MPC, 16th April 2000.Deadly Deception
Galatians 3:1-14
Phil Campbell MPC, 16th April 2000.
YOU'VE BEEN CONNED...
I've got to confess, I don't often see those shows like TODAY TONIGHTor a CURRENT AFFAIR. Tracy Curro, Mike Munro, same old stories over and over again. And especially the stories about people who have been SWINDLED. RIPPED OFF by some CLEVER CON MAN. There's one every week.
Saw an ad for an upcoming episode the other day. A Woman in tears, talking about the con where it looks like some guy pretends to be in contact with people who've died. And just from the preview, I don't know if they showed this on Friday or it's coming up on Monday, but it looks like the guy reads the funeral notices, then tracks down the phone number of the widow. And then out of the blue rings her up, and says he has a message from beyond the grave. "Was your husbands name Brian? He says he passed over the week before last. There's a message for you...." For a PRICE. And people are SUCKED IN.
Or the other suckers recently who've been sending $45 to a world famous clairvoyant at the Gold Coast. Who it turns out doesn't actually exist. It's a post office box. And a couple of people clear the mailbox and send you back fake information. Which I guess doesn't make that much difference, seeing as even if the guy in the ads did exist, the information would still be fake anyway. But there are thousands of people, sucked in. At $45 a time.
Now when you see those stories - if you're anything like me - I reckon for most of us there are two things that go through your mind. The FIRST is to feel SORRY for them. Because they're so naive. INNOCENT VICTIMS. But the SECOND thought - at least for me is... "HOW STUPID CAN YOU BE? HOW COULD YOU LET YOUR SELF BE CONNED LIKE THAT? COULDN'T YOU SEE THAT THIS WAS A RIP OFF?"
Imagine thinking that you can GET RICH QUICK by signing over your life savings to someone you don't even KNOW. Imagine thinking some clairvoyant can tells you some hidden secret about your future.
It is BAD ENOUGH to see those things on TV but it is EVEN WORSE when you see it happen to someone you know - someone CLOSE to you, or a member of your family.
YOU FOOLISH GALATIANS
That FEELING - the FEELING of watching while someone you care for is being RIPPED OFF - is exactly the feeling Paul has as he's watching what's happening in Galatia.
And I'd have to say, the PASSION in what Paul's saying here, the STRENGTH and FEELING of his LANGUAGE - I don't think it's matched anywhere else in his letters. As you read it you can almost FEEL his frustration. As he's watching his friends being RIPPED OFF by the JUDAIZERS who we've seen over the past few weeks. Watching his friends while they're CONNED into TAKING ON THE OLD TESTAMENT LAW, acting like Jews when they're NOT JEWS AT ALL. And as he sees it, he can't believe it. Can't believe they'd be such FOOLS. And he uses the word. Twice. Verse 1. You FOOLISH GALATIANS. Who has bewitched you? He just can't believe they could BE SO DUMB. And again in verse 3. Are you so foolish? To start the RIGHT WAY... and then get so totally DERAILED?
THE EXPERIENCE OF THE GALATIANS
Because the point is, they'd been GOING SO WELL. And Paul can remind them of their history. It hadn't been long. Maybe six or seven years since he'd been there. Preaching the gospel, planting the church.
What's gone wrong? And so he's reminding them of what they've let go. The simple essence of the GOSPEL he preached to them. See it in verse 1? You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? BEFORE YOUR VERY EYES, Jesus Christ was CLEARLY PORTRAYED AS CRUCIFIED. Paul says, as I preached, I painted the picture for you, of A KING HAVING BEEN CRUCIFIED. The life of a ruler having been taken on behalf of his people. How much clearer could I have made it? The CRUCIFIED CHRIST.
And he reminds them... when you heard it and believed it, your LIFE CHANGED... because you received God's Spirit. When you heard it and believed it, back when I was with you, THINK BACK... the miracles God did to confirm the message. It wasn't because you took on THE LAW. But because you BELIEVED.
Follow it through in verse 2 and 3. Because this is important. That's how it happened. And it's good to notice, there are no secret techniques to being filled with the Holy Spirit. It's a package deal. When you hear the gospel and believe it, you receive God's Spirit. And your life starts bit by bit being transformed. Just by hearing... and BELIEVING. Verse 2. And he's saying to them, THINK BACK. I'd like to learn just one thing from you... Did you receive the Spirit by OBSERVING THE LAW? Or by believing what you heard? Which one? See, because when Paul was up in the North PREACHING TO THESE GALATIANS, he wasn't teaching them RULES. He wasn't telling them to TAKE ON THE OLD TESTAMENT LAW. He was PREACHING THE CRUCIFIED CHRIST. Who's taken the curse of the law on himself, EXACTLY SO WE DON'T HAVE TO. Verse 5. Almost the same words. Has God done what he's been doing among you because someone came and told you to keep some RULES? No way. It happened, says Paul, because you BELIEVED WHAT YOU HEARD ABOUT THE CRUCIFIED CHRIST.
So what a crazy thing to be doing what they're doing in verse 3. As if you BEGIN with the Spirit, then move on to doing everything by human effort. As if you're JUSTIFIED by hearing and believing, then you somehow have to FINISH OFF THE JOB by trying really hard to keep the law. Now can I ask you to think through with me, and I'm not in a position to say one way or another - but I wonder sometimes if that's what so many generations of PRESBYTERIANS have done.
Because I heard one Queensland colleague who was saying what a great RELIEF IT WAS... when he finally got it right. Even after he'd been though Bible College, and been in ministry for years. Weighed down by the feeling that he wasn't quite up to standard; wasn't quite working hard enough at keeping the LAW. When he realised... it's not just CHRIST CRUCIFIED who saves you at the start, and then LAW AFTER THAT. That it's not JUSTIFIED BY JESUS, and then SANCTIFIED, somehow MADE HOLY trying to keep the law. It's trusting Jesus ALL THE WAY.
Paul says if we've fallen for the idea that you start with the Spirit and you finish by doing your best to keep the law, you've been CONNED. And as I said to someone the other day, if you look at it the other way, you know, don't you... in a positive sense... the sort of Christians we look at, who we admire as being mature in the faith, that we look at and catch a little glimmer of Jesus... it's not because they've done such a good job of KEEPING THE LAW. But because they're living by the SPIRIT. Showing the FRUIT OF THE SPIRT that we'll see in chapter 5 in a few weeks time. After beginning with the Spirit, don't think somehow that then it's a matter of taking on the Law.
And if you want proof of that, says Paul, take a look at ABRAHAM.
THE EXAMPLE OF ABRAHAM
Now remember, what's going on is that these Christians in Galatia, they're being told they've gog to turn back the clock and become JEWS... before they can really be Chrisitans. To take on the Old Testament Law. The law of Moses.
So at this point Paul does an interesting thing. And appeals to a HIGHER AUTHORITY than Moses. When Marion Gabbott was here a few weeks back I heard her say to someone, I can SAY TOUGH THINGS TO YOU because I'm 60 and you're 30. I've been around longer.
Well, it's the same here. Because if you know your old testament history, Paul winds the clock way back beyond MOSES. All the way back to the BEGINNING of Israels history. To Abraham. The Father of them all.
When you read Abraham here, keep that in mind. He's not just a random example. He's honoured as the FOREFATHER of the people of Israel. He's the one God ORIGINALLY SPOKE TO... and made the promises that lead all the way to JESUS.
And so the JUDAIZERS, these CON MEN who are leading the Galatians astray, they want to HONOUR ABRAHAM. They'd use his name with PRIDE. CIRCUMCISION was Abraham's sign. To mark his descendents out as different.
So here's the CON. Here's what they're saying. That in order to be a TRUE FOLLOWER OF JESUS they needed to become DESCENDANTS of ABRAHAM - which happens by BEING CIRCUMCISED and TAKING ON THE OLD TESTAMENT LAW.
Well, see what Paul says. He says, LOOK AT ABRAHAM. Consider Abraham. But look a bit DEEPER. Because TRUE DESCENDANTS OF ABRAHAM are NOT those who OBEY THE LAW - it's not just about being CIRCUMCISED. And here's what the scriptures have been saying all along. Have a look at verse 6. Consider Abraham... he BELIEVED GOD, and it was CREDITED TO HIM... as RIGHTEOUSNESS. In other words, HE WAS JUSTIFIED. Abraham BELIEVED GOD... when God promised him salvation.... and God counted him as RIGHTEOUS. Not because he kept the law. Back then there wasn't any law. That came later.
So get this right. Abraham is DECLARED TO BE OKAY WITH GOD on the basis of FAITH. Seems too easy, doesn't it? No rules. No rituals. Just TRUSTING GOD'S PROMISES. Abraham is declared to be RIGHT WITH GOD not because of anything he DOES... but because of WHO HE TRUSTS.
And when it comes to marking out who's in the REAL FAMILY OF ABRAHAM, that's the family CHARACTERISTIC. It's not circumcision that makes you a CHILD OF ABRAHAM. Not religious ritual; not keeping the rules. The Ten Commandments hadn't even been GIVEN THEN. The family marker is FAITH: Believing the message from GOD.
That's what Paul's saying in verse 7. Understand then, that those who BELIEVE are children of Abraham. The scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith - it's been there all the time - and announced the GOSPEL in advance to Abraham - when God said to him, ALL NATIONS will be blessed through you. Not just the Jews. ALL NATIONS - which means places like Galatia. Or China. Or Ambon. That little island of Indonesia. Or Australia. Right from the start, when God grabbed Abraham and said I'm going to reverse the curse of sin that's been on the world since Adam and Eve chose REBELLION, I'm going to reverse the curse on the world that's been there ever since HUMANKIND decided to rule for themselves. I'm going to reverse the curse, starting with YOU. And then your descendents ISRAEL. And then THE WORLD. I'm going to count people RIGHTEOUS BY FAITH. All nations will be blessed through you. So verse 9, those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
Which is exactly what the Galatians have done already. Heard the message of Christ crucified. And BELIEVED IT. Which makes them 100% children of Abraham already. Without taking on the Old Testament law.
DON'T BE FOOLED BY HALF THE TRUTH
But it's not that easy, is it. Because what about what the REST OF THE BIBLE says? See, here's the problem. Someone might want to quote to you from the Old Testament; a verse like Deuteronomy 27 verse 26 that Paul quotes here. I've seen ads in the Courier Mail by a religious group that quotes verses exactly like this one, and says you'll face GOD'S CURSE if you don't keep the proper Sabbath. And I bet that sect in Uganda did as well - the movement for the restoration of the Holy Ten Commandments. Verses that say exactly what Paul's quoting in verse 10 - "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to DO EVERYTHING WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW."
And so you'll say, GEE, I'd better DO IT. If I want to be HOLY, I've got to read the Old Testament law and start DOING IT.. And I guess the guys back then who were saying you had to take on the Old Testament Law were waving this one around. The BIBLE SAYS... and it's true. The bible DOES SAY... Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do THE LAW."
The bit Paul's quoting from Deuteronomy, if you want to have a look at it sometime, Deuteronomy 27 verse 26, and the interesting thing is, Paul actually says it a TINY BIT DIFFERENT. By combining it with the very NEXT VERSE. It's Moses talking - and he's just given Israel their law. And he says, CURSED IS THE MAN who does not uphold the words of this law BY CARRYING THEM OUT. And then the NEXT VERSE says this. If you FULLY OBEY the Lord your God and carefully follow ALL HIS COMMANDS that I give you today, then the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.
Now did you spot the issue. Cursed if you don't. Blessed if you do. And the key word is - ALL OF IT. Somehow we've got this idea with the Old Testament Law that you can section it up. Mark out the bits that Christians are meant to be keeping, and the bits we're not. Paul doesn't do that. And as he brings these two verses together, that's his point.
See it again. And keep in mind the law's a bit like a course of anti-biotics. Simply in the sense that once you start taking them, you've got to have the WHOLE COURSE. Ever read the bottle? That's what they say. Once you take the first one, you've got to take the LOT. Verse 10. All who rely on observing the law are UNDER A CURSE... for it is written, cursed is everyone who does not continue to do EVERYTHING written in the book of the law."
Can't just pick and choose. If you're going to take on the LAW, you've got to take the WHOLE COURSE. And the point is, just like ISRAEL FAILED and faced God's curse, YOU WILL AS WELL. And you know what's making the Galatians look even MORE LIKE FOOLS? The CURSE Moses was talking about, it's been POURED OUT ON JESUS ALREADY. That's what he DIED FOR.
Because while it's true to think of Jesus as representing you and me today, first and foremost as the MESSIAH OF GOD'S PEOPLE, Jesus was standing in FOR THEM. And the curse of the law, the curse that came from not keep everything that was written in the law, that's the CURSE HE'S PAYING FOR AT THE CROSS.
And the old testament scriptures foreshadowed THAT as well. Paul says nobody gets right with God by the law. Law's based on DOING. Whereas righteousness has always come by TRUSTING. Believing. Like Abraham. And he says, CHRIST HAS REDEEMED US ISRAELITES from the curse of the law; that's the whole point of what he was doing. Collecting up all the Deuteronomy curses, taking the curse for not keep the law on himself. In a way that the law talked about. That the one under God's curse was put to death, hung up on display on a tree. Verse 13. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a CURSE FOR US, for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." The ultimate public disgrace. The ultimate humiliation. He's taken it. Which means the curse of the law that hung over Israel has been taken away. So why go back?
It's like they've got their timing all wrong. Wanting to go back to the law... when after all these generations the law's just run its course. Paul says, He redeemed us, in order that the blessing promised to Abraham, the promise - might come to the Gentiles THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. So that by faith... we might receive the promise of the Spirit. Jews and Gentiles... all on exactly the same footing. Not Jews under law and Gentiles under Spirit. But all... changed hearts. Keen to serve God from the INSIDE - without the crushing load of law on the OUTSIDE.
You know, I was in Singapore just before Christmas, on the way to South Africa. And if ever there's a place that's STIFLED BY LAW, it's Singapore. Laws against littering, laws against loitering, laws against CHEWING GUM. Everything clean, mechanical. Except my friend David Burke who lives there was telling me, underneath all the law and order PEOPLE RESENT IT. They're not obeying from the HEART. They're obeying because THEY HAVE TO. And he said, the proof of that was when somebody realised there was no law against URINATING IN LIFTS. So people started doing it. He said, you'd go into a building, you'd get in the lift, the smell was terrible. Silent protest. Until, of course, the government took action. And passed a law - against urinating in lifts.
Laws can change what YOU DO. But they can't change WHO YOU ARE. Which is something only THE SPIRIT CAN DO. And the prophets were pointing forward to it for hundreds of years. The day the Spirit would come. Bring change on the inside. And Paul says, the day has come. The promised Spirit. Here at last.
So don't be CONNED. Did you receive the Spirit by OBSERVING THE LAW? Of course you didn't. You received the Spirit by BELIEVING WHAT YOU HEARD... about the CRUCIFIED CHRIST. The law doesn't bring the Spirit. The law can only bring CURSE. God's punishment.
Now again... this is what the scriptures are saying. And it's clear, isn't it, we need to understand there's a PROGRESSION... from the Old Testament and Israel... to the Galatians. And US. And that the things that were said to Israel, we make a great mistake if we taken them on board and apply them to US... before we see they were pointing to JESUS.
And how many generations of Christians HAVEN'T UNDERSTOOD THAT? And lived under the fear that somehow they mightn't be QUITE GOOD ENOUGH... to be accepted by God. That somehow they mightn't be quite RIGHTEOUS ENOUGH... to make the grade. Or even worse... convinced they WERE... and so could look down their noses at everyone else. Who didn't quite make the grade. People like that, Paul's got a word for them, hasn't he. And the word is FOOL. That you'd fall for the greatest con-job of all time; and trade the freedom and joy of the gospel, for a treadmill going nowhere. Trying and trying. Never quite getting there.
Let me give you a couple of quick tests to see if you've been conned. The first thing you'll find is you'll want to say BUT. You'll say that's all very well what Paul's saying, BUT... but you've got to get the balance. BUT you've got to keep PARTS OF THE LAW. BUT that's not what I heard when I was a kid. And I want to say on our way through Galatians, try to hear what Paul's saying. Before you say BUT.
Here's another one. You'll be measuring yourself by a SET OF RULES. That you'll be wanting to put on OTHER PEOPLE as well. And you'll never be quite sure you're going to make the grade with God. And it will irritate you when other people have a quiet sort of CONFIDENCE. That you don't have.
Test number 3. You might find there's a HARSHNESS about your view of the Christian life. And that instead of being SOFT OF HEART, you'll find when you look inside there's something cold and hard and legalistic and critical.
It's a terrible thing to be taken advantage of, isn't it. Lead astray. Make sure you're not. By working hard at thinking this stuff through. Because it's the very heart of the gospel. And above all else, keep your eyes on the centre... Paul says, "before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as CRUCIFIED." And only fools look anywhere else.