One Gospel

Galatians 2:6-10

Verse 7 has been taken to imply that there were two Gospels, a Petrine Gospel and a Pauline Gospel, which represented a "theological antithesis" or at least contained important differences in content. Actually, howeer the so-called Petrine Gospel is merely the gospel as Peter preached it to the Jews, with the particular approach and emphasis appropriate to Jewish audiences, just as the so-called Pauline Gospel is the same Gospel as Paul proclaimed it among the Gentiles, with the particular approach and emphasis appropriate to Gentile audiences. NICNT

I often find it interesting when I hear or read about arguments meant to convey more than one Gospel. The first thing that I try to do is determine the motives of the person conveying the argument. More often than not there is an element of an attack or an attempt to discredit any Gospel. As fallen beings we are too often attempting to find any weakness, however small, in order to bolster our need to believe in something that is not true and more in keeping with our sinful nature. If there are two Gospels than maybe there are more and maybe those others are more palatable and do not require so much of us. The other thing I try to do is have compassion for the one making the argument. Compassion because I so often fall into error myself, either actively or passively. So often we can be blinded by our sin into thinking that the Bible says something other than it really says. And even a very small deviation from the true path will lead to a wide divergence given enough time. And one of those errors is in thinking that a group or type of people are different from one another spiritually speaking.

We need to be sensitive to other cultures and attempt to speak to people in a manner that they understand. I think that is the reason that Paul and Peter were sent to their respective spheres of influence rather than preaching to all peoplse at the same time. There are nuances that need to be addressed to have people understand the message that is being spoken. But the heart of the matter, the core of the Gospel, remaind the same in both cases and that is the key. When we speak of the Gospel to others we need to be mindful of our presentation without watering down or altering the meat of the message. That is a hard thing to do sometimes but something to which we are called to labor with. And if we do not look at the situation through such a lense we can find ourselves arguing that there are two if not more Gospels and that path takes us away from the Truth.

May God richly bless us this day and strengthen us to the task of spreading the one true Gospel to the glory of His Name.

Interlopers

It thus emerges that the interlopers were sham Christians precisely because they had not really grasped the fundamental principle of the Gospel-justification by faith apart from the works of law. NICNT

I was both angered and saddened reading this text and the above quote. Angered that people would want to keep the Gospel from being spread to the salvation of those who desperately needed. I was also saddened for the same reason. To know the Gospel and be a part of Christ should continually remind us of the Grace we have been granted. We should continually fall to our knees in gratitude for this gift and be filled with the desire to see others experience the same grace. To want to keep it to ourselves is a perversion of this precious gift and should be countered at ever opportunity. We also need to be careful to check our own motives carefully to make sure we do not fall into the same trap as well. May God strengthen us to rise above our own selfish desires and serve God with all our hearts.

A Humbling Testimony

And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, "He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy." And they glorified God because of me.
Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus with me. I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain.

Galatians 1:22 - 2:2

Let us learn with [Paul], to acknowledge simply the offenses that we have committed, when it stands upon the honoring of God and let us not be loath to receive some shame before men. For that is the way for us also to have our sins buried before God, so as they may never come to account, nor to remembrance more: that is to wit, if we be contented to sustain some mark of infamy before men if need be, that God may have his due.

Calvin's Sermons on Galatians, 142

One of the elders at my church recently retired and plans to move to warmer climes. In his final address to the session, he remarked on the fact that his conversion was extraordinary because he had not been brought low to receive Christ. He was a very successful lawyer in a town where lawyers are a dime a dozen; while I don't remember the details of his story, it basically amounts to meeting some Christians, learning the gospel, believing it and converting. Spectacularly unspectacular.

We know that Paul was successful. His conversion was also extraordinary - not by being brought low but by literally being knocked off his horse by God himself. Two millenia later we see Paul in such an exalted state that we fail to realize that the rest of his life was an utter humiliation in the eyes of the world. He had all the advantages that his world could offer: pure Hebrew lineage, excellent Hebrew education from one of the most brilliant Hebrew teachers of the age in addition to a quality Greek-Roman education, and even Roman citizenship. His crusade against the church had full sanction of the Jewish authorities, and he was good at it. Converting and becoming an apostle was not an improvement for him; he was not climbing corporate or social ladders.

Not only was Paul not moving up in the world, but here we see him defending himself against people who were probably less educated and of less social stature than he should have been. And it's hardly as though this were an isolated incident, for we read in 2 Corinthians 11:21-29 another defense of his ministry: "Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I." and so on...

Paul dismissed the honors of his life before Christ, saying they were rubbish compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ. He does not use that pedigree to impress his readers with any credibility he might have in the eyes of the world. Instead, he honestly and simply admits his role as persecutor of the church, accepting the shame of his sin so that God might have all honor.

Humble obedience

Galatians 1:22-2:2

“But Paul did set his godpel before the apostles, and this was done, he says, “for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain” (NIV). The Greek phrase rendered “for fear that” indicates “the accompanying and determining feeling of apprehension” with which Paul communicated his gospel to the Jerusalem authorities; positively expressed, his concern was to assure that they would recognize his converts as genuine Christians and members of the Church. He was concerned, in other words, with officially securing the freedom of the Gentiles from the requirements of the law and their equality of status with Jewish Christians.” NICNT

Scripture never ceases to amaze and delight me no matter how often I read it. Like so many other passages in Scripture, it is very easy to go right by the implications of this section of Galatians when reading the letter. It is a short section and taking the time to halt and figure out the implications has widened my eyes to what Paul did here. Here is a man who was called by God in a dramatic fashion, who puts all of his energies into doing God’s work, and yet who takes the time to not only reassure his brothers for the sake of the Gentile Christians but is humble enough to make sure that he is on the right path.

I have been thinking about that for several years in my own life and the lives of the Christians around me. In my experience as a Christian, I find that we talk about fundamentals when we take a membership class for a church or occasionally in a Sunday School class or Bible study but rarely do we speak about it amongst each other on a regular basis. And yet what could be more important to do on a regular basis? It is a wonderful thing to be able to pray for one another and encourage one another in witnessing for the Lord and doing His will in the dark world around us. But every so often we should be humble enough to stop and take stock of what it is we are communicating. We should grab another wise Christian and say “Hey, this is the Gospel that I am proclaiming and this is the manner in which I am presenting it. What do you think of that?” And not only that but we need to have an open heart to be able to accept criticism or refinements to either our message or our approach. This is so important for if we are to be ambassadors of the one true God and the light that He gives we need to make sure that we are indeed proclaiming the light. I am not talking about gross misinterpretations of the Gospel (although we should indeed be wary of that). It is the more subtle effects of legalism that creep in that make what we have to say less than it ought to be. We need to be agents of liberation in the freedom that the Gospel provides and not the shackles of legalism and human self-centeredness that can so often infest our message.

To see Paul stop and do this is an encouragement and rebuke to my neglecting to do so. I pray that God will strengthen us to learn from this and be humble enough to seek one another out.

Truth v Unity

But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days.

Galatians 1:15-18

[When Saint Paul says that he went up to Jerusalem to see Peter] it is a sure record that his former speaking of his going into Arabia was not of any pride or disdain, but to the end that God's grace might be known, and that no worldly means might be made as a vail to keep men from knowing that Jesus Christ had wrought by singular miracle, in that a man which had been so stubborn before, had been brought to the lure. Thus we see on the one side how Saint Paul meant to reserve unto God his due, and on the other side, that yet notwithstanding he meant to show there was good agreement between him and the other Apostles.

Calvin's Sermons on Galatians, 129

Whenever I used to read Paul's description of his movements immediately after his conversion, I would read into it my own ideals of individualism. By going off into Arabia, Paul seemed to be describing an ascetic period in which he shunned the negative influence of men in favor of some sort of direct communion with God. The idea appealed to my own sense of individualism, which was really just pride.

Calvin makes a good point for why the opposite is true. If he had immediately gone to the other apostles, Paul's teaching might have come under the accusation of being coached by them, and his own ministry and influence diminished - especially as it pertains to the issues grappled with in this epistle, namely the forensic nature of Christ's saving work and the place of Gentiles to what was at the time still a predominantly Jewish church.

Paul's initial isolation permitted him to articulate the truth of the gospel in a manner both distinct from the other apostles and also more appropriate to the Gentiles. But it was still the same gospel truth, which is affirmed by the apostles when they finally meet him some time later and give him the right hand of fellowship. By travelling to see the other apostles, Paul also demonstrates his firm commitment to church unity - later on, we see that he even checked in with the other apostles to make sure that he wasn't preaching a false gospel. If he were an individualist he would not have done this. Instead, he places himself in submission to the other apostles as an expression of his submission to Christ and the truth of the gospel.

We see in this how we ought to be committed to the truth of God while simultaneously committed to the unity of the church. This can be really humbling - in our pride, we would often like to hear things said just so; we're certain that we could do better. I know that I can be a great snob when it comes to how things are said, and I need to confess my pride and rejoice to hear the gospel proclaimed, rejoicing also at the unity I can enjoy with other believers in such a great salvation.

Why do I need this Gospel?

Galatians 1:11-15

"Paul first asserts in general the non-human character of his Gospel by stating that it is not according to man then supports this assertion by referring to both the source of his Gospel and the manner of its communication to him." NICNT

It is always interesting when I hear people talk about faith, whether it be Christians or non-Christians. I find that in the majority of cases the presentation, of whatever faith, seems to be one of what the speaker inherently knows. What I mean by this is the sense that faith is "mine" or "your" or "theirs". This diminishes the need to acknowledge something other than ourselves as the source of that faith. I very rarely hear anyone say "the faith that Christ gave me" when talking about spiritual matters. And yet that is the point. If we were not given this faith and wakened from the dead to be able to receive it we would have no faith at all. Or more accurately our faith would be in the enmity with the one true God. WE do not have anything apart from the saving faith we have in Christ Jesus. And that faith comes from a holy, holy, holy God. That should give us pause. The Gospel and our faith should not be taken lightly for it is a momentous thing. It should drive us to our knees seeking forgiveness.

Having told the Galatians this, Paul does something that I wish I could consistently emulate. So often it is ease to present the Gospel and move on to why the addressee needs repentance and forgiveness (which they indeed need). But Paul starts by reminding the Galatians that he was a murderer. That shold be our model. Present the Gospel, and then, using wisdom, explain why we needed it. This is a hard thing to do and one that is lacking in Christians. Mostly because it is a very scary thing to do. What if we enumerated our sins and the need for a Savior and the other person laughs? or says "you are sick!"? My answer is yes, but it was worse than that, I was dead. Until we understand our absolute helplessness and the need for our Lord to rescue us, our evangelizing will be weak at best. I pray that we have the humility to follow Paul's example.

Doctrines of Men

For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ

Galatians 1:11-12

All such as will have men to preach pleasurable things to their liking, do drive away God as far off from them as they can. True it is that they will not speak after that sort. For even among the Jewish people, every man protested to serve the God that was revealed to their father Abraham, and which had published his law by Moses. Sacrifices were offered in the temple, and there were fair show enough there. Nevertheless the prophet concludes in one word, that men were desirous to be soothed, and fair spoken to, and by means thereof could not suffer God to guide them, nor give him leave to lay his yoke upon their neck. Ye see then theat the means for us to prepared to receive the doctrine of the gospel, and to be edified by the same, is that we be not wedded to our own likings, but suffer our Lord jesus Christ to speak the things that are expedient for our instruction. Howbeit besides this, we must also be as it were wounded to the heart by the word that is preached to us, or else we shall never fare the better for it.

Calvin's Sermons on Galatians, 91

Paul's defense of the source of his doctrine makes it clear that he was being accused of preaching an easy gospel. It seems strange to me, but the Judaiser's claimed that by allowing Gentiles to avoid circumcision and the other strictures of the law, Paul was in fact preaching the doctrines of man and an easy gospel.

It's ironic that circumcision, which was given by revelation, should become a doctrine of man. But in putting their hope in it rather than the free mercy of God, the Jewish people robbed it of its meaning, supposing that God could be pleased if they just went through the motions. That is how it became a doctrine of man.

I can understand their reasoning to an extent: the law of circumcision came as a revelation from God to Abraham and Moses, and so it must be human doctrine to assert that it held no force in the Christian life. But more than anything else, this only showed their ignorance of Christ. For as you said, Frank, the Christian life is not easy - there is no comparison with circumcision; the Christian life requires a constant humbling of our sinful pride, for we always want to imagine that we can please God in our own way. Calvin shows what it means to be humbled by God: that we should welcome his word, even though it slays us. For any injury we receive from God will only strengthen us for his service.

Standing for the Truth

"The twice repeated "let him be accursed", coupled with the indication that this was not the first time such an anathema had been invoked, shows that it cannot be explained as "a careless utterance, expressing more accurately his immediate feelings than his general theory", but must be taken with all seriousness as indicating Paul's attitude toward any teaching that is at variance with the Gospel." NICNT

It is sometimes very hard to be a Christian. Not only is it hard to try to live out the precepts of the Bible, with the help of the Holy Spirit, but it is also hard to stand for Truth in this fallen world. Paul's injunction agains following another gospel or any deviance from the true Gospel is compelling and unsettling at the same time. We are called to defend the Gospel from any deviation and that can often be something that puts us "on the spot". We need to stand for the truth no matter how reasonable the other person or position seems to be. This needs to be tempered with love and respect (for sometimes our sinfulness will get in the way) but there does need to be a firmness when we deal with issues of the Truth. Whether the other person likes us is beside the points. The only opinion that matters is the one who sent His Son to die so that we might be restored as His children. Grace and peace to you all.

Frank