THE MASQUERADER

                                                            THE MASQUERADER

“As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these try to compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ” (Gal. 6:12)

Introduction

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The Apostle is instructing the Galatians in how to recognize false teachers. First off, they are recognized by their focus on the outward show. They are overly concerned with, and place much emphasis on, externals. And secondly, the reason why false teachers place so much emphasis on the externals is because they live in fear. They are overly concerned with what others think of them. And this, when you think about it, amounts to the same thing as the first point. So, in a word, the false teacher is one who fears man more than he fears God.

Now, you may think that a false teacher would be a very easy thing to spot in the church. But that’s not always the case. He may not be that easy to recognize. For example, he may be quite orthodox in what he teaches. He may assent to the Reformed Confessions of the Church, such as the Westminster Standards and the Three Forms of Unity. He may even swear before God that the Westminster Confession is his own confession

And, as I said, the false teacher may even be teaching what Jude calls, “the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3b). He may do so with great frequency, even every Sunday. He may do so with great eloquence, even have people flock to hear him. He may even get invited to speak, even all over the world. But truth be known, the man is a false teacher.

Here’s the subtlety: We tend to think of false teachers as those who teach false teachings. But the true nature of the false teacher is that he may even teach true doctrine, but for his own end. And, he will continue teaching proper doctrine, i.e., so long as he doesn’t have to suffer for it! Therefore, the false teacher may not be discovered until pressure is brought to bear upon him. He won’t necessarily be exposed until he’s driven to make a stand on what he claims to believe. The false teacher, as we shall see, will compromise the truth to avoid persecution.

The Masquerader’s Dress

“As many as desire to make a good showing, these try to compel you to be circumcised.” Paul here is speaking of the false teachers who are in Galatia. He’s describing them as those who “desire to make a good showing.” Or, as the NIV would have it “Those who want to make a good impression outwardly.”

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So, we see then, the “masquerader” dresses himself in order to make a good show. He wants people to like him. He wants people to be suitably impressed with him. So, he “dresses” for the occasion. If you’re going golfing, he’s got the plus-fours on! If you’re going fly-fishing, he’s got the waders on! If you’re going cycling, he’s got the spandex-shorts on!

Now, we’re talking metaphorically here. We’re not necessarily talking about actual clothes here. Although outer garments might very well be part of his act. No, what we’re meaning by this, is that the false teacher is one who masquerades. In other words, the masquerader is the type of person who tries to disguise his true personality. He tries to mask who he really is. He masquerades.

Let me explain what I mean a little further. In the church you expect the teaching elder to be someone who cares about people. Well, the masquerader, the false teacher, might very well care about people too. However, the way he cares about people is different to the way the true teacher cares about them.  The true teacher cares about people because he cares about God and what God thinks. Whereas the false teacher cares about people because he cares about himself. But it doesn’t just stop there. He cares about what people think of him.

Now, don’t get me wrong, no-one likes it when people dislike them. But being liked by others is what the false teacher is all about, according to our text. The masquerader is out to make a good impression in the world. So, you can see that it’s not so easy to spot the false teacher. He might be a real “people’s man” He might even come and visit you – often! You might even be impressed by how much he cares about you. But, according to the verse before us, he has an ulterior motive. He’s after your approval. He wants you to like him. He’s out to make a good showing, a good impression.

So, you can see then, that it’s not as easy as looks, to spot a masquerader. In fact, truth be known, the masquerader may not even know that he himself is a false teacher! Jeremiah says, does he not, that the heart is a deceitful and desperately wicked thing (Jer. 17:9). That’s why the Apostle, e.g., says elsewhere, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Prove [or test] yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? – unless indeed you are disqualified” (2 Cor. 13:5).  Also, he says, “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:27). Commenting on this verse Matthew Henry says, “A preacher of salvation may yet miss it. He may show others the way to heaven, and never get thither himself.”

The false teacher may think himself the epitome of orthodox Christianity, i.e., the Reformed Faith. He may, for a time, faithfully proclaim the whole counsel of God. He may even preach on Hell, Repentance, the Christian Keeping of God’s Law. Why, he may even preach on Tithing! – along with all the other less offensive doctrines. However, just because his theology is all dressed up in Presbyterian and Reformed, i.e., Biblical, garb doesn’t make him the real thing.

So, what is it then, that makes him the real thing and not a masquerader? What is the difference between the false teacher and the true teacher? Well, for a start, it’s the grace of God. A man is a true teacher simply because of God’s grace. It is God who supplies the true teachers to His Church. Which is not to say that the false teacher doesn’t have a role to play. (We’ll look into the role he plays a little later.) But the main difference between a false and a true teacher is one of desire. Yet, on the surface both the false and the true teacher may desire to put on a good show. However, here’s the difference, the difference is in the object of the desire. The object of the false teacher’s desire is his own glory. “They desire to have you circumcised that they may GLORY in your flesh” (Gal. 6:13b). But what is the chief end of the true teacher? His chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever! Therefore, the true teacher is the one who puts God’s glory first – regardless of the consequences, for that’s the pattern in Scripture.

“And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented – of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith” (Heb. 11:35b ff.).

Again, as the Apostle says, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith.” Then look carefully at the teachers in the churches, and examine them – not to judge but discern. Are there men (and women) teachers in the churches trying to put on a good show? Are they all dog-collars, purple-robes, gold crosses, and muttering pious-platitudes? Are they all outward pomp and ceremony? It’s not hard to spot some false teachers just by their outward dress and manner.

But, again, I remind you, it’s not so much their outward dress that betrays the false teacher, it’s their inner motives – their heart betrays them. It’s by their fruits ye shall know them – not by their suits! But what about those false teachers who actually teach according to the Scriptures. What about those ones who may not even have realized they are false teachers? How are they revealed to be what they truly are, i.e., man-pleasers? Well, look at the rest of our text, “these try to compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross.” So, we see then, that the false teachers are exposed by persecution. The last thing the false teacher wants is persecution. He is after the approval of men not their disapproval.

The Masquerader’s Dread

The masquerader fears man more than God. The masquerader, the false teacher, desires glory, not persecution. He’ll do anything to avoid being persecuted. He’ll even begin teaching erroneous doctrine if he thinks it will save his own flesh.

As you well know, certain false teachers had come among the Galatian congregation. And instead of that church showing them where to go, they began to capitulate. That’s the reason why Paul fired off this letter to them in the first place. As in any church, there were those in the Galatian Church who wanted to keep the peace. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to keep the peace in the church. However, false teachers are willing to compromise the Gospel just to keep the peace!

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In other words, the masquerader has his mask removed through persecution. He will only stand for the Gospel if he receives the approval of men. But he will not stand on the truth of the cross of Christ if it means hardship for him. The masquerader’s masquerade is over when the wolf enters the fold. The wolf enters the sheepfold clothed in sheepskin. He enters with darkness dressed up as light. “And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works” (2 Cor. 11:14-15).

The false shepherd or teacher has a decision to make. And remember, his decision is based upon the popular vote! If most people are clamouring for the new teaching brought by the wolf, then he’ll follow the new teaching, even if it contradicts the Gospel! That’s what we see in the verse before us.

The Galatian teachers were beginning to try to consider circumcision (and other aspects of the ceremonial law) as the way of salvation. The wolf had got among them and he was hungry, and he was demanding a piece of their flesh!

This was a time of testing for the Galatian Congregation. What’s it going to be? Are you going to stand up for the Gospel or not? Or we could phrase the question this way, Do you fear God or do you fear man? These false teachers, these masqueraders are putting pressure on you to compromise the clear teaching of Scripture, what are you going to do? What is your teaching elder (or elders) telling you to do? The wolf is snapping at them, what are they doing about it? Are they throwing the wolf a piece of meat, e.g., circumcision? Or are they standing on the truth?

According to the verse before us, the false teacher will refuse to suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. He’ll compromise. That’s how you tell the false from the true and the true from the false. The true will not compromise no matter how much he is persecuted. But the false will when the fiery trial comes, because he fears man. He dreads persecution. If he sees it coming, he’s planning his escape route. He’s packing his bags with the engine running.

Jesus refers to the false teacher, the masquerader as a “hireling.” “But he who is a hireling and not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep” (John 10:12-13).

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The masquerader then, is a deserter. He will not pick up the sword of the Spirit and fight. He will not say to the Devil, “It is written, it is written!” No, he’ll feed a whole congregation to the dogs rather than suffer persecution. The masquerader dreads the disapproval of men, because he’s a man-pleaser! So, he’ll leave and go somewhere else if things begin to turn against him.

Also, related to this, is the fact that the masquerader is obsessed with crowds. He loves to make a good showing so that he’ll be commended by men. The more people he has in his congregation, the more accolades he receives. Therefore, the false teacher is obsessed by numbers. Numbers to him are pats on his back. His great fear, his dread is unpopularity. More people means more popularity.

Let’s recap before we conclude: We’ve looked at the masquerader’s dress, and we’ve look at his dread. He clothes himself with the praises of men. And he dreads being defrocked by persecution. But we all stand before God naked in the Fall of Adam (Rom. 5:12). Either you have been clothed in Christ’s righteousness, or you haven’t.

Suffering persecution for the cross of Christ is God’s way of testing you! It’s His way of letting you know who has put on Christ or who has not. Persecution in the Church is God’s way of letting us know the false teachers from the true. Deuteronomy 13:1-3 tells us God raises up false prophets, i.e., false teachers to test our love for God. We’ve looked at some of the ways of recognizing these masqueraders.

Conclusion

Keep in mind that persecution in the church is not always a bad thing. As the Apostle Peter says, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the GENUINESS of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:6-7).

Persecution comes to the Church to reveal the genuineness of your faith. While conversely, it exposes the lack thereof. Therefore, persecution is God’s way of unmasking the masqueraders. So, be encouraged and support the true teachers.

MY OWN HAND

                                                        MY OWN HAND

“See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand!” (Gal. 4:11)

Introduction

There has been a lot written about this one verse, much of it is pure speculation! I had a look at various commentators to see what they had to say about this verse. It wasn’t long before I noticed that there was a fair bit of disagreement. Therefore, I was tempted just to skip over this verse and move on to the next. But since ALL Scripture is God-breathed, I think it best that we at least have a look at it!

The Hand

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        Whatever this verse means there is one thing for sure: Paul the Apostle wrote it! He took the pen in his own hand and he wrote this verse. I got to thinking: What kind of writing implement would the Apostle have used? There’s a verse in 3 John 13 in which the Apostle John mentions writing “with pen and ink.” The pen wasn’t a quill, you know, a bird’s feather, as some of you might imagine. Apparently, it would have been a reed. A piece of sharpened cane or such like.

The ink is mentioned in another two places, i.e., 2 Corinthians 3:3 and 1 John 12. The word for ink in those places just means that which is “black.” Apparently, ink was prepared from soot or vegetable or mineral substances. Gum and vitriol were also used, and some of the inks were also red and gold. Paul used the word “ink” in 2 Corinthians 3:3. Therefore, we can conclude thus far that Paul has a reed pen in his hand and he is using black ink.

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Now, whether he has it in his right hand or left, I don’t know. However, he was of the Tribe of Benjamin, as Paul informs us in Philippians 3:5. The word “Benjamin” literally means “son of the right hand”. A famous Benjaminite in the Old Testament is Ehud. You’ll remember that he was left-handed. He’s the man that thrust the dagger into the belly of Eglon (Judges 3:21). None of this helps us to know whether Paul was right-handed or left. But just before we move on, consider this verse of Scripture. “Among all this people there were seven hundred select men who were left-handed...” (Judges 20:16). So, for what it’s worth, the Tribe of Benjamin to which Paul belonged, had their fair share of lefties!

Right then, what we have thus far, is the Apostle Paul sitting with a sharpened cane reed in his hand, perhaps his left-hand. He is dipping the sharpened cane reed into black ink made from soot mixed with some liquid. And he is writing on... Well, what is he using for paper?

The word “paper” is used by the Apostle John in 2 John 12. “Having many things to write to you, I do not wish to do so with paper and ink...” The paper there would be papyrus. Papyrus was a tall, smooth reed, pasted together horizontally and vertically under pressure. Other writing materials would be leaves of the olive tree and palm leaves. They even wrote on the rinds of pomegranates and animal skins, presumably dead and cured! And also on tablets, like the one mentioned in Luke 1:63. “And he asked for a writing tablet...” But Paul here has the cane reed in his hand, perhaps his left-hand. And he’s writing with black ink upon papyrus probably.

But what is he writing? Well, we know for certain that he’s writing the verse we’re looking at! But what about the rest of this Epistle to the Galatians? Well, we may safely conclude that he’s writing from this verse (v.11) through to the end of the letter (i.e., v. 18). But what about the rest of the letter, didn’t he write that? Well, Paul was in the habit of using, what is called an amanuensis. An amanuensis is simply a scribe or a secretary. Paul would dictate the letter, and the amanuensis would write it down. Then Paul would write a concluding remark with his own hand. Eg, 1 Corinthians 16:21 “The salutation with my own hand – Paul.” Colossians 4:18 “This salutation by my own hand – Paul.” And listen to what he says in 2 Thessalonians 3:17, “The salutation of Paul with my own hand, which is a sign in every epistle; so I write.” So, in light of that verse, and one or two other factors, I’m inclined to think that Paul wrote only the concluding remarks to the Galatians with his own hand. Whether you go along with me on this or not, is neither here nor there.

You might quote me Galatians 1:20 where Paul says: “Now concerning the things which I write to you...” But this doesn’t preclude the view that Paul is dictating to his secretary.   But let’s grab hold of what we do know for certain. Here’s the Apostle saying in Galatians 4:11 that he is writing to the Galatians with his own hand and not the hand of another. He is giving the letter his personal touch.

The Handwriting

        With the advent of emails, instant messages, and voice mail constantly appearing on our phones and computers, it’s hard to imagine what it was like back in the day. I remember a number of years ago thinking that, because computer word-processors were all the go at that time, that old fashioned letters written by hand seemed to have become so formal!

I remember the first time I used my computer to write a letter to my dad in Scotland. As I wrote I could just imagine him thinking as he read it: “Son, this is cold! I don’t want some computer print-out! I want to see your own handwriting! I want the personal touch – the touch of my son’s own hand!”

You know, some people have made a business out of analysing handwriting. They reckon they can tell you all sorts of things about a person by his or her style of handwriting. Well, I don’t want to make too much of that but I’m sure there’s something in it. However, here’s Paul inviting the Galatians to analyse his handwriting. He is drawing their attention to the large characters he’s using. Is he using upper-case letters whereas the amanuensis before him used lower case? Well, it would be nice if we had the original letter and we could check all this, but we don’t! But what we do have is a difficult grammatical Greek construction going on in this verse

It’s not that easy to know whether Paul is talking about the entire letter to the Galatians. Or is he talking about his ABCDEFG, i.e., alphabetical, type of letters. The KJV goes for the former, for it renders this verse: “Ye see how large a letter [singular] I have written unto you with mine own hand.” Whereas the NKJV has the word “letter” in the plural “letters” as does the NIV.

I certainly favour “letters of the alphabet” over “letter” as in “epistle” for a couple of reasons. The two letters to the Corinthians, and the ones to the Romans and the Ephesians are larger than this one to the Galatians. And that’s not counting the Letter to the Hebrews which possibly may have been written by him. Then there’s the grammar. The word in question may be translated either way. But I go along with Herman Ridderbos who says, “It is generally accepted that letters is the right version.”

Now then, why is Paul using such large letters, or characters? This is the point where some people start to speculate about Paul’s eyesight. They’ll tell you that Paul’s thorn in his flesh was poor eyesight. They’ll tell you that it was because he was blinded on the road to Damascus. However, is this the real reason why he is writing with such big letters? Well, I think this line of reasoning is a wee bit flawed.

Paul was a scholar. Read the book of Romans if you don’t believe me. The Apostle was an academic to the highest degree – the Rev. Prof. Dr. Paul. Paul was a man of letters, (even if he did count them as dung for the sake of Christ!) Paul wrote Galatians before he wrote 2 Timothy. Yet in 2 Timothy 4:13 he is asking for his books and his parchments to be brought to him. Therefore, we might conclude that he is still capable of study.

Right then, what does that have to do with his eyesight? Well, wouldn’t Paul want to read through his letter to the Galatians before he stuck it in the mailbox? This was an extremely important letter. Surely, he would want to make sure he was satisfied with what he had written before he sent it.

A friend of mine once told about a letter he wished he’d taken time to read again before he sent it. He sent a letter to the Government of Australia. He told them in no uncertain terms where they could go! He regretted his rashness in sending that letter! Paul the Apostle is not a rash man like my friend. He’s going to read and re-read his letter to make sure it’s just right. And, not to mention the fact that the Holy Spirit gave him 10/10 for it. And even saw to it that it was included in the Canon of Scripture! Paul got this letter just right, the way he wanted it. One wrong word and all could have been lost with the Galatians! So, I tend not to follow the poor eye-sight theory for the large letters.

So, what is with Paul writing with such large letters? Well, we certainly need to be careful about drawing any final conclusions, but here’s my two-cents worth:

The view I hold on this verse is based on a biblical principle and precedent. It should be noted, as will become clear to us as we continue our study of the rest of this chapter, that verse 11 to the end of the letter is basically a summary and restatement of the whole Epistle. It is Paul’s conclusion – his “therefore.”

In verse 12-13 he mentions again the problem the letter is written to address, i.e., salvation by works. In verse 14 he mentions again the solution, i.e., salvation by grace alone; which is on account of Christ’s cross alone. And that this is received through faith alone, which is what he means by glorying in the cross.

In verse 15 he spells it out one more time that in Christ Jesus works of the flesh count for nothing. It’s being regenerated and converted, i.e., being a new creation, which counts with God. Then, one more time, in verses 16-17 he mentions the fruit of the Spirit, which is the evidence of being a new creation. And then in the very last verse he mentions that word “grace” again, i.e., the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So then, the biblical principle and precedent that I mentioned is this: The principle is “grace” and the precedent is “the personal touch.” “See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand.”

Paul, is the Lord’s Apostle – chosen by Jesus Christ Himself. That’s what Paul tells us in the very first line of this Epistle. He has the authority of Jesus Christ to write to these wavering Galatians. In chapter 1:3 he writes, “Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.” God then, is declaring His grace and peace to these Galatians through His instrument, the Apostle Paul. In his office of an Apostle, Paul is an ambassador of God. He has been set apart by Jesus Christ as His representative of God’s grace on earth.

Now then, Paul used amanuensis, i.e., scribes or secretaries to write for him, we’ve seen that. I don’t know if there are any of his letters which DON’T mention the grace of God at the beginning. In all of them he declares the grace of God at the outset. The Epistle to the Hebrews, if written by Paul, would be the only exception. However, the very last line of that letter has these words: “Grace be with you al. Amen.” But the point I make is that Paul, as the Lord’s representative, in his Epistles, is declaring the grace of God. That’s the biblical principle I’m talking about.

The whole Bible is the written declaration of God’s grace! The whole Bible is God’s Epistle – His Letter – declaring His grace. But God Himself used amanuensis, you know, scribes or secretaries to write His Letter of Grace down for Him. Whether it be Moses, Jeremiah, Malachi, or Matthew, Mark,  Luke or John, these were God’s secretaries – as was the Apostle Paul.

Now, to be sure, God didn’t dictate to them what to write, directly. But He did so in a way that, what they wrote, was exactly what God intended them to write. Even though the Prophets and the Apostles wrote their own thoughts, they each wrote God’s mind on the matter. And though the Bible records God’s threatenings and punishments towards unrepentant sinners, it is indeed the record of His grace to undeserving sinners, such as ourselves.

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        But did God just stand there and dictate His Letter, i.e., the Bible from afar? Or did He add the “personal touch”? E.g., Exodus 31:18b, “He [ie, the LORD] gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony [or Covenant], tablets of stone, WRITTEN WITH THE FINGER OF GOD.” And also Exodus 32:16, “Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the WRITING OF GOD engraved on the tablets.”

God set the precedent for the personal touch in His letter, Paul followed God’s lead! God used tablets of stone and carved into them using His own finger. Paul probably used papyrus a pen made out of cane and ink made out of soot. And what could we learn about the personality of God by studying His handwriting those two tablets? Did God use large letters when He wrote with His own hand? And don’t the Ten Commandments start with the grace of God? “I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” However, let’s not get too carried away. Let’s just note that the Apostle Paul followed God’s principle of Grace. And that he also followed God’s precedent of “the personal touch.”

But, what about the principle subject of the whole Bible? What about the principle subject of Paul’s whole Epistle to the Galatians? What about Jesus Christ, the epitome of God’s grace? Who is Jesus Christ if He is not the Word of God in the flesh? Is there any more of a personal touch to be found than in Jesus Christ? God wrote His letter of Grace in His Son Jesus Christ!

If Paul wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews, then he does start it with grace after all. For that Epistle open with these words, “God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son...”

God wrote the Ten Commandments of His Covenant in clay tablets by His own hand. And He wrote the final salutation of His Covenant using His Son as the pen and His blood as the ink! This is the grace of God, and it doesn’t get any more personal than this. Not only is Jesus the paper and ink that God used to declare His grace, but Jesus is also the handwriting of God! And He is the finger of God, He is the hand of God! For Jesus is God, and the all the Scriptures speak of Him.

Conclusion

We’ve seen then, something of God’s own hand and God’s own handwriting in this verse of Scripture that could almost be overlooked, “See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand!”

SCHOOL'S OUT!

                                                                School’s Out! 

4 Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, ² but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. ³ Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. ⁴ But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

⁶ And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” ⁷ Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

⁸ But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. ⁹ But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? ¹⁰ You observe days and months and seasons and years. ¹¹ I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain. (Gal. 4:1-11) 

Introduction

Stars do not disappear from the sky during the day. It’s just that something brighter than the stars and planets has appeared in the sky. Malachi said that “the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings” (Mal. 4:2). That is kind of what is happening in Galatians chapter four. Jesus is the rising sun. And just as the dawning sun outshines everything in the sky, by way of contrast, so Jesus, the promised Messiah, causes the “weak and beggarly elements” (Gal. 4:9) of Old Testament law to disappear.

The long night of slavery, of serving the law, of being tutored in your ABCs at school, has ended. The final bell has rung. The lesson has ended. Like that line in the old Alice Cooper song, “school’s out forever!” That song has a special meaning to me. It came out the year I left high school! Like me, you no doubt enjoyed much about your school years. But now that you’re a grownup adult, why would you want to go back there? As Paul says, “But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?” (Gal. 4:9).

In other words, the Galatians want to go from knowing God and being known by God, back to the place where you are treated as if you do not know God. They want to give up being a son with all its privileges and freedoms as heir, to return to essentially being a slave under guardians and stewards. Do you want to be a servant or do you want to be a son? It’s ‘make your mind up time’ Galatians.

On the Blackboard

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            Back in the day, at least for me, school was all blackboards, chalk and dusters, yes, nails scratching blackboards! We learned times-tables by rote and abstract things like algebra. Algebra is often joked about by memes and suchlike on the Internet – e.g., someone on their deathbed bragging that they never once used algebra since they left school! Be that as it may, how would bridges and buildings, roads and railways, be built without a knowledge of mathematics, the forces of gravity, weights and measures, metallurgy, metal fatigue and corrosion, wind velocity, geographical location, soil types, etc., all these things and more were explained on the blackboard with words and other such-like symbols, yes, even abstract mathematical symbols.

The trouble with school back in the day was that we were never told that all these disciplines; maths, science, geography, history, physics, chemistry, language classes, spelling, music, art, cookery, social sciences, etc., were studies of God’s creation and were therefore revelation of the Creator who made them. Whether Secular or Christian, school is simply where the things of God’s creation are studied.  

Once school was out forever, we were supposed to develop all the things we had studied to His glory. However, secular schools purposely remove all reference to God. Thus, as important as this factor is, school primarily becomes primarily about job preparation. To be sure, there may be a period of “Religious Education” tacked on here or there, but the idea of it being a separate class betrays the fact that the secularists have removed Christianity from the rest of the curriculum. Many Jews, including the Judaizers that were trying to influence the Galatians, had suffered something of the same fate. They had failed to see Christ in any their lessons.

All the rivers of blood in the sacrificial system, the priesthood, the tabernacle and then the temple with its altar, it’s holy of holies, the ark of the covenant, the depictions of the cherubim, the annual feasts, circumcision, Passover etc. had been wasted on them. All they wanted was to leave school and go to work. (Salvation by works!) They wanted to use their circumcision as a diploma, their badge of office, their credentials. It gave them their street cred for a job of hire. They were trying to teach the Galatians to do likewise.

Like a secularist education, it is zeal without knowledge (Prov. 19:2; Rom. 10:2). They were seeking a Christianity without Christ. As Jesus says, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:39-40). The Galatian grifters were accepting the wrapping but rejecting the gift therein.

Secular school, like Old Testament school, is supposed to be a tutor, a schoolteacher that points you to Christ. The Old Testament is a blackboard pointer pointing us to Christ. Otherwise, school is all just clouds without water, late autumn trees without fruit (Jude 12). However, like the Prodigal son coming to his senses, in His good time, God can bring you, me, and even the ‘foolish’ Galatians to our senses. God does this by showing us where Jesus fits into the school’s curriculum.   

School begins. School ends. Night ends when the day dawns. It’s all just a matter of time “Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away” (Song 4:6a). The Old Testament is the shadows, and the New Testament is the daybreak. However, we are not to throw our Old Testament away. Christ can be seen clearly in those shadows if were to shine the light of the New Testament on them.

. “Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: ‘The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.’ From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:13-17).

School began with Moses at Mount Sinai and ended with Jesus at Mount Zion and “Jerusalem above” (Gal. 4:26; Dan. 7:13-14). Until school ends, like the Israel in the Old Testament, “we are under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father” (Gal. 4:2). When was “the time appointed by the father”?  “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons” (Gal. 4:4). No longer under the curse of the moral law and in bondage to the ceremonial law, no longer treated as kids who don’t know anything, those whom the Father has adopted are now heirs, adopted sons, along with God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

All through the Old Testament, God has been promising to send His Son. From the “Seed of the woman” who would crush the Serpent’s head in the first Book of the Old Testament (Gen. 3:15) to the “Sun of Righteousness” who would rise with healing in His wings in the last Old Testament Book (Mal. 4:2), God has been promising to send forth His Son (Isa. 42:6-7, 49:8-9). And notice also that He has also been promising to “send forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts” (Gal. 4:6). See, e.g., where God says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them” (Ezek. 36:26-27).

Now, without getting too sidetracked, but it is relevant to our text, keep in mind the promise of the new covenant in Jeremiah 31 where God says,

 

“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for a light by day, the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night…” (Jer. 31:31-35a, cf. Heb. 8:8-13).

“Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:38-39). The Galatians Paul is writing to were included in those who are “afar off.”

The old covenant is obsolete. The Galatians are now under the promised new covenant. However, they want to go back to school again! They want to go back to the old covenant. They want to go back to the law written on stone tablets instead of it being written on their hearts. They want to return to blackboards and white boards, teachers and discipliners, books and jotters, instead of the freedom that comes from working with all that knowledge now stored in their brains. Under the influence of the Judaizers they are considering a ‘data-dump,’ dumping the internal and returning to the external. In other words, they want to give up the walking in the Spirit and return to walking in the flesh. Thus, they are rejecting the gospel in favour of the law.

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Why would anyone want to go back under the law when Jesus has already done all that for us? Jesus was “born under the law.” Why?  “To redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

Be done then with chalk, dusters and blackboards! And be done serving those things which by nature are false gods. Never mind its components, even education of itself can become a false god! Instead, go into the world and put to good use everything you have learned. School’s out! Now is the time to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

On the Heart

Those ‘times tables’ that you learned by rote at school, like those Christian catechism questions you learned off by heart, can now be put to good use. Everything you learned, yes, even wrong things used rightly, can now be used to God’s glory as you enjoy your walk with the Lord. Unlike Paul who taught the Galatians the law in relation to the gospel, the Judaizers want to excise Christ from the law. They want circumcision without its proper context, with its true meaning removed.  

What is the law that the Galatians were under? If this is the Old Testament law, then how can the Galatians be redeemed from something that they were never under? Well, that’s Paul’s point. When Paul says, “But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?” (Gal. 4:8-9), he is speaking of the Galatians placing themselves under the law.

Back in chapter three Paul has already said to the Galatians, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:28-29). Therefore, only those who are in Christ are Abraham’s seed. And anyone who is in Christ has been set free from the curse of the moral law and the bondage of the ceremonial law. The “weak and beggarly elements” have to do with the ceremonial law. Ceremonial law? We see this where Paul talks about Old Testament ceremonies. He says, “You observe days and months and seasons and years” (Gal. 4:10). When Paul calls the Judaizers those “of the circumcision” (Gal. 2:12), he is using the word “circumcision” as a shorthand was of referring to those who were under the law. Circumcision, like observing days, months, years etc., is all part of ceremonial Old Testament law.   

Like our school years, the ceremonial law was only for a time. Again, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son” (Gal. 4:4). Therefore, the time of being under the Old Testament law ended in principle when Christ on the cross said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). It ended in practice with His ascension and the fulfilment of His promised destruction of the temple in Jerusalem (Matt. 24:2). This took place in AD70.

Paul wrote this letter to the Galatians in the period after the ascension but before the destruction of Jerusalem. Take your pick, but he suggested dates vary from AD48-59. The point is that, now that Christ had come, the Old Testament administration of the covenant had run its course. It was now in the period of transition and would be replaced by the New Testament administration.

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        The Celtic Galatians, who had been separated from the Jews on account of the Jewish ceremonial law, (and judicial law) were now, like the Jews, being adopted as sons of God through the instrument of faith, thus, making both one in Christ. The middle wall of partition had now been removed (Eph. 2:14). However, the foolish Galatians” were wanting to rebuild that torn down wall that had been fulfilled and thus removed by Christ’s perfect obedience to the law.

Like using an iPad to swat flies, it may work but it’ll get broken, the Judaizers were missing the intent of the law and were therefore breaking the law’s warranty. Like schoolkids looking out the window instead of paying attention, under the influence of the Judaizers, the Galatians were missing the fact that the curse of the law and the bondage of the ceremonial law had been removed by Christ. In short, the ceremonial law was essentially the gospel in the Mosaic law administration in the Old Testament.

“It is finished!” School is out forever. We are no longer slaves being treated like schoolchildren. No longer is it, “Do this, do that! Don’t do this, don’t do that!” Now we are being treated as grownups, as sons, as responsible school graduates, adopted heirs of salvation. Thus, “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Gal. 4:6-7).

Conclusion

Under the influence of the Judaizers, the “foolish” Galatians were in grave danger of going from being sons to servants, from promise to flesh, from gospel to law. Yes, after having graduated they were in danger of going back to school. But Paul reminds them that school’s out, yes, school’s out forever. Therefore, like them, as with all who are truly in Christ, we Christians today must be careful not to place ourselves back in bondage. We do this by walking in the Spirit of Christ and resisting the flesh and its sinful desires.

Unlike those who do not know Jesus, we can delight ourselves in seeing Christ everywhere throughout the Old Testament as well as the New.   

PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH

                                             PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH

“Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another” (Gal. 5:26).

Introduction

It would seem that nobody likes a hypocrite. Even Jesus Christ showed an intense dislike for hypocrites. Hypocrites are people who say one thing and do another. Hypocrites are those who don’t practice what they preach.

Now, I’m sure that you, like me, have found yourselves saying one thing yet doing another. Well, that’s the type of thing we’re dealing with in the following.

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As you know, the Apostle Paul in this Epistle has been countering false teaching. The false teaching is coming from a group of people who don’t believe in salvation by grace alone. Nowadays we would call this type of people Arminian, after Arminius the great enemy of Calvinism (properly understood). Arminianism (properly understood) is a contemporary form[1] of what Paul is combating in this Epistle. In its simplest form, whereas only Calvinism proclaims that we are saved by God’s grace and God’s grace alone, Arminianism believes that we are saved by grace plus our own works.

Now then, why am I telling you this?  Well, if you are of the opinion that you contributed to your own salvation, you have grounds for conceit, don’t you? That’s why Paul says, “Let US not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another” (Gal. 5:26). In other words, we who have been saved by grace ALONE have nothing to be conceited about. The word “conceited” there means literally “empty glory,” “vain glory.”

The Calvinist has got nothing to boast about, nothing to brag about. He’s got no reason to be conceited about his conversion because he contributed nothing, not even faith. Salvation is God’s gift to undeserving sinners. The Calvinist considers himself as one who was completely and totally and utterly dead to God before God saved him. That’s what the Calvinist believes and that’s what he preaches, otherwise he’s not a Calvinist. Therefore, why should another Christian be provoked by him?

Why would another Christian envy the Calvinist? He’s just a sinner saved by grace and grace ALONE. He made no contribution in the slightest to his salvation. But the Arminian cannot say this! Those who were troubling the Galatians with their false teaching could not say this. The very nature of what they were teaching meant that they were conceited. It meant that they were provoking the Galatians to jealousy. In other words, they were telling the Galatians that you needed more than grace to be saved. In this case they were teaching that you also needed to be circumcised to be saved, that you needed to keep certain aspects of the Ceremonial Law of Moses to be saved. Hence Paul, in verse 24, says, “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

Any addition to Christ’s work in the crucifixion is a work of the flesh, is what he’s saying. It’s the fruit of the Spirit the Galatians should be desiring and not works of the flesh. “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” is the way he puts it in verse 25. In others words it’s from the Spirit we derive our strength and not the things we practice. If we claim to be in the Spirit, then we should be operating in accordance with what the Spirit teaches in Scripture and not according to our own ideas.

The Principle

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I used to be a plumber in another life. When I was serving my plumbing apprenticeship in Scotland I was sent to Clydebank Technical College. I went to technical college to learn why I was doing the things I was doing when I was plumbing. In other words, I was sent there to learn the principles of what I was doing in practice. The idea is that the best plumber is the one who understands the principle behind what he does. Therefore I had to learn about gravity, friction, atmospheric pressure, calorific values and such like. They didn’t call it “technical” college for nothing. It was “technical” to say the least.

Now, I’m not telling you this in order to brag about how tough technical college is. But I simply want to illustrate what Paul is saying in the text before us. If you don’t understand the basic principles of plumbing, then you’re asking for trouble. This is even more true with regard to the Gospel.

The Judaizers, the false teachers at Galatia, had not understood the first principle of the Gospel. It’s by grace ALONE that we are saved (Eph. 2:8). Understand this, and conceit will find no toehold in your heart. It’s imperative that you understand this, otherwise, like the plumber who runs his drain-pipes uphill, you’ll be asking for trouble! Conceit, empty-glory, will start to back up within you, no matter how humble you try to be. You’ll start to experience flushes of pride if you don’t understand this first principle of the Gospel.

The first principle of the Gospel, put another way, is that you have been crucified with Christ. Therefore, your flesh with all its passions and desires has been crucified. This is the important principle Paul is teaching us here. And he is encouraging us to act upon this principle. We are to practice what we preach, or in this case what Paul preaches. Therefore, in order to truly practice what he’s preaching, we must come to a correct understanding of what it means to have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

So first off we take note of what the Apostle is saying in v. 24. He’s speaking only of a particular group of people, i.e., “Those who are Christ’s, i.e., those exclusive ones who are belonging to Christ, these have crucified the flesh. Or we might put it like this: “If you belong to Christ, then you have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” So, we see then, that there’s a condition. The condition is that you need to belong to Christ in order to crucify the flesh.

You need to belong to Christ, because it’s through His crucifixion that you crucify the flesh with its passions and desires. If you have bypassed, or circumvented, or ignored the cross, then your flesh is not crucified. And this is the exact problem of the ones with the false teaching at Galatia. They were exhibiting passions and desires of the flesh, which is to say that they were showing conceit in their own works, i.e., circumcision and all the rest.

They weren’t looking at the cross, the crucifixion of Christ, the grace of God. Rather, like those whose faith is in their own faith, they were looking at their own selves to be saved. That’s why Paul in 3:1 reminds them that Christ crucified had been portrayed before their eyes. It is on account of Christ’s crucifixion that those in Christ’s have crucified the flesh. In other words, the passions and desires of the flesh have been crucified in principle.

You are in Christ. Christ has been crucified. Therefore your flesh with its passions and desires has been crucified with Christ. That is the principle.

The flesh with its passions and desires dies with Christ on the cross. This is because Christ on the cross was taking away ALL your sins and transgressions. Therefore, look to the cross to have the flesh with its sinful passions and desires put to death. To look anywhere else but the cross is to show conceit, which is an expression of the flesh. But look to the cross and you will see there the grace of God in that He has killed the flesh with its passions and desires. For only in the death of Jesus is the flesh with its passions and desires put to death. And herein lies the first principle of the Gospel: Christ’s crucifixion proves we are saved by God’s grace alone. This is because I have to be shown Christ’s death before I can crucify the flesh with its passions and desires. And how would I have known about Christ’s cross if God hadn’t sent His only begotten Son?

No cross means no forgiveness! But because Christ has been crucified so too is my flesh with its passions and desires. The death of Jesus is the death of my flesh with its passions and desires. That is the principle that I need to learn. That is what I need to hang onto. Because that is the principle that I need to put into practice.

The Practice

We Christians are told to be doers of the Word and not just hearers only. In other words, we’ve to put all the principles we learn from Scripture into practice. As Paul says elsewhere, “We preach Christ crucified.” And, “I have been crucified WITH Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). Therefore, we need to learn to practice what we preach. So, let’s restate what it is we’re preaching.

We’re preaching that Christ has been crucified. And, because you and I are in Christ, we therefore have been crucified with Him in His crucifixion. That is the principle behind what Paul is saying here.

So then, how do we put this principle into practice? How do we practice what we preach? In other words, how do we put the crucifixion of the flesh with its passions and desires into practice? Well, in order to do any work on a plumbing system, it’s wise to find out where the water turns off. The place ends up in a mess if you try to work with the water still on. So it is with sin, i.e., the passions and desires of the flesh. Therefore, it’s wise to find the place where sin turns off. So, in practice, if we are going to do any work on our flesh, we need to turn the flow of sin off, otherwise we’ll end up with a mess like the false teachers at Galatia.

        So then, let’s say you’re struggling with some sin in your life, how would you go about fixing it? Are you going to attempt to fix it with the water still on? Or do you think it would be better if the water was turned off? Now let me ask you: Where do you go to turn sin off? Is Christ’s death sufficient to stop the flow of sin? Or do you think the flow of sin can somehow seep past Him and well-up within you?

Do you think you need to mop up some of your own sin? That’s the way some people view Christ on the cross. This is what the false teachers at Galatia were saying. They were saying that something more than Christ’s crucifixion was needed to cure sin. The same kind of false teaching is around even to this day, which is to say that some teach that Jesus has done all He can, now the rest is up to you. And hence some people end up never knowing if they’ve done enough to please God. But all of this only serves to demonstrate they haven’t understood the first principle of the Gospel. The haven’t understood what Paul states in the clearest terms to the Ephesians, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the GIFT of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).

So, it’s the grace of God alone that saves us, not our own efforts. Our salvation from our sins is a gift of God to us. It’s not something we’ve earned. It’s this “gift” then that we need to put into practice.

We’ve been told that “those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Therefore, we are expected to live our lives as if that were true. Let’s say that then that you or I start to experience the passions and desires of the flesh. Let’s say that we start to wrestle with some sin or other in our lives. Let’s say that you discover that you’re a gossip. What should you do? Should you say to yourself, “Oh, I’ll have to try harder to stop gossiping. I know that gossiping wrong. I know it’s wrong to unfairly paint another in a bad light.” So what would you do then? How would you go about stopping your character assassinations?

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What would be the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian ceasing to gossip? Non-Christians could stop gossiping every bit as much as a Christian, so what’s the difference? Well, unlike the non-Christian, the Christian doesn’t stop his particular sin by becoming a stronger person in that particular area. No, the Christian considers the facts, doesn’t he? And, in this case he considers the fact that the flesh with its passions and desires has been crucified with Christ. Hence, he realizes that’s he’s been acting like a hypocrite. He realizes that he hasn’t been practicing what he preaches. So he confesses his sin to God who by His Spirit points him again to the cross. Thus, once more he is reminded of the grace of God. Once more he is reminded that he is saved by grace alone and not grace plus his own efforts. For at the cross, he is reminded that the flesh and its passions have been crucified along with Christ. Or, if you will, he is taken once again to sins stop valve.

Yet so many Christians tend to by-pass the cross as they try to deal with sin in their own lives. One way is that they try to redefine sin. They start to call certain sins a “syndrome” no pun intended. But be that as it may, if you are in Christ, then your sinful passions and desires have been crucified. Therefore, if you discover that you’re acting as if they have not been crucified, that is your cue to reconsider the fact that they have. And if you find yourself having an argument with yourself that goes something like this: “The Bible says that the flesh with its passions and desires have been crucified. But I’m suffering from certain passions, I’m suffering some sort of sinful affliction, for that’s what passions of the flesh are, sinful afflictions, I also have these desires to sin.”

So, how do you combat this type of thing? Well, you consider yourself dead to sin. For this is what the Apostle is saying here. He’s saying that if you live by the Spirit you’ll walk in the Spirit. He’s saying therefore that you need to listen to what the Spirit is saying. The Spirit is saying that you are dead to sin. Therefore behave as one who is dead to sin. Put into practice what you know to be true. “Reckon yourselves to be indeed dead to sin” (Rom. 6:11).

Have you got it? It means that you have to act on a certain principle. The certain principle is that you are dead to sin. That is the principle that you need to put into practice. But you won’t put this principle into practice until you understand how dead you are. And this is the problem with the false teachers in the Church at Galatia. This is the problem with the teaching of Arminianism today. They do not fully understand how much sin has affected man. Otherwise, they wouldn’t believe that they could contribute to their own salvation.

But sin has completely and utterly killed you and me. However, Christ has killed sin. How can I say that sin has killed you and me dead and not just half dead? I can say it because Christ wasn’t half-dead on the cross! The Judaizer’s in Paul’s day and their offspring, the Arminians in our own day, think that man isn’t completely dead. They think that man has the ability no matter how small to assist in his own salvation. But we can see, can’t we, that this is not the case at all. We can see it because Jesus really died upon the cross. He didn’t become sick or almost dead. He died completely, didn’t He? And what killed Him? Sin! Whose sin? Your sin and my sin! Therefore, if sin killed Jesus Christ, then what has it done to me?

Conclusion

The glory of the Gospel is that whilst sin killed Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ also killed sin. Hence God counts me as dead as His Son Jesus Christ on the cross. But praise God that He now counts me alive in His Son. Therefore, if God reckons my flesh with its passions and desires as dead as Jesus on the cross, then, shouldn’t I? Shouldn’t I live my life according to this knowledge and not according to how I feel? Christ’s death is my death, but Christ’s life is now my life. Therefore, if the flesh with its passions and desires should engulf me, I will practice what I preach! Which is that my sinful flesh has been crucified with Christ.

And if and when I see sin in my life, I will bring it to Christ’s cross and leave it there. Then I will be free from its torment because I will see that Christ has killed it for me. And out of a response of gratitude I will strive to avoid the sin that killed my Savior. The principle is that I died with Christ. The practice is that I need to show in my life that I believe it.

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[1] The Canons of Dort (1619) were written to address Arminianism in the Church. Arminianism essentially is the Protestant expression of Roman Catholic Semi-Pelagianism.