The book of Acts describes the movement of Christianity from Jerusalem to Rome. It started among people who were Jewish and followed the Jewish practices of their religion. But before very long the Christian movement spread to the Gentiles. Non-Jewish people began to be a part of the Christian church. Many of these converts had been ‘God fearers.’ These were individuals who believed in the Jewish God and God’s revelation to Moses but had not accepted some of the ‘rules and regulations,’ particularly the requirement of circumcision.
The message of these first preachers of the Gospel was rather simple, ‘Repent and believe the Good News.’ Doing so would bring to that person the promises of Abraham and bring one eternal life. A Jewish group that opposed the simplicity of this message of grace and that one could actually become part of the ‘People of God’ without following the regulations given by Moses began efforts to stop the Christian movement. Not being able to do so they began to argue that ‘It’s great you believe in Jesus Christ but that’s not all that is required, you must also follow the rules and regulations given by Moses.’ In other words, you had to become like them to be saved, there was no shortcut to salvation. Theirs was a salvation of faith plus works. These teachers had found their way to the churches that Paul had established on his first missionary journey in the Roman Provence of Galatia and they were having some success in convincing these churches that Paul had not taught them everything required for salvation. They even argued that Paul was not a ‘true’ apostle and his message had not come from Jesus but was something that he had learned from others.
Paul fully understood that this was a corruption of the Gospel. Paul knew that salvation was by grace alone through faith alone. In fact, he argues in Gal. 1:6-7 that what they are teaching is really not a Gospel (Good News) at all. They are wanting to ‘distort or pervert’ the gospel of Christ. Paul sternly warns the Galatians about adding to the gospel of grace several times in his letter. A verse that sometimes troubles Baptists is Gal. 5:4. Let’s compare two translations of this verse:
You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace.
You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.
To understand what Paul is saying here we need the background of two previous verses, Gal. 3:10-11.
10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, Everyone who does not do everything written in the book of the law is cursed.
11 Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous will live by faith.
Gal. 3:10-11 makes it crystal clear that no one who attempts to be justified by keeping the law will be saved. They could seek to be justified through faith and obtain salvation or they could seek justification through legal works and not obtain it. Recently you read in 2 Cor. 5:17 that “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” Salvation is ‘in Christ’ Here in Gal. 5:4 Paul warns that if you seek to be justified by the law you are alienated or severed from Christ. If you are not ‘in Christ’ you are not saved! These are warning passages to the Galatians that need to be taken seriously. If they had in fact already accepted this false teaching and were now trying to be justified by the law, there would be no need for the warning passages.
The message of these first preachers of the Gospel was rather simple, ‘Repent and believe the Good News.’ Doing so would bring to that person the promises of Abraham and bring one eternal life. A Jewish group that opposed the simplicity of this message of grace and that one could actually become part of the ‘People of God’ without following the regulations given by Moses began efforts to stop the Christian movement. Not being able to do so they began to argue that ‘It’s great you believe in Jesus Christ but that’s not all that is required, you must also follow the rules and regulations given by Moses.’ In other words, you had to become like them to be saved, there was no shortcut to salvation. Theirs was a salvation of faith plus works. These teachers had found their way to the churches that Paul had established on his first missionary journey in the Roman Provence of Galatia and they were having some success in convincing these churches that Paul had not taught them everything required for salvation. They even argued that Paul was not a ‘true’ apostle and his message had not come from Jesus but was something that he had learned from others.
Paul fully understood that this was a corruption of the Gospel. Paul knew that salvation was by grace alone through faith alone. In fact, he argues in Gal. 1:6-7 that what they are teaching is really not a Gospel (Good News) at all. They are wanting to ‘distort or pervert’ the gospel of Christ. Paul sternly warns the Galatians about adding to the gospel of grace several times in his letter. A verse that sometimes troubles Baptists is Gal. 5:4. Let’s compare two translations of this verse:
You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace.
You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.
To understand what Paul is saying here we need the background of two previous verses, Gal. 3:10-11.
10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, Everyone who does not do everything written in the book of the law is cursed.
11 Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous will live by faith.
Gal. 3:10-11 makes it crystal clear that no one who attempts to be justified by keeping the law will be saved. They could seek to be justified through faith and obtain salvation or they could seek justification through legal works and not obtain it. Recently you read in 2 Cor. 5:17 that “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” Salvation is ‘in Christ’ Here in Gal. 5:4 Paul warns that if you seek to be justified by the law you are alienated or severed from Christ. If you are not ‘in Christ’ you are not saved! These are warning passages to the Galatians that need to be taken seriously. If they had in fact already accepted this false teaching and were now trying to be justified by the law, there would be no need for the warning passages.
Posted in Multiply
Recent
Archive
2025
March
The Time is NowSpring Is in The AirEaster Changes EverythingProclaim Jesus This SummerThe Great Co-Mission: Never Work AloneOrdinary MomentsMade For MissionsMay I See Your Ticket?Surrender and TrustWhat Is Thankfulness?Christ In ChristmasWhat's Your New Year's Resolution?Unity In The BodyGo & TellWhy Do They Call It Good Friday?It's Gonna Be MayVBS: The Most Impactful WeekWhat I Love About JesusJesus Is AmazingEveryone, Everywhere, AlwaysThe RollercoasterIt's Fall, Y'allWhy Give Thanks?Rekindle The FlameJesus Didn't Come to Make Christians. He Came to Make Disciples.Multiply—Week 1Multiply—Week 2Multiply—Week 3Multiply—Week 4DiscipleshipMultiply—Week 5Multiply—Week 6Multiply—Week 7Multiply—Week 8Multiply—Week 9Multiply—Week 10Multiply—Week 11Multiply—Week 12Resurrection PowerMultiply—Week 13Multiply—Week 14Multiply—Week 15Multiply—Week 16The Parenting BookMultiply—Week 17Multiply—Week 18Multiply—Week 19Multiply—Week 20Multiply—Week 21Multiply—Week 22Jesus Changes EverythingMultiply—Week 23Multiply—Week 24Multiply—Week 25Multiply—Week 26A Call To Impact The NationsMultiply—Week 27Multiply—Week 28Multiply—Week 29Multiply—Week 30Multiply—Week 31Multiply—Week 32Multiply—Week 33Multiply—Week 34Multiply—Week 35Multiply—Week 36Multiply—Week 37Multiply—Week 38Multiply—Week 39Multiply—Week 40Multiply—Week 41Multiply—Week 42Multiply—Week 43Multiply—Week 44Multiply—Week 45Multiply—Week 46Multiply—Week 47Multiply—Week 48Multiply—Week 49Multiply—Week 50Multiply—Week 51Multiply—Week 52The Living WaterMULTIPLY—GenesisBro. Eddie Little Announces RetirementMultiply—ExodusMultiply—LeviticusMultiply—DeuteronomyMultiply—NumbersMultiply—JoshuaMultiply—JudgesMultiply—1 and 2 SamuelMultiply—1 and 2 KingsMultiply—1 and 2 ChroniclesMultiply—Ezra and NehemiahMultiply—EstherMultiply—JobMultiply—PsalmsMultiply—ProverbsMultiply—Ecclesiastes