A Moment in Galatia
“We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.” – Galatians 2:5
Dear Friends,
I’m starting to realize why I’ve never attempted a sermon series on Galatians before – there’s just SO MUCH to digest in this little letter!
I only touched on this briefly before, but it deserves more attention – while Paul had planted the churches in Galatia that he now writes this letter to, others have come or risen up, and pushed these non-Jews to follow the law, all the way to pushing non-Jewish men to enact the “sign” of the covenant – circumcision. And while we’ll deal with this a little later in the series, there’s a subtle point in the background that we have to deal with now, in order for the first couple of chapters to fully make sense.
Part of the argument by this group (often called “Judaizers”, for their desire to make Gentiles become Jews), was that Paul’s gospel (good news) message was insufficient, and had in some ways been co-opted by others and that only their version was true. This is the reason that Paul goes to great lengths to discuss his reception of the gospel (1:11-12) conversion and his extended time in seclusion with God (I went into Arabia – 1:17), before ever encountering the Apostles. He’s trying to show that his rendering of this good news has in fact not been affected by others, that it is straight from God, and it is affirmed by the Apostles (chiefly Peter, James and John) – even if they were lead astray to be hypocritical, as Peter was in Antioch.
What is at stake in this letter, for Paul, is his entire message. People behind the scenes are whispering, that Paul is holding back the truth, that what they really need to do, is to become Jews, to follow every jot and tittle of the law, to become circumcised, because only then will they be accepted by God.
Paul will address those arguments in the coming chapters, but he first needs to set the groundwork – this is not just his message and it’s not the message of a rogue group of actors who have co-opted him. This is the message of God.
I can empathize with Paul. Being a first-born “rule-follower” who grew up in a stream of the church that was focused on holy living – which was mostly about the things we didn’t do – “smoke, drink, chew or date girls that do.” We weren’t a generation removed from the fear that dancing would lead to card-playing which would lead to movie-watching and the potential damnation of our souls. I definitely grew up with the sense that it was absolutely necessary for me to live a holy life – essentially a new law that “Jesus gave” that when push came to shove, felt like just as weighty of a burden as any law from the Old Testament.
And I can empathize with both the Judaizers and the Galatians who were swayed by them – to see and here Paul, and his “freedom” – it looks and sounds like a lazy, feel-good, “corrupted by the culture” message when juxtaposed to the ancient Law of Moses, with its clarity and its visible sign of circumcision.
You can see the wrestling for the heart of the gospel in this region, in these churches. And you can feel the weight and the ripple-effects. And you can probably understand why so many Christians over two-thousand years have landed here.
Paul grounds his message in the historic promise of God to Abraham (which we’ll look at Sunday) and in his personal experience of God in Christ on the road to Demascus and the long season of time, hidden away, in prayer and study. His letter to the Galatians is the outworking of that experience, and I’m grateful for the way it can draw me, and I hope you too, to a deeper and more real experience of the Good and Gracious God who has called us and loved us and made a way for us in Jesus Christ, now and forever.
Welcoming You to Grow in Jesus,
Pastor Don