Having issued that warning, he turns to the blessing of clinging to salvation by faith.

⁵ For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. ⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith working through love. 

Harsh as he could be at times, Paul seems to have preferred talking about God’s great scheme of salvation.

Verse 5 reminds us that the Spirit is at work in our salvation.  In any scheme of salvation based on our own efforts we’re are left to our own devices.  We have to make ourselves holy enough to please God and Paul has already shown that to be a lost cause.

Instead, we have the Spirit at work in us.  The Spirit is at work in us, moving us to a final and perfect state of righteousness—perhaps not in this world but in the next.  Paul would tell the Ephesians, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (2:10), so our good works are the product of God’s good work in us.  And, again, he would tell the Philippians, “For I am sure of this very thing, that the one who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus,” (1:3) implying that we aren't yet all we will be but God is at work in us. 

 It’s a relief to know that having begun our Christian walk through the Spirit we are not expected to complete that walk by our own efforts (Gal 3:3).

This reality gives us the proper perspective toward matters like circumcision.

Listen again to verse 6: “As far as our relationship to Christ Jesus is concerned, it doesn’t matter whether we are circumcised or not.  But what matters is a faith that expresses itself through love.”

Paul is reminding us that we may be blessedly indifferent to many of the outward expressions of religiosity.  Here Paul is speaking of circumcision.  Earlier he spoke of holy days and elsewhere he speaks of diet being unimportant to our spiritual advancement.  Paul is obsessed with Christ and so won’t let himself be obsessed with anything else.  He understands the difference between excess and moderation; he would tell the Ephesians “do not be drunk with wine” and tell one who would become the pastor of that church “drink a little wine to help your stomach.”

I have known those who felt they could judge the quality of your spiritual commitment by what was in your refrigerator or the movies you attended; some would even question your commitment if you attended movies.  We may not encounter as many such people as we once did but they’re still around, along with those who would judge your spirituality by your bumper stickers.  Paul would have never played that game.

These things may not be important but there one thing that is, “a faith that expresses itself through love.”  This theme is going to shape much of the remaining letter.  

⁷ You were running well; who prevented you from obeying the truth? 

These verses once again reflect Paul’s concern for the Galatians.  His concern is genuine but he refused to succumb to pessimism.

He begins by declaring “you were running well.”  As he looked back at the birth of the church in Galatia, he recalled a time of excitement in their new faith and anticipation of great things to come.  But something or someone “prevented them from obeying the truth.”  

Doubtless Paul knew who was behind the effort to derail the young church but his focus is on the enormity of what they were attempting to do. When he speaks of them being “prevented” or “hindered” he is using a military term for interfering with the forward advance of troops.  The effect of this action by the false teachers was to stop the Galatians “from being influenced by the truth.”  Those who had fallen under the spell of the false-teachers had stopped “obeying” or living in light of the truth of the gospel.

Please understand, Paul was not concerned that there might be those who choose to practice circumcision or observe certain dietary practices as part of their cultural heritage or to help them win an audience for the gospel.  His concern focused on what people believed about these practices.  The false teachers claimed these practices somehow contributed to their status before God; in fact, they seems to have claimed that salvation was dependent upon these things.  In short, the false teachers had corrupted a core element of the Christian message.

This had a negative impact on the Christian community in Galatia.  Paul uses two terms to describe the character of that impact.  He tells the Galatians the false teachers “confused you” and that they “unsettle you.”  In the Greek, both words suggest creating doubt and anxiety.  The false teachers had caused the Galatians to begin to wonder who they could believe.  And, on a deeper level, they began to question the efficacy of Christ’s sacrifice and, consequently, to wonder if they were really saved.

That being so, Paul felt the need to once again make something very clear.

⁸ Such persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 

The term “persuasion” suggests a way of thinking, especially a changed way of thinking, as in the New Century Version:  “This change did not come from the One who chose you.”

These false teachers by no means represented Paul’s gospel.  They didn’t so much corrupt his gospel, as they replaced it.  

Verse eleven: But my friends, why am I still being persecuted if I am still preaching circumcision? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed…seems to hint that at least some of the false teachers were claiming to be teaching under his authority or preaching the same gospel he preached.  He wants it to be clear that this is not so.  As evidence he points to the trouble he has everywhere he goes.  If he were to include circumcision as a requirement to become a Christian, that trouble (at least from the synagogues) would stop.  Why?  The offense of the cross would be removed.  The cross is offensive, in part, because it tells us both of the enormity of our sin and our inability to anything to win God’s favor.  The legalists were saying you could win God’s favor by being circumcised and adopting Jewish diet and holidays.  Paul refused to change the message of grace, so he continued to face persecution.

But Paul wants something more important to to be clear: these new notions didn’t come from God, either.  God had called the Galatians to freedom, the false teachers were calling them to bondage.   God had not changed his original message to include legalistic demands.  This is why Paul had taken such pains to show that justification by faith was God’s way of dealing with people as far back as Abraham.  Nothing had changed about that.

That the Galatians my think so, prompts his warning.

⁹ A little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough. 

Using a homespun example, Paul warns that erroneous teachings tend to spread and will eventually corrupt the whole community.  This is why he couldn’t sit by and allow the false teachers to go unchallenged.  Had he done so, the error might have quickly created a problem that could not be resolved with one letter.  Indeed, we might even argue that it wasn’t completely resolved since legalism is alive and well.

Paul would write the Romans, “If possible, to the best of your ability, live at peace with all people;” but sometimes that just isn’t possible.  

He could not ignore false teaching.  Now, having so thoroughly addressed the problem, he wants to offer the Galatians a word of encouragement.  [He also has a few words for the false teachers.]

¹⁰ I am confident about you in the Lord that you will not think otherwise. 

Paul believes that in the end truth will prevail in the churches of Galatia.  He has this confidence because he knows that God is still working among them; God hasn’t abandoned the Galatian churches.  God had already begun to work to correct the problem by inspiring Paul to write his passionate letter.

He also has a certain confidence about the future of  the false teachers.

But whoever it is that is confusing you will pay the penalty. 

In the Old Testament, false prophets or false teachers who led the people astray faced the severest judgment.  Paul doesn’t spell out what will happen to these teachers but his words surely suggest they will face some manner of chastisement from God.  

The word translated “penalty” carries the idea that the action involved is an expression of justice.  So, Paul is saying that whatever God may visit on the false teachers will be appropriate.

[¹¹ But my friends, why am I still being persecuted if I am still preaching circumcision? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed.] 

Paul has one more word regarding these false teachers.  It’s what makes this lesson PG-13.

¹² I wish those who unsettle you would castrate themselves! 

You should know that the majority of modern translations present the verse in these terms.  Paul’s words seem harsh and they may cause some to ask, “Did he mean it?”

Let me make some observations.

1.  It was very unlikely the false teachers were going to follow his suggestion.  In fact, his words are filled with sarcasm.  It’s as if he were saying, “Those guys claim to be committed because they’re circumcised, how about their showing some real commitment.”  Public speakers were expected to be witty; that’s what Paul was doing.  (Keener)

2.  Paul came from a culture that often used hyperbole and exaggeration in addressing opponents.  Remember, “May the flies of a thousand camels invade your tent!”  Paul’s readers would have known he wasn’t being literal.

3.  Paul’s words had a special significance to a Jewish audience.  Those who had been castrated (such radical surgery), either deliberately or accidentally, were forbidden to enter the synagogue.  Perhaps Paul was thinking of how good it would be if those false teachers couldn’t enter the synagogues to prey on the new believers who were just learning the faith.

At the same time, some of the priests in the pagan religions did just this in an effort to show their commitment.  Paul may have been saying the false teachers, though of Jewish background, deserved no more attention than would be given to a pagan priest.

4.  Finally, Paul’s words may have had a symbolic meaning.  Obviously, those who had had such a radical surgery could not reproduce.  Maybe Paul was thinking of how good it would be if there weren’t any more of these false teachers around, at least not a second generation of them.

The shock value of Paul’s words is probably increased in our age because we don’t always take the notion of heresy and false teaching very seriously.  Paul took it seriously.  He believed souls were at stake in this debate.

If Paul were a more modern person, one who didn’t take doctrine all that seriously, he might have answered the Philippian jailer’s question differently.  He might have responded to “What must I to to be saved?” with, “Be as good as you can and trust Christ for the rest.”  

Some Implications:

1. We need to be concerned with doctrinal integrity.

That’s probably obvious from what I’ve just said.

Earlier in the letter, Paul had expressed amazement that the Galatians had “so quickly” turned to error, abandoning the gospel as it had been presented to them.  This kind of defection does not always take place quickly; sometimes it takes several generations.  In the past two centuries, some Christian groups have, like the false teachers in Galatia, corrupted some core elements of the Christian faith.

Without naming names there are denominations that once were committed to historic Christian truth that have abandoned that message for one that reduces Jesus to an exemplary teacher and reduces his message to “Be nice,” with no suggestion of our need to repent and be  born again.  In the minds of some, Jesus has become a “Life Coach.”  The impact on those churches has been devastating. Some of those denominations are struggling to keep once large churches afloat and have  a worldwide missionary presence that numbers in the hundreds when it once numbered  in the thousands.

[The following material comes from a lecture on 20th Century Missions I presented in a course on modern church history.

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, new views of the Bible and Christianity led to the development of theological liberalism.  It represented an attempt to be "modern" and intellectually suited to a new era.

Many of the chief doctrines of Christian orthodoxy were gutted by liberalism.  The Bible was just another religious book, not part of God's special revelation to humankind.  The threat of eternal punishment for those who did not repent and become Christians was laid aside in favor of greater toleration and openness.  The gospel message was reduced to "the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man."  H. Richard Niebuhr, in a model of brevity, defined the overall impact of liberalism in a single sentence:  "A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross."

Of course, the liberals weren't denying Christ died on the cross; they simply denied his death was needed for our salvation.  It was an example to us, not a sacrifice for us.  

Inevitably, this would impact the cause of missions.  Ruth Tucker  writes, "By the end of the [19th] century, carrying the title of missionary was no guarantee that an individual was orthodox in his Christian beliefs." (p. 283)

As the 20^th century progressed, more and more mainline denominations expressed a new attitude toward missionary work.

Some mainline churches gave up the notion of evangelizing the “lost” and the tradition of evangelism.  While the World Council of Churches was born in 1910 out of a desire to more efficiently reach out to non-Christians, by the end of the century it was focused on improving the living conditions of the world’s poorest (embracing some of the tenants of liberation theology) and dialoging with members of other religions.  The old impulse to evangelize was quashed, forgotten, and sometimes apologized for.  

For instance, one mainline denomination with historical and spiritual ties to the Moravians, the most missionary-minded group of Christians since the first century, has only 305 missionaries in the world.  (Some critics within the denomination claim that figure is inflated and the true number is closer to 165.)

This material was not presented in the sermon as I preached it.]

2.  There is good reason to embrace hope regarding the future of the church rather than despair.

This seems to be what Paul has chosen to do.  That hope is apparent in verse 10.  He believes they will accept his warning and instruction.  The truth will prevail.

While some congregations, denominations, or even churches in certain regions may not merit such confidence, I think we can have confidence regarding the church at large.  There are three reasons for this:

—Christ, who gave himself for the church, has promised to preserve it.  Speaking of the church, Jesus said “I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” When he sent his people into the world with his message he gave them the promise, “I am always with you until the end of time.” He has given his church the Spirit to empower and instruct it.

—Christ has given the church a message that is still “good news.”  Nothing has changed that.  We are no more able to solve the problem of sin than the Galatians were; we still need God’s grace.

—Christ has provided the church with messengers who are committed to its health.  Paul was one of these.  And, in every age, there are those who help the church rediscover its identity and mission, who call it back to its great work.  

For these reasons we can be confident.