MARCH 23, 2014
THE APOSTLE’S CONCLUDING APPEAL
INTRODUCTION:
1. The Apostle, had powerfully made the case for the true gospel, and had poured out his soul in an effort to persuade these Christians not to embrace the false gospel of the false teachers.
2. In keeping with his customary method and style, he had followed up with some practical injunctions. (Ch. 5:13-6:10)
3. According to the pattern seen in his other epistles, we might have expected to find his usual formal salutation, in which he would send greetings from his companions, ask for their prayers, assure them of his prayers, and then conclude with a loving benediction.
4. Paul’s great concern for these Galatian believers can be seen in the fact that he breaks from his usual method and form in this epistle.
a) First, he wrote the epistle with his own hand. (Verse 11) Ordinarily he would (perhaps because of failing eyesight) dictate his letters to a scribe and then authorize what was written by subscribing his name to it. That he wrote this letter himself emphasizes his great love for them, and the sense of urgency he felt regarding the matter of their defection.
b) Second, instead of following his practical injunctions with his customary conclusion, in this case he adds a final appeal to the Galatians not to allow themselves to be drawn away from the simplicity of the true gospel by these unworthy, self-seeking false teachers.
I. HE EXPOSES THE TRUE CHARACTER AND ULTERIOR MOTIVES OF THEIR SEDUCERS. (VERSES 12, 13)
A. THEY WERE MEN WHOSE INTERESTS LAY MORE IN EXTERNAL RELIGION THAN IN SPIRITUAL RESTORATION. (VERSE 12a)
1. They were men who desired to make a fair show in the flesh.
2. They were zealous for the observance of rites and ceremonies, but had little regard for real piety. Their lack of zeal for true holiness is seen in Paul’s statement in the next verse, “Neither do they themselves keep the law,” meaning, of course, the moral law. (Verse 13a)
B. THEY WERE MEN WHO WERE NOT WILING TO SUFFER FOR THE FAITH. (VERSE 12b)
1. They constrained the Gentile Christians to be circumcised, only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. Their reason for doing this was not out of any personal regard for the law. That which they chiefly aimed at was to keep up their reputation among the Jews.
2. They wanted to avoid the trouble that Paul and other faithful professors of the doctrine of Christ were exposed.
C. THEY WERE MEN OF A PARTY SPIRIT WHOSE ONLY REGARD FOR THE LAW WAS AS IT MIGHT SERVE THEIR CARNAL DESIGN. (VERSE 13b) “…but desire to have you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh.”
1. They wished to be able to boast for having persuaded these who professed faith in Christ over to their side, making proselytes of them who carried the mark in their flesh.
2. While pretending to promote religion, they were, in fact, the greatest enemies of it. Nothing is more destructive to the cause of religion than forming parties, and persuading men to take sides. (I Cor. 1:10-13; 3:3, 4)
II. HE ACQUAINTS US AGAIN WITH HIS OWN MIND SET AND PROFESSION OF FAITH. (VERSES 14-17)
A. HIS CHIEF GLORY WAS IN THE CROSS OF CHRIST. (VERSE 14a)
1. He had no such ambition as did the Judaizers, to glory in his converts which he had gained by the gospel. All that he desired to glory in was the doctrine of the gospel, which is salvation by the crucified Redeemer.
2. This was what the Jews stumbled at, and the Greeks counted foolishness, but to him it was the power and wisdom of God. (I Cor. 1:23, 24)
3. The Judaizing teachers themselves, though they had embraced Christianity, yet clearly, they were ashamed of the cross, and to avoid persecution from it, they were mixing observance of the law of Moses with faith in Christ. They were not the last professing Christians to be ashamed of the blood of Christ.
4. But Paul had a very different opinion of it. He was so far from being offended by the cross, or ashamed of it, that he desired to glory in nothing else. “God forbid that…”
B. BY THE CROSS OF CHRIST HE WAS MADE DEAD TO THE WORLD. (VERSE 14b)
1. Paul cared for the world no more than the world cared for him. He would not, like the false teachers accommodate his religion to court its favor.
2. The world has nothing but contempt for the true followers of Christ, who glory in His cross, and thus, Paul had only contempt for the world with all its vain pomp and splendor.
3. This is the mindset that all Christians should strive after. The higher esteem we have for Christ and Him crucified, the lower will be our opinion of this world.
C. HIS CONVICTION WAS THAT, REGARDING SALVATION, BEING JEW OR GENTILE WAS OF NO CONCERN, BUT WHETHER A MAN WAS REGENERATED OR NOT. (VERSE 15)
1. It is by regeneration, i.e. the renewing of the Holy Ghost, that one becomes alive spiritually.
2. The Apostle refers to the regenerate as “New Creatures.” (See II Cor. 5:17)
3. In this essential work, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avail anything. (Ch. 5:6) Regeneration involves that circumcision of the heart in the Spirit. (Rom. 2:29)
4. Many base their hope of heaven on something other than the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, if not their nationality or some religious rites, perhaps some works of their own. (Tit. 3:5)
D. HE PRONOUNCES A BLESSING OF PEACE AND MERCY UPON ALL WHO RECEIVE AND LIVE BY THIS ESSENTIAL TRUTH. (VERSE 16)
1. The “rule” which he here speaks of may signify more generally the whole doctrine of the gospel and the way of justification by faith in Christ alone which is laid down in this epistle. (See Rom. 5:1, 2)
2. Or, by “this rule,” he may be referring more immediately to the new creature of which he had just been speaking.
3. The words may be taken as either a prayer or a promise.
a) Nothing else can bring peace with God and conscience than justification by faith alone, which results in and is experienced in the new creature.
b) Such faith brings continuation in the free love and favor of God in Christ, which are the spring and fountain of all other blessings.
4. Notice, real Christians are those who walk according to a rule, not a rule of their own making, but that which God Himself has prescribed in His Word.
5. All who will walk according to God’s rule will be assured of the peace and mercy of God in their lives.
E. HE RECOUNTS THAT HE HAD CHEERFULLY SUFFERED PERSECUTION FOR SAKE OF THE TRUE FAITH OF CHRIST. (VERSE 17)
1. As the cross of Christ, or the doctrine of salvation by the crucified Redeemer was what he gloried in, so he had been willing to run all hazards and suffer great persecutions rather than to betray this truth or see it corrupted. The continual sufferings and affliction that Paul endured for sake of Christ and the gospel are well documented in the book of Acts and also in the Pauline epistles.
2. False teachers were afraid of persecution, and that was the great reason why they were zealous for circumcision, as we have seen. (Verse 12)
3. But, none of these things moved Paul, neither did he count his own life dear, as compared to the ministry that he had received from the Lord Jesus. (Acts 20:24)
4. It may rightly be assumed that men are truly persuaded of those truths in which they are willing to suffer and die.
III. PAUL NOW CONCLUDES HIS EPISTLE TO THE CHURCHES OF GALATIA WITH HIS APOSTOLICAL BENEDICTION. (VERSE 18)
A. HE CALLS THEM HIS BRETHREN.
1. He shows his tender love for them as his brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. Some perhaps strictly speaking were not his brethren, if indeed they had defected, and thus, denied the faith even though they may have still professed to believe.
a) Since Jesus, Who knew what was in men’s hearts, did not exclude Judas Iscariot until he proved himself to be a traitor, let us who have no such knowledge tend to generosity in our considerations of others.
b) Paul did not have certain knowledge of exactly which ones were actual defectors, and those who might yet be recovered and restored in their faith. (Ch. 3:4; 5:10)
c) Let us always be hopeful that erring brethren can and will be restored by the mercy and grace of God, and let us labor and pray to that end.
B. HE LEAVES THEM WITH A VERY SERIOUS AND AFFECTIONATE PRAYER. That “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ may be with your spirit.”
1. This was a usual farewell for Paul. (Rom. 16:20, 24; I Cor. 16:23)
2. This prayer expresses the great need of every Christian individually, and of every church body.
3. It is the influence of grace upon our souls that we need to enable us to live the Christian life, and to keep us from embracing error. We need no more to make us happy than the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
4. This grace is fitly called “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,” for He is the sole purchaser and the appointed dispenser of it.
5. To this prayer he adds his “Amen,” i.e. so let it be.
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