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Paul Defends Himself And His Message; He Knows The Difference Between Legalistic Religion And True Religion; Paul’s Message Was Not Influenced By Anyone; Paul’s Message Was Approved By The Key Leaders; They Recognized Paul As An Equal And As A Partner And As The Apostle To The Gentiles
Why did Paul write this letter? The Holy Spirit had used Paul and members of his team to bring the Gospel, the Good News, the Message about the salvation made possible by the Messiah to Galatia, which would be part of present day Turkey. People responded to the message, and Paul started New Covenant Communities in Galatia. Some time after he left, other leaders showed up and told God’s people that Paul was wrong and hadn’t been giving them the full message. These Messianic Jewish leaders told the Galatians that yes, they needed faith in the Three-In-One God, but they also needed more. They had to observe all the laws of the Sinai Covenant. They undermined not only Paul’s message that faith alone in Yeshua was sufficient for salvation and for right living; they also undermined Paul. Paul discovered that this has been going on and wrote this letter to defend his message of salvation by faith alone through God’s grace; and victorious living by faith, not works; and he wrote this letter to defend himself and his authority.
Why is Galatians relevant for us today? It’s part of the Word of God. It’s divinely inspired. It establishes Paul’s authority. It’s full of very important truths – the centrality of Messiah; salvation by grace – God’s unearned, undeserved blessing, working through our faith – our loyalty to Messiah – not salvation by works, or law-keeping or human effort. It tells us the true Gospel, the true message, and contrasts it with all other gospels, all other messages.
And it tells is that God’s grace and our faith-reponse, not works, is not only the way we are saved, but is the way we are to live. We live, not by mere human effort or law-keeping or Torah-observance or good works. We live by Holy Spirit empowered, close-to-God empowered living. We are able live righteous, God-honoring, successful lives by being born again, by having the Spirit of Messiah live in us and empowering us to be holy. All of us need to know how to live this kind of Holy Spirit empowered, faith-based life.
So many people think the essence of religion is doing good things, doing the right things – and that is an essential part of religion – but true faith, a faith that will save us, is more than doing good things. Our good works are to be the result of ending our rebellion against the Creator; getting right with God. Our good deeds are to flow from a close personal relationship with the living God and a new, godly nature that is birthed in us when we are saved; right living is sourced from the Holy Spirit living in us and empowering us and teaching us and equipping us.
This is a radically different approach to religion than religion based on human effort, Torah-observance, keeping the Ten Commandments, or good deeds outweighing bad deeds.
Galatians is of particular relevance to the Messianic Jewish movement because many of those who have been getting involved in our movement, even key leaders, are making the exact same error that the Galatians were – legalism, a distorted kind of Torah-observance; Judaizing – pressuring Gentiles to become Jews or live like Jews, demanding that peoples from the nations observe the Sabbath or the holidays or other laws of the Sinai Covenant.
For these reasons, Paul’s letter to the Galatians is extremely relevant for us today.
In verses 10-12, Paul started defending his message and himself. To further defend himself and his message, Paul shares with the Galatians some of his history, how after his supernatural salvation experience, he was isolated from the other leaders of Messiah’s Community, so the revelation of Messiah and the Message that Messiah gave him was not influenced by anyone else. It was uncontaminated. It remained pure. And, when he finally met the other key apostles, they shared the same message he did and recognized him as an equal. And, they recognized his special authority as the Lord’s representative to the peoples of the world.
For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God (God’s Community of Jews and peoples from the nations called out of a dying world) and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Kefa (Simon Peter) and stayed with him fifteen days. I saw none of the other apostles – only Ya’akov (James), the Lord’s brother. I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie. Then I went to Syria and Cilicia. I was personally unknown to the communities of Judea that are in Messiah. They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the Faith he once tried to destroy.” And they praised God because of me.
Paul makes several points. The first is that he was very familiar with the kind of religion the Judaizers and Legalists were promoting. He was part of it. He was experienced in it, advanced in it, not only zealous for it, but extremely zealous, deeply committed to it.
For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God (God’s Community of called-out people), and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
Paul’s first religious experience in Judaism was a mixture of truth and error, human teachings mixed with Biblical truths. This Judaism emphasized human effort and human traditions. But, his involvement in this kind of man-made religion had the opposite effect of what he wanted. It resulted in Paul opposing God and harming God’s Community. That kind of false religious system didn’t work for Paul, and it won’t work for the Galatians.
His next point is that he later experienced a different kind of Judaism based on salvation coming from God’s grace and Paul’s response of faith and a close personal relationship with the Son of God. That kind of religion was intensely transformational and it did work for him – and that’s the model that the Galatians must follow. But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Kefa (Simon Peter) and stayed with him fifteen days. I saw none of the other apostles – only Ya’akov, James, the Lord’s brother. I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie.
Paul’s point is that, after his salvation experience on the road to Damascus, and after receiving a revelation of the Message from Messiah Himself, for several years Paul had no exposure to the other apostles. First he went into Arabia for a time. Then he returned to Damascus. Finally, after three years he went to the center of Messiah’ Community, to Jerusalem.
When he went up to Jerusalem (and when we describe going to Jerusalem, we describe it in terms of “going up” – because, physically, it is in a mountainous area; and spiritually it is closely associated with the Most High God), Paul only had contact with two of the key leaders – Peter and Ya’akov, James, the Lord’s brother and the head of the Jerusalem Congregation, the head community of Messiah’s followers in the world.
Paul was accepted by Peter and James. We know this because he stayed with Peter for 15 days. He also met with James the Just, the Lord’s brother, a member of the royal line of King David, and the head of the Jerusalem Community. Even if Paul was influenced by Peter and James, that was OK, because their message was the same as his. Therefor the message that Paul received by revelation from the Son of God Himself couldn’t have been corrupted in any way. It was as pure when he was writing this letter as the day he received it from Messiah.
Paul emphasizes that he was called by God’s grace. He was invited to experience salvation and eternal life by God, based on God’s choosing and God’s grace. God set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace. Paul is reinforcing the truth that salvation is based on God’s choosing and on God’s grace – not on human efforts. And, the Galatians need to refocus their thinking on grace, not works.
He also makes the point that salvation is, by its nature, a transformational experience. It is a revelation of the Son of God not just to a human being, but the revelation of the Son of God in a human being. God was pleased to reveal His Son in me. Salvation is an inner transformation of the Son of God living in us by means of His Spirit, transforming us, making us like Messiah. This transformation is caused by the Son of God living in us because of our faith-response to God’s grace. It is not caused by Torah-observance or law keeping. And, that’s what Paul wants to Galatians to focus on – a transformed life empowered by the Holy Spirit – not a life lived with the focus of observing the laws of the Sinai Covenant.
Paul also makes the point that it was God’s will for him to be the apostle to the Gentiles. God set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace, revealed His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles. Paul was saved by the sovereign God, and called by God, and commissioned by God, and ordained by God, and sent by God to the peoples of the nations – not the Judaizers. Therefor the Galatians must listen to him, not to the Legalists, or they would dishonor God; they would disobey God who specifically gave this special rabbi his special position as His representative to the nations.
After spending 15 days with Simon Peter in Jerusalem, and being welcomed by this key leader, and meeting with James, Paul went north. Then I went to Syria and Cilicia. He didn’t go to Messiah’s Communities in Israel, probably because he understood that he was the Lord’s Representative to the other nations, and was to direct his efforts to those peoples outside of Israel. But, he wasn’t rejected by Messiah’s people in Israel. Quite the opposite. I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Messiah. They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the Faith he once tried to destroy.” And they praised God because of me. The communities of Messianic Jews, and probably some Gentiles too, who were in Judea, were good communities of Messiah’s followers. If they praised God because of Paul’s transformed loyalties and life and the message he proclaimed, and those New Covenant Communities accepted Paul and his message, then the Galatians should accept him and his message as well.
Paul’s history continues with another visit to Jerusalem, the center of the Messianic Movement on Earth. It didn’t take place for another 14 years. All the while Paul had been preaching the same message – that human beings are saved by the grace of God, not by human effort or law-keeping or Torah-observance; that we are saved by understanding who Yeshua is and transferring our loyalties to Him and His Father. Then we are graced by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who empowers us to live godly lives. Torah-observance wasn’t necessary for the peoples of the nations who came to Messiah. Circumcision wasn’t necessary.
The purpose of this visit to Jerusalem was to go to the leaders there and make sure that this message was right and to inform them about another revelation that Paul had received. Paul brought Titus, a non-Jewish follower of Messiah, with him as a test case. If Paul was wrong, the leaders in Jerusalem would insist that Titus be circumcised. Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain.
Paul took part of his team along with him – his loyal friend Barnabas, who was a Messianic Jew, and Titus, who was a Gentile Christian. Paul communicated to the leaders of the Community the revelation, a special message from God that he was given or made aware of. He told the leaders exactly what he was teaching the peoples of the nations – that all that is necessary for salvation and right living was loyalty to the Messiah, and that observance of the laws of the Sinai Covenant were not necessary. The leaders heard Paul. They agreed with him, that he was accurately communicating the truth, and his message was the right one. The evidence? Not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. The leaders did not insist that Titus be circumcised. It wasn’t necessary.
Paul makes another point – that the error being taught by the Legalists was not only a matter of false religion versus true religion, it’s also a matter of freedom versus slavery. This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Messiah Yeshua and to make us slaves. We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the Gospel might be preserved for you.
Paul calls the Legalists, the Judaizers false believers. They might seem like believers, but they were not truly loyal to God. In fact, they were on the side of the enemy! They were like enemy infiltrators who had no right to be among God’s people. Their purpose was to enslave the Galatians with false teaching; to enslave them to a religion of requirements that the Lord was not asking the Galatians to follow.
We – referring to Paul, Barnabas and the leaders of the Jerusalem Community, were united in their opposition to the Judaizers. Everyone was united in their support for Paul. Not for one moment did they support the position of the false believers, the Legalists. The true Gospel, the Message was fully supported. It’s integrity was preserved. Therefor the Galatians must take the same position as Paul, Barnabas and the leaders of the Jerusalem Community, or they would be followers of false teachers, and be enslaved to a false Message which would not save them.
Paul continues his history, pointing out that not only did the key leaders of Messiah’s Community agree that Paul’s message was the right one, but they accepted him as an equal. And, he saw them, not as his superiors, but as his equals. As for those who were held in high esteem – whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism – they added nothing to my message. On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised. For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles. James, Kefa (Simon Peter) and John, those esteemed as 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 circumcised. All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.
Paul makes the point that the key leaders of Messiah’s Community on Earth, did not teach Paul anything. He was their equal in spiritual knowledge. As for those who were held in high esteem – they added nothing to my message. Paul understood that while people may be impressed with those who have great abilities, God isn’t impressed. God knows that people are people and their gifts come from Him, so He gets the credit – not human beings. And Paul felt the same way: whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism.
Paul was not the inferior of the greatest of the apostles. He was as gifted in his sphere of influence, among the Gentiles, as were James, Peter and John in their sphere of influence. And, those leaders recognized it too. On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised (Gentiles, peoples from the non-Jewish nations), just as Peter had been to the circumcised. Peter, John and James were able to recognize that Paul had been entrusted with the task of bringing the Good News to the Gentiles because it was obvious that God was working in a special way in Paul, just as He was working in a special way through Peter. For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles. Paul’s wisdom; his courage; his hard work; the miracles that were happening through him; the fruitfulness of his ministry made it obvious to the leaders that Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles.
And they formalized this understanding by giving Paul and Barnabas, who worked so closely with Paul, “the right hand of fellowship.” They accepted Paul and Barnabas as partners and shook hands to formalize their partnership. James (Ya’akov), Kefa (Simon Peter) and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me.
This Apostolic-Gospel partnership was divided by people groups to be reached – Paul and his team going to the nations, and the other apostles targeting the Jewish people. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised.
The leaders reaching out to the Jewish people had a special request for Paul and his team: They asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along. The Messianic Jewish Communities had been suffering greatly in Israel and outside of Israel. They were being persecuted. They were being isolated from the larger Jewish Community, excluded from the Temple and the synagogues. They had been fired from jobs. Their businesses were probably being boycotted. Many were impoverished. Peter, John and James asked Paul and Barnabas, the leaders of the work among the Gentiles, who were not suffering much persecution yet, to help out those suffering in the Messianic Jewish Communities in Israel and maybe those close to Israel, like in Damascus. That was already on Paul’s heart, and he was eager to do just that.
Therefor the Galatians must recognize, as did these key leaders of Messiah’s Community, and the Lord’s representatives, that Paul’s message was the right one and he was an equal to the other apostles and the Lord’s special representative among the peoples of the world. They must respect Paul and listen to his message. They must not pay attention to the false teachers and accept their perverted, legalistic, enslaving message that would not save anyone. And neither should we!