The True Gospel is Reaffirmed to the Galatians Volume 23

Paul Exhorts the Galatians to live by the Direction of the Holy Spirit

Galatians 5:16-18 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. KJV

As we learned from Paul in the previous study, he declared these Galatian believers and us today to be liberated “in Christ” by virtue of the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit. Therefore, Paul now tells them and us to “walk” in the Spirit. What exactly is he writing to them with this exhortation? Well we know at the moment of every sinner’s regeneration and new birth, the Holy Spirit comes into the heart or “inner man” to abide, continue, and remain forever in the believer. However, just as He (God the Holy Spirit) does not force any sinner to repent or turn to Christ, He also does not force the believers will into obedience to Christ after salvation. This is what we see happening here with many of the believers throughout Galatia, they have grieved and quenched the Spirit’s work in their lives and by so doing have gone away from the truth of the Gospel into this heretical teaching by the Judaizing men of adding circumcision and Mosaic Ceremonial Law keeping to the Gospel of Grace.

Paul’s use of the English word “walk” is in connection with the course or way these Galatians and us today are to live. The Greek word translated for “walk” is peripateo which means a path to tread upon; figuratively it means to live or behave in a certain manner. Paul is literally telling them to follow the Holy Spirit’s lead and guidance as His devoted and loyal companion being occupied with Him completely and then they will not find themselves being led into doctrinal, theological, or practical error as our Lord Jesus spoke of His Spirit with these words, “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.” (John 16:13).

The Galatians had lost the ability to discern truth and this led to their infighting, backbiting, and devouring one another with quarrelling and arguments and also led to them being about to accept the error of the Judaizing teachers. Paul declares to them with the use of  “ye shall not” and this phrase is translated by the Greek word ou me which is a strong double negative which expresses an absolute denial meaning not at all or any more or never again. Paul is saying here that the believer who purposes his will to be controlled by the Divine Influence of the Spirit of God dwelling in them will not satisfy the cravings or the intense desire of the “old nature” which leads to sin, disobedience, and rebellion as James wrote of sin in this manner, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”  (James 1:13-17).

Paul wants the Galatians and us today to know that the “new nature” we received at our “new birth” is at all times opposed to sin of any kind and he now points out to them and to us the continual and on-going conflict that wars in the “inner man” and “inner woman” of every true child of God. This lust of the flesh against the spirit Paul proclaims here is not a conflict of the “old nature” with the Holy Spirit, for there is no power or force that can war successfully against God the Holy Spirit, but Paul declares the “old nature” and the “new nature” at war with one another in the heart of the believer. Note: God the Holy Spirit is everywhere at all times on the earth and in the vast universes that He created (Genesis 1:2) and in the heart of every born again believer all at the same time, this is a Divine mystery to us that we cannot explain, but by faith trust and believe.

The very reason “in my opinion” our Lord Jesus Christ left our “old nature” in us after our new birth is that we would learn day by day to do this very thing Paul is exhorting the Galatians to do and that is to “walk in the Spirit” being constantly, continually, and completely controlled by Him. We find our Lord Jesus Christ showing us how this is done with His conflict with Satan as documented by Matthew 4:1-11 and Mark 1:12-13 and Luke 4:1-13. Our Lord Jesus did not fight against Satan here using all He is as God, but He fought against and defeated Satan as the Son of Man filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:1). Paul declares now to these Galatians and to us that in like manner we too can be victorious over sin and Satan as did our Lord Jesus Christ being filled with and led by God the Holy Spirit.

Paul used the English phrase “ye be led” which is translated by the Greek word ago a primary verb meaning to lead or to keep or to induce someone to act in a particular way or do a particular thing i.e. to follow the Holy Spirit’s lead and direction which will always lead away from sin and the gratifying of the old man as Paul wrote this to the Roman believers, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh--for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” (Romans 8:11-14). The “sons of God” are under grace and not under law any longer (Romans 6:14), but it is our responsibility to yield to God the Holy Spirit that this might be fulfilled in us because He will never force us to yield, NEVER.

My own Personal Note: Every true child of God knows the sweetness of yielding to the Holy Spirit’s guidance and leading that leads to life and peace, but at the same time every true child of God knows the crushing in their spirit’s when they do not yield and they then experience spiritual death or disconnect from God the Father (Romans 8:6). When our minds are set on the flesh or “old nature” we cannot and will not be subject to the Moral Law of God  and in so doing we will not please our Heavenly Father (Romans 8:7-8), therefore, it will serve each of us well if we every day read and meditate on these words spoken by our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ when He said, “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5).

“The sheep is a clean animal and avoids garbage, while the pig is an unclean animal and enjoys wallowing in filth (2 Peter 2:19-22). After the rain ceased and the Ark settled, Noah released a raven which never came back (Genesis 8:6-7). The raven is a carrion-eating bird and found plenty to feed on. But when Noah released the dove (a clean bird), it came back (Genesis 8:8-12). The last time he released the dove and it did not return, he knew that it had found a clean place to settle down; therefore, the waters had receded. Our old nature is like the pig and the raven, always looking for something unclean on which to feed. Our new nature is like the sheep and the dove, yearning for that which is clean and holy. No wonder a struggle goes on within the life of the believer! The unsaved man knows nothing of this battle because he does not have the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9).” Warren Wiersbe

“We all know it as a familiar experience that the surest way to conquer any strong desire or emotion is to bring some other into operation. To concentrate attention on any overmastering thought or purpose, even if our object is to destroy it, is but too apt to strengthen it. And so to fix our minds on our own desires of the flesh, even though we may be honestly wishing to suppress them, is a sure way to invest them with new force; therefore the wise counsels of sages and moralists are, for the most part, destined to lead those who listen to them astray. Many a man has, in good faith, set himself to conquer his own evil lusts and has found that the net result of his struggles has been to make the lusts more conspicuous and correspondingly more powerful. The Apostle knows a better way, which he has proved to his own experience, and now, with full confidence and triumph, presses upon his hearers. He would have them give up the monotonous and hopeless fight against the flesh and bring another ally into the field. His chief exhortation is a positive, not a negative one. It is vain to try to tie up men with restrictions and prohibitions, which when their desires are stirred will be burst like Samson’s bonds. But if once the positive exhortation here is obeyed, then it will surely make short work of the desires and passions which otherwise men, for the most part, do not wish to get rid of, and never do throw off by any other method.” Alexander MacLaren

“The spiritual life derived from Jesus Christ and lodged in the human spirit has to be guarded, cherished and made dominant, and then it will drive out the old. If the Spirit which is life because of righteousness is allowed free course in a human spirit, it will send forth its powers into the body which is ‘dead because of sin,’ will regulate its desires, and if needful will suppress them. And it is wiser and more blessed to rely on this overflowing influence than to attempt the hopeless task of coercing these desires by our own efforts. If we are still dependent on the desires of the flesh we are still but children, and if we are walking in the Spirit we have outgrown our childish toys. The enjoyment of the gifts which the Spirit gives deadens temptation and robs many things that were very precious of their lustre.” Alexander MacLaren

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

 

 

 

 

 

The True Gospel is Reaffirmed to the Galatians Volume 22

Paul Declares the Holy Spirit’s Internal Work in the Believer and Warns the Galatians against Infighting

Galatians 5:13-15 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. KJV

Paul declares to these Galatians and to us today that through Christ death, burial, and resurrection from the dead for them and for us that by the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit, they and we “have been called” to “liberty” in Christ. The English phrase Paul uses here “have been called” is translated by the Greek word kaleo which means to call properly aloud directly; to bid forth; to incite by word or to provoke or urge on or to give an incentive for action or to cause one to act; to order or to command. God the Holy Spirit in these Galatians and in us today is working “in the believer” to bring him or her into all the fullness that is inherent in Christ Jesus our Lord. The believer’s responsibility is to not grieve, distress, or sadden Him (Ephesians 4:30) by willful sin and rebellion and by quenching or extinguishing (1 Thessalonians 5:19) His operating influence in each of our “inner man” and “inner woman” causing in us the fulfilling of Christ Law which is the “Law of Love”.

Paul declares these Galatians and us today to be called into “liberty” and this English word is translated by the Greek word eleutheria which means legitimate freedom i.e. chiefly moral freedom. Paul is saying here to these Galatians and to us that before theirs and our encounter with the Risen Christ we were born into slavery to the corrupt nature inherited from Adam, but now that we are in relationship with Christ united to Him by the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit, they and we are bid to come out of that bondage and allow the Spirit to continually lift us to a higher plane of life and living that is impossible for the Galatians and for us to achieve, acquire, or attain through the observance, obedience, or obligation to any external ceremonial laws. This liberty Paul declares is not to be turned into a license, a deliberate deviation without restraint away from the Moral Law of God by these Galatians or by us as the Apostle Peter wrote in this manner, “Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bond-slaves of God.” (1 Peter 2:16). These Galatians and we today are to be slaves of Christ and not slaves of our old nature as Paul wrote in this manner to the believers in Rome, “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” (Romans 6:11-14).

It is the Grace of God and His Grace only that can truly liberate or set free these Galatians and us today and not conforming to some legalistic rules and regulations. God the Holy Spirit is the liberator, but He will not liberate any believer by overriding their will. The believer must cooperate with the Holy Spirit and receive the grace or Divine influence upon the heart or inner man that will then produce freedom from allowing the old nature to rein or control the believer’s behavior. Christ’s purpose for saving these Galatians and us today was to freely give those who come to Him a complete new life or way of living as He said here, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Love is the fulfillment of all of God’s Laws (Matthew 22:37-40). Love will replace the tyranny of fearing the consequences of breaking the laws with a built-in desire to please the object of Love and that is Christ Jesus our Lord as He declared with these words when He said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15) and as Paul prayed for the Ephesians with these words, “And to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:19).

Yielding to God the Holy Spirit and not grieving Him will place the desire in these Galatians and us today to serve other believers by doing everything in our power to contribute to their physical well-being, but more importantly their spiritual well-being which is exactly what the Apostle Paul is doing for these Galatians with this very letter written to them. These false teachers had spread like cancer in the human body and began to infect all of the Galatian Churches with wrangling and many altercations between the perpetrators of the false gospel with those who were standing firm in their liberty “in Christ” and the true Gospel. However, Paul declares to them and to us today the consequence of not allowing love to one another to be their chief and sole motivator and that would be disintegration, dissipation, dissolution, dissolving (i.e. to stop functioning or cohering as a unit) and all of this would lead to the ultimate destruction of their Churches. Paul knew that these disputes among them would lead to their destruction and so is the purpose of his penning this letter and also the extreme fury he displays earlier in this letter toward those who brought about this dissension, disagreements, and discord as we discussed in the last study when he wrote, “I wish that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves.” (Galatians 5:12). Paul’s desire is to see them striving, battling, and fighting against sin in themselves individually and the Churches collectively as radically as we see people today diagnosed with cancer in the human body fight to kill it and eradicate it from their body.

My own Personal Note: It is not an uncommon thing for those who have been truly liberated by the Grace of God to find themselves in the wilderness of the extreme of license or legalism, but neither one is the true liberty we have received from our “new birth”, for Christ did not save us that we would be free to sin against Him, nor did He save us so that we would develop our own rules, rites, and regulations to follow, but He saved us to be His disciple, pupil, learner, and student, and if we allow Him to teach and lead us, then and only then will we know and experience real freedom. 

“The amazing thing about love is that it takes the place of all the laws God ever gave. ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself’ solves every problem in human relations (see Romans 13:8-14). If you love people (because you love Christ), you will not steal from them, lie about them, envy them, or try in any way to hurt them. Love in the heart is God’s substitute for laws and threats.” Warren Wiersbe

“The man, or the nation that has won its freedom, has won but half the battle. It has conquered external foes; it has still to prevail over itself. And this is the harder task. Men clamour for liberty, when they mean license; what they seek is the liberty of the flesh, not of the Spirit, freedom to indulge their lusts and to trample on the rights of others, the freedom of outlaws and brigands.” Expositor’s Bible Commentary

“Even the man whose heart has been truly touched and changed by Divine grace, when the freshness of his first love to Christ has passed away and temptation renews its assaults, is liable to this deception. He may begin to think that sin is less perilous, since forgiveness was so easily obtained. He may presume that as a son of God, sealed by the Spirit of adoption, he will not be allowed to fall, even though he stumble. He is one of ‘God’s elect’; what ‘shall separate him’ from the Divine love in Christ? In this assurance he holds a talisman that secures his safety. What need to ‘watch and pray lest he enter into temptation,’ when the Lord is his keeper? He is God’s enfranchised son; ‘all things are lawful’ to him; ‘things present’ as well as ‘things to come’ are his in Christ. By such reasoning his liberty is turned into an occasion to the flesh. And men who before they boasted themselves sons of God were restrained by the spirit of bondage and fear, have found in this assurance the occasion, the ‘starting-point’ for a more shameless course of evil. Law makes the path; love gives the will and power to follow it.” Expositor’s Bible Commentary

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

 

 

The True Gospel is Reaffirmed to the Galatians Volume 21

Paul sees their stumble from Grace but trust they will turn Around

Galatians 5:7-12 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased. I would they were even cut off which trouble you. KJV

Paul quickly switches his concentration to what is very familiar in all of his writings and that is to compare the Christian life to running a race. The people in the region of Galatia would have also been very familiar with the Greek games that were so popular to many Jews and Gentiles. It is as if Paul would be picturing for us today the 10,000 meter race in track and field which is one of the longer races. At the beginning the runners are all jumbled up close together, but as the race proceeds each person settles into a running rhythm that is comfortable for each person and they are obliged to stay in their own running lane or path that they have carved out for themselves. This is Paul’s analogy of these Galatians running along strongly and confidently in their Christian race and suddenly someone (the Judaizers) breaks into their lane or path and causes them to stumble or fall off course. The goal or the finish line in sight is our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ as we run our Christian race of faith in Him trusting in His Grace to sustain us, strengthen us, and secure us along the course of our life of sojourning here on the earth. However, the Galatians had been cut in front of during their race and were being led away from the truth of the Gospel into believing that circumcision and obedience to the Jewish Mosaic laws must be added to the Gospel of Grace for complete salvation.

Paul tells them that they were running well from the beginning and were obedient only to the Gospel. Paul wants them to recall the joy in the Holy Spirit they had once experienced along with His enabling power working in their “inner man” and “inner woman” through love directing their focus solely and only on our Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord Jesus declared He (the Holy Spirit) would do when He said this, “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.” (John 16:13-14). In this passage our Lord Jesus tells the disciples that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth and likewise here Paul is declaring to these Galatians that what these Judaizers have brought to them is not the truth, but in fact a lie from the father of lies the devil (John 8:44). Paul declared to them that this persuasion or argument that has been brought to them does not originate from God the Father who called them to the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ nor does it come from Paul who was God the Father’s human instrument in bringing the Gospel or Good News to these Galatians.

Paul warns them now that what appears to be a small departure from the truth of the Gospel will in fact work like leaven or yeast in a lump of dough by permeating the entire dough. In this case the entire congregations in all of the Churches in the region of Galatia will be infected by this leaven of the Judaizers until the truth has been erased and eradicated from the Gospel. Leaven is a substance used to produce fermentation in dough or a liquid. It is an influence that works subtly to lighten or modify something. This is exactly the effect that Paul sees happening amongst the Galatian believers (by the infiltration of one or more Judaizing teachers) that they are being led softly, secretly, and subtly away from their liberty in our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ (Galatians 5:1). Paul warned the Corinthian believers of allowing sexual immorality to be accepted in their fellowship using this same language when he said, “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Corinthians 5:6-8). Just as Paul was confident with his writing such harsh rebuke to the members of the Corinthian Church, even though he felt a sense of sadness in what he wrote to them (2 Corinthians 7:8), Paul also tells these Galatians that he has confidence in them in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The English phrase “have confidence” Paul uses is translated by the Greek word peitho a primary verb meaning to convince by argument the truth or error of something; also by analogy to pacify that is to cause these Galatians to be more favorably inclined to adhere to only the Gospel he preached to them; also to rein in or curb their departure from the true Gospel as Paul wrote in this manner to the believers in Thessalonica, “But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will continue to do what we command. May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 3:3-5). Paul does not absolve the Galatians for their part in departing from the truth of the Gospel, but he places the lions share of the blame on the one individual or group of Judaizing men who have infiltrated their ranks with this blasphemous teaching being led by Satan in order to overthrow the Galatians liberty in Christ Jesus our Lord (Galatians 2:4). Paul declares that “he that troubleth” and this English phrase is translated by the Greek word tarasso which means to stir or agitate i.e. to exert oneself continuously, vigorously, or obtrusively to gain an end or engage in a crusade for a certain cause or person and in this case it was to win away the Galatian converts to their cause. For example today Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses spend the bulk of their time and efforts trying to convince true Christians to turn away from the truth of the Gospel of Christ and come join their cults and sadly (like these Judaizers in Galatia) they have been successful with some.

This one individual or group of Judaizers came to these Galatians declaring that Paul was a circulator of circumcision, but Paul disputes the lies told about him being a preacher of circumcision testifying of his persecution at the hands of the Jews because Christ Crucified was indeed a stumbling block to them (1 Corinthians 1:23). Paul surely had declared to them the five separate occasions when he was severely beaten by the Jews for preaching the Cross of our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ as he wrote with these words to the Corinthian believers, “Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes.” (2 Corinthians 11:24). Is this the result or the treatment of a man, a fellow Jew from other Jews if he is still declaring that circumcision is necessary for the salvation of the Gentiles. Paul is certain that these Galatians will see through the lies of the troubler or troublers of their faith in Christ Jesus our Lord. Paul ends with a graphic picture of what he wished these men would do to themselves and that is castrate themselves and leave the Lord Jesus’ Galatian sheep alone which goes along with the very same language Paul began his letter with referring to these men when he said, “As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a Gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!” (Galatians 1:9).

My own Personal Note: Paul had no warm fuzzy feelings in his heart for these type of men only “holy contempt” i.e. a complete lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike.

“The truth is not only to be believed, but to be obeyed, to be received not only in the light of it, but in the love and power of it. Those do not rightly obey the truth, who do not steadfastly adhere to it. There is the same reason for our obeying the truth that there was for our embracing it: and therefore those act very unreasonably who, when they have begun to run well in the Christian race, suffer themselves to be hindered, so as not to persevere in it.” Matthew Henry

“The believer who lives in the sphere of God’s Grace is free, rich, and running in the lane that leads to reward and fulfillment. The believer who abandons grace for law is a slave, a pauper, and a runner on a detour. In short, he is a loser. And the only way to become a winner is to ‘purge out the leaven,’ the false doctrine that mixes law and grace, and yield to the Spirit of God.” Warren Wiersbe

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

 

 

 

 

 

The True Gospel is Reaffirmed to the Galatians Volume 20

Paul Urges the Galatians to Reject the Judiazers and Stand fast in their freedom in Christ

Galatians 5:1-6 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. KJV

Paul has now begun to turn away from revealing to them the correct teaching or Doctrine of the Gospel of Grace and faith in Christ, to the actual, factual, and practical way true believers are to apply their reception of God’s Grace through Christ Jesus our Lord in our daily lives as we sojourn down here on the earth. The Grace of God motivates the newly born child of God to desire the Glory of God. No amount of Jewish rites or ceremonies can put that desire in the heart of its strictest follower. Paul begins by exhorting them to “Stand fast” and this English phrase is translated by the Greek word steko which means to be stationary, that is, figuratively to persevere or continue. Paul is reminding them that when they received Christ as Lord and Savior, they received His Resurrection Life which when they are yielded to Him (through the Holy Spirit) they are loosed or freed from trying to obey external laws in their own strength, but through their love for Christ Jesus our Lord they are enabled and empowered by His Spirit to do what they in themselves could never do.

It is the releasing of the Grace of God supplied to them through the Holy Spirit that works out salvation in their daily lives and not observing Jewish rites and ceremonies. Paul prayed for the Ephesian believers to understand all they had “in Christ” with these words which surely can be applied to these Galatians and to us today, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.” (Ephesians 1:18-21). This is why Paul is here urging them to continue and remain in the only liberty they have by abiding in Christ alone. Paul had lived his entire life (before he met Christ) trying to keep every detail of these Jewish rites and ceremonies and he never experienced the freedom he has now found “in Christ” alone.

Paul wants them to pay close attention to what he is writing to them here in this section of his letter as we see with the word he uses “Behold”. Paul wants them to see that if they submit to circumcision with the intended outcome that they will be justified before God the Father by doing so, then they will find themselves severed, detached, or cut off from the Resurrection Life of our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ. Christ is the only One who has satisfied the Jewish rites and ceremonies as well as the Moral Law of God by His Perfect Sinless Life, therefore, for these Galatians to remove themselves from their freedom “in Him”, then obliges them to accomplish satisfying every detail of the Mosaic and Moral Law in their own human strength without the Life of Christ operating in them and through them. Paul warns them that if they venture down this path of seeking justification by the law then “ye are fallen” from grace. “Ye are fallen” is the English phrase translated by the Greek word ekpipto which means to drop away; specifically to be driven out of one’s course; figuratively it means to lose or to become inefficient. Paul is very serious with these Galatians when he declares to them that they will forfeit all their benefits of the Grace of God through Christ if they become circumcised. It will be as if they were renouncing their “faith in Christ” for justification and choosing to be justified before God the Father by desiring to observe, obey, and operate under the Jewish Mosaic Laws.

Paul wants them to see the clear impossibility of this endeavor as the Apostle James wrote in this manner, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.” (James 2:10) and likewise as he has already written to them in this same letter with these words, “For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them.’” (Galatians 3:10). In great contrast to those who came from Judea (Galatians 2:3-5) teaching these Galatians that they must also be circumcised in order to be truly saved (Acts 15:1), Paul declares to them that it is not through adding to the Gospel the keeping of Jewish Law that gives them and us confidence and assurance before God the Father, but instead it is through the testimony and operation of God the Holy Spirit in theirs and our “inner man” that we have truly received the righteousness of God through “faith in Christ” alone (Romans 4:4-9) and He (God the Holy Spirit) is enabling us to work out our salvation day by day with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12).

Paul declares that “in Christ” all are on equal footing Jew and Gentile. Neither the circumcision of the Jews nor the uncircumcision of the Gentiles gives any advantage before God the Father. The English word “availeth” Paul uses is translated by the Greek word ischuo which means to have or exercise force, power, and strength. Literally circumcision renders no spiritual power whatsoever to its recipient. The faith these Galatians and we received at salvation works through love and love for God and to God produces obedience to His Will or His Word and love endeavors to do no wrong to all of humanity and especially to our brothers and sisters in Christ as Paul wrote so eloquently with these words to the Roman believers, “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” (Romans 13:8-10).

My own Personal Note: Legalism is like someone being trapped at the bottom of a 100 foot well being able to see the freedom above, but without a rope or other climbing gear their own human efforts never getting them to the top of the wells opening into freedom. However, grace is that same person trapped at the bottom of the same well, but someone outside of himself reaches down to him with a rescue rope and safety harness and bids him to strap it on and hold on to the rope as they proceed to pull him up to the top and freedom.

“He who is circumcised is circumcised as fearing the law: but he who fears the law distrusts the power of grace: and he who distrusts gains nothing from that which he distrusts.” John Chrysostom, 349 A.D. – 407 A. D.

“The Christian who lives by faith is not going to become a rebel. Quite the contrary, he is going to experience the inner discipline of God that is far better than the outer discipline of man-made rules. Paul’s doctrine of Christian liberty through grace is not the dangerous doctrine. It is legalism that is the dangerous doctrine, because legalism attempts to do the impossible: change the old nature and make it obey the Laws of God.” Warren Wiersbe

 “We are free. The Son has made us free, and we are free indeed, though not free to disobey the dictates and promptings of our new nature. We are set free from minute prescriptions, from priestly rules and requisitions, from all that would cramp and hinder our spiritual development; but we are still under the law of Christ, who will see to it that the essential righteousness of the Mosaic law is fulfilled in us, ‘who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit,’ (Romans 8:1).” F. B. Meyer

“This declaration is no less authoritative and judicially threatening than the anathema of Chapter 1. That former denouncement declared the false teachers severed from Christ. Those who yield to their persuasion, will be also ‘severed from Christ.’ They will fall into the same ditch as their blind leaders. The Judaisers have forfeited their part in Christ; they are false brethren, tares among the wheat, troublers and hinderers to the Church of God. And Gentile Christians who choose to be led astray by them must take the consequences. If they obey the ‘other Gospel,’ Christ’s Gospel is theirs no longer. If they rest their faith on circumcision, they have withdrawn it from His cross. Adopting the Mosaic regimen, they forego the benefits of Christ’s redemption. ‘Christ will profit you nothing.’ The sentence is negative, but no less fearful on that account. It is as though Christ should say, ‘Thou hast no part with Me.’” Expositor’s Bible Commentary

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

 

 

 

 

 

 

The True Gospel is Reaffirmed to the Galatians Volume 19

Paul uses an Allegory to explain the two Covenants   

Galatians 4:21-31

Paul feeling the agony of soul over these Galatians and their spiritual condition as we documented in the last study now is compelled to tell them a story hoping that this might be the very thing that jars them out of their dream world of chasing after the Mosaic Law and not after Christ. The story or allegory Paul writes to them is that of Abraham’s Wife Sarah verses the slave woman Hagar. Note: An allegory is a short moral story or in one sense a speaking or in this case a writing parable akin to what our Lord Jesus Christ spoke in Luke 15 entitled the Prodigal Son. Paul’s allegory is based on true historical facts that are documented in the Word of God.

First, Paul asked them a penetrating question to begin waking or arousing them out of this spiritual sleep state they have thrust themselves into by listening to the nonsense taught by the Judaizing men from Jerusalem. He sees them now determined or desiring to be “under the law”. The English phase Paul uses is “ye that desire” and this is translated by the Greek words thelo and ethelo which means that they choose to or prefer to or are inclined to be “under the law” and no longer “under grace” and this prompts the story of the two women and two sons born from each woman which pictures the two Covenants. We see that Paul had already defined for them what the laws purpose was and what the result was for every person still “under the law” (Galatians 3:10 & Galatians 3:23).

Paul begins his story by reminding them of the difference in the two women Hagar and Sarah, (Hagar was a slave) and this pictures everyone who determines to be justified before God by the Law. However, Sarah was no one’s slave, but was free and she pictures everyone who comes to God the Father through “faith in Christ” as Paul wrote in this manner to the Roman believers, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). Paul shows them the difference in the birth of the two sons Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael’s birth was natural meaning that Abraham at the time he had sex with Hagar was still young enough to produce children, however, Isaac’s birth was not natural but it was supernatural because Abraham was passed the aged of producing children (100 years old) and so was his wife Sarah (90 years old) and they required God’s Divine Supernatural intervention to make their bodies function again for sexual intercourse and restore Sarah’s ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, etc. that she would be able to carry the child for 9 months and then go through the difficulty of labor and delivery at over 90 years old. The difference between the two births is the difference between the curse of the law (Ishmael’s birth) and freedom in Christ (Isaac’s birth). Paul here is using these two women as a picture of the earthly Jerusalem and the Heavenly Jerusalem (Revelation 3:12 & Revelation 21:2 & Revelation 21:10).

The Judiazers made circumcision and law keeping as the grounds of sonship (heirs to Abraham), but Paul made “faith in Christ” the only ground of sonship (heirs of Abraham). Paul’s word picture of the two covenants coming forth from Ishmael and Isaac can be vividly witness today between the legalistic worship practiced by Muslims (descendants of Ishmael) verses Holy Spirit worship practiced by truly born again Christians (spiritual heirs of Abraham and spiritual descendants of Isaac). Likewise, today we see the persecution of Christians all over this world by the radical Muslims and their fervent hatred for all of the “spiritual descendants of Isaac” just as their spiritual father Ishmael hated his brother Isaac. It is the difference between the “spirit of anti-christ” (Ishmael) and the “Spirit of Christ” (Isaac).

My own Personal Note: Paul concluded this part of his discourse to these Galatians and to every one of us who would read this letter in future generations by affirming that they (the Galatians, Galatians 4:31) and us today who have placed our trust in the finish work of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross are free from the Laws (Mosaic and Moral) demands and decrees because Christ fulfilled them all. Therefore, it was Paul’s desire for those Galatians and for us to flee from the leaven (or teaching) of the Pharisees (which is legalism) as our Lord Jesus Christ said to us with these words, “Under these circumstances, after so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He (Jesus) began saying to His disciples first of all, ‘Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.’” (Luke 12:1).

“The law and the Gospel cannot coexist. The law must disappear before the Gospel. It is scarcely possible to estimate the strength of conviction and depth of prophetic insight which this declaration implies. The Apostle thus confidently sounds the death knell of Judaism at a time when one half of Christendom clung to the Mosaic law with a jealous affection little short of frenzy, and while the Judaic party seemed to be growing in influence, and was strong enough, even in the Gentile churches of his own founding, to undermine his influence and endanger his life. The truth which to us appears a truism must then have been regarded as a paradox.” J. B. Lightfoot (1828-89)

“In this allegory of Sarah and Hagar, it is important to notice that Paul is not dealing with the principle of evil within our hearts, but with the attempt to mingle two dispensations or methods of religious experience-the Law and the Gospel. He says that the poor slave girl, Hagar, whom Abraham bought as a personal attendant for his wife, stands for Mount Sinai, the mountain of the Law, in the district of Arabia, from which she may have originally come. Hagar also stands for the Judaizers, whose headquarters were at Jerusalem, while their emissaries everywhere dogged the Apostle’s movements, insisting that his converts must come under the old Levitical ceremonialism. Paul says that the Galatians must choose between their slavish observance of outward ritual and a simple faith in the finished work of Jesus; and exhorts them to cast out Hagar and Ishmael, which savor of the flesh, and to give themselves to the service of the Spirit, which stands for freedom, peace, and joy in God. Let us also guard against a religious scrupulosity and subservience to the outward, and cultivate a quick sensitiveness to the Holy Spirit.” F. B. Meyer

“The Arabs, the fiery sons of the desert, through him claim descent from Abraham. They have carved their name deeply upon the history and the faith of the world. But sensuousness and lawlessness are everywhere the stamp of the Ishmaelite. With high gifts and some generous qualities, such as attracted to his eldest boy the love of Abraham, their fierce animal passion has been the curse of the sons of Hagar. Mohammedanism is a bastard Judaism; it is the religion of Abraham sensualized. Ishmael stands forth as the type of the carnal man. On outward grounds of flesh and blood he seeks inheritance in the Kingdom of God; and with fleshly weapons passionately fights its battles.” Expositor’s Bible Commentary

“How the Galatians responded to the Apostle’s challenge, we do not know. But it has found an echo in many a heart since. The Lutheran Reformation was an answer to it; so was the Scottish Covenant. The spirit of Christian liberty is eternal. Jerusalem or Rome may strive to imprison it. They might as well seek to bind the winds of Heaven. Its home is with God. Its seat is the throne of Christ. It lives by the breath of His Spirit. The earthly powers mock at it, and drive it into the wilderness. They do but assure their own ruin. It leaves the house of the oppressor desolate. Whosoever he be, Judaist or Papist, priest, or king, or demagogue-that makes himself lord of God’s heritage and would despoil His children of the liberties of faith, let him beware lest of him also it be spoken, ‘Cast out the bondwoman and her son.’” Expositor’s Bible Commentary

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

 

The True Gospel is Reaffirmed to the Galatians Volume 18

Paul Agonizes over the Spiritual Condition of the Galatians

Galatians 4:16-20 Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you. My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you. KJV

As we concluded the last message or study in this great epistle written by Paul to the Galatian believers, we saw that Paul wanted to draw them back to the intimacy they once shared with him and had for him as a messenger of God. However, now because of the Judaizing teachers that have come in and taught them that they needed to add circumcision and observance of the Jewish Ceremonial Law to “faith in Christ”, they have become cold toward Paul. Therefore, Paul now askes them (in his letter) is it because he tells them the truth that they consider him now their enemy, who once they referred to as an “angel of God”. The English word truth Paul uses here is translated from the Greek word aletheuo which fully and completely means to be true in doctrine (teaching) and profession. Paul declares with this question that it is he that is speaking or writing and telling them the truth as it is from the Word of God and far from this making them see him as an enemy, but it is concrete proof that Paul loves them and cares for their spiritual condition as it is written in the Proverb here, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” (Proverbs 27:6).

These Galatians were headed down a dark spiritual road of legalism that would lead to the dead end of no intimacy with God the Father, no fellowship with God the Son, and no power (in their lives) from God the Spirit. It was the truth of the Gospel that Paul brought to them in the beginning that made them have such love and dear affection for him, but now they have allowed these Judaizing men to steal away their affections and they have done it under false pretense. Paul knew that these men only sought to “zealously affect” or the Greek word zeloo meaning to have warmth for them or desire for them or to earnestly covet them all for selfish motives and not from their sincere and earnest love for them. Paul means that these men came to these Galatians with the purpose of affectation, which means a deliberate pretense or exaggerated display. This is the manner the Judiazers were coming to these Galatians as Paul writes here in verse 17.

Paul wanted the Galatians to see these men for who they really were, so he un-masked their true purpose and desire toward the Galatians. Because Paul knew these men and their true nature and character as he proclaimed to the Corinthians with these words, “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15), he wanted also here with these Galatians to get them to see that their courting them was for the expressed purpose to draw them away from intimacy and fellowship with Christ Jesus our Lord through the Holy Spirit into the drudgery, draining, and damming ritualistic worship of God that was not worship at all. Bluntly, these men were doing the devil’s work as Paul proclaimed to them from the very beginning of his letter when he wrote, “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different Gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the Gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a Gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a Gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!” (Galatians 1:6-9).

From the very beginning of Paul’s letter to the point we find ourselves at right now we see, hear, and even can feel his agonizing over these Galatians as if his soul were being pulled in four (4) different directions north, south, east, and west until the extremely painful result of his soul being torn into four (4) separate pieces. Paul cannot stand by and watch this catastrophe go on any longer and thus we find him now intensifying his agony by speaking of himself as a metaphorical Mother to these Galatians telling them that he is “travailing in birth again until Christ be formed in them” (Galatians 4:19) and here we can feel his agony over their souls as he compares his spiritual pain to the physical pain a Mother experiences when she is in labor getting ready to give birth to a child. Likewise, Paul is in like spiritual pain and agony of soul over the wayward spiritual condition of these Galatians. Paul was so distraught that he was apart from them physically and saw that this letter was not enough to quench the mental anguish he felt over their spiritual condition. Paul finds himself perplexed being full of difficulty, confusion or bewilderment and utterly puzzled as how he can gain entrance into their hearts with the truth they once so fervently loved and believed.

My own Personal Note: Paul at this point in his letter is almost to the point of surrender, for it has appeared to him that neither his stern rebuke nor his tender affection to them has reached them thus far. Paul at this point in his letter has very little confidence in them or their spiritual condition and this makes him have a strong desire to be present with them in the flesh so that then maybe he could reverse the extreme damage the Judaizing teachers had produced among their Churches.

“One of the Marks of a false teacher is that he tries to attract other men’s converts to himself and not simply to the truth of the Word or the Person of Jesus Christ. A true servant of God does not ‘use people’ to build up himself or his work; he ministers in love to help people know Christ better and glorify Him. Beware of that religious worker who wants your exclusive allegiance because he is the only one who is right. He will use you as long as he can and then drop you for somebody else and your fall will be a painful one. The task of the spiritual leader is to get people to love and to follow Christ, not to promote himself and his ministry.” Warren Wiersbe

“Whether the Apostle’s entreaty prevailed to recall them or did not, we cannot tell. From the silence with which these Churches are passed over in the Acts of the Apostles, and the little that is heard of them afterwards, an unfavorable inference appears probable. The Judaistic leaven, it is to be feared, went far to leaven the whole lump. Paul’s apprehensions were only too well-grounded. And these hopeful converts who had once ‘run well,’ were fatally ‘hindered’ and fell far behind in the Christian race. Such, in all likelihood, was the result of the departure from the truth of the Gospel into which the Galatians allowed themselves to be drawn. Whatever was the sequel to this story, Paul’s protest remains to witness to the sincerity and tenderness of the great Apostle’s soul, and to the disastrous issues of the levity of character which distinguished his Galatian disciples.” Expositor’s Bible Commentary

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

 

 

 

The True Gospel is Reaffirmed to the Galatians Volume 17

Paul reminds them of their Affection for him in the Beginning

Galatians 4:12-15 Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all. Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. KJV

Paul now begins to reminisce, think back, and recall the past when he first met these Galatians and he affectionately calls them “brethren” harkening back to the very beginning when he preached the Gospel of Christ to them, even in great sickness and affliction. Many Bible Commentators have grappled with what exactly was this affliction Paul suffered when he first met the Gentile Galatians on one of his missionary journeys. Perhaps it was malaria as some suppose or some sort of eye disease that some suppose Paul refers to as his “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7), but I choose to do no such speculation because Paul does not tell us specifically what this “infirmity” was that caused him such great pain and suffering in his physical body. However, Paul writes now in this section of his letter begging or imploring them to “be as I am” and it is as we stated in the last message (that Paul still observed Jewish feast days) as documented from the Scripture (Acts 18:21), yet Paul now pleads with them to become as he is totally free from the slavish observance of the Jewish legal system, that use to be his life before he met Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul knew that these Jewish Ceremonial laws were rubbish or garbage compared to knowing our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ intimately as Paul wrote to the Philippian believers with these words, “Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision; for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:2-14).

Paul (as a Jewish Pharisee before knowing Christ) lived this slavish and futile observance of every requirement of the Jewish Ceremonial laws and he found that it never brought him closer to God, not even to God at all. Therefore, Paul wants them to be as he is now regarding the Jewish Law and that is to consider it as good because God gave it to the Jews, but in no way were they to seek to grow closer in their relationship to Christ by observing these laws. Paul wants to gain their full attention to his warnings of the Judiazers by reminding them of their strong affection and regard for him when they heard the Gospel through his preaching and were born again by God the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit had so poured out or shed abroad the “love of God” (Romans 5:5) in them that they did not despise Paul’s outward appearance due to his “infirmity”, but instead received and welcomed him as an “angel of God”, this work could have only been accomplished by the Spirit of God. Likewise it is only the same Spirit of God that can grow them in their relationship to Christ Jesus and not any Jewish Ceremonial Laws.

Paul wants them to know that he is not injured by their present rejection or turning away from the true Gospel or any of this present air of contention with him because he recalls what God the Holy Spirit worked in their “inner man” and “inner woman” and this is what motivates him to write this entire letter to them, the hard confronting parts as well as the compassionate loving parts as he wrote in like manner to the Corinthian believers with these words, “For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it--for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while--I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.” (2 Corinthians 7:8-10).

Paul wants them and him to meet again together in that same mutual love that they both once expressed for one another prior to these Judaizing men entering into the picture. Paul declares his love for them to be the same as it was from the beginning and it is out of this very love that this epistle is being penned to them (2 Corinthians 2:4). According to the account given of the Acts of the Apostles in Acts 13 and Acts 14, it appears that Paul had not intended to sojourn in the region of Galatia, but due to this crippling “infirmity” in his flesh he was rendered incapacitated, yet while there he then proclaimed Christ to these people and God the Holy Spirit did His work of convicting of sin, righteousness, and judgement (John 16:8) and salvation spread throughout this region, even when the Apostle Paul was so ill in his physical body. Paul reminds them that they were so overjoyed with their sins washed away by the blood of Christ and this new nature they had received from God the Holy Spirit through Paul’s preaching that they were willing to do anything for Paul, even if they needed to pluck out their own eyes and give to him, this is how deep their love and affection for Paul was at the very beginning of their relationship. Paul wants them to remember the beginning.

My own Personal Note: Paul could have left these Galatian believers to wallow in the proverbial “Ceremonial Mud”, but instead he recalled the love in Christ he once shared with these brethren and pouring out from that love he penned this epistle with rebuke, warnings, affection, affirmation, and would not give up on them until “Christ be formed in them” (Galatians 4:19), as we will hear him say in the next message. What great self-less and sacrificial love did he show to these Galatians who had been deceived by the Judiazers into feeling contempt for Paul.

“They showed a great deal of respect to him, he was a welcome messenger to them, even as though an angel of God or Jesus Christ himself had preached to them; yea, so great was their esteem of him, that, if it would have been any advantage to him, they could have plucked out their own eyes, and have given them to him. Note, How uncertain the respects of people are, how apt they are to change their minds, and how easily they are drawn into contempt of those for whom they once had the greatest esteem and affection, so that they are ready to pluck out the eyes of those for whom they would before have plucked out their own! We should therefore labour to be accepted of God, for it is a small thing to be judged of man’s judgment, (1 Corinthians 4:3). Time was when you expressed the greatest joy and satisfaction in the glad tidings of the Gospel, and were very forward in pouring out your blessings upon me as the publisher of them; whence is it that you are now so much altered, that you have so little relish of them or respect for me? You once thought yourselves happy in receiving the Gospel; have you now any reason to think otherwise? Note, Those who have left their first love would do well to consider, Where is now the blessedness they once spoke of? What has become of that pleasure they used to take in communion with God, and in the company of his servants?” Matthew Henry

“‘Because of an infirmity of the flesh’ (physical weakness), is the truer rendering of Galatians 4:13; and ‘your temptation in my flesh’ the genuine reading of Galatians 4:14, restored by the Revisers. Sickness had arrested the Apostle’s course during his second missionary tour, and detained him in the Galatic country. So that he had not only ‘been with’ the Galatians ‘in weakness,’ as afterwards when during the same journey he preached at Corinth; (1 Corinthians 2:3) but actually ‘because of weakness.’ His infirmities gave him occasion to minister there, when he had intended to pass them by. Paul had no thought of evangelising Galatia; another goal was in view. It was patent to them-indeed he confessed as much at the time-that if he had been able to proceed, he would not have lingered in their country. This was certainly an unpromising introduction. And the Apostle’s state of health made it at that time a trial for anyone to listen to him. There was something in the nature of his malady to excite contempt, even loathing for his person. ‘That which tried you in my flesh ye did not despise, nor spit out’: such is Paul’s vivid phrase. How few men would have humility enough to refer to a circumstance of this kind; or could do so without loss of dignity. He felt that the condition of the messenger might well have moved this Galatian people to derision, rather than to reverence for his message.” Expositor’s Bible Commentary

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…