If you would, go ahead and take your Bibles and turn with me to the NT book of Galatians. Today, we begin a new series. This will be a team-taught series by myself and other members of the Preacher’s Guild. I’m the lead-off batter, if you will. And my job is to put the ball into play, so to speak. And my goal today is to introduce you to this great book of the Bible… a book that has a particular focus upon God’s grace. 

Several decades ago, when C.S. Lewis was alive, there was a British conference on comparative religions. And experts from around the world got together to debate a particular topic. And the main subject they were debating was this: What, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith? 

So they began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? No, other religions had different versions of gods appearing in human form. Resurrection? Again, no! Other religions had accounts of returning from death. The debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis wandered into the room and asked, “What’s the rumpus about?” And when he heard in reply that some of his colleagues were discussing Christianity’s unique contribution among world religions, Lewis responded, “Oh, that’s easy. It’s grace.” Only Christianity dares to make God’s love unconditional on our actions. 

The title of our series through Galatians is “AWOL from Grace.” That’s a theme throughout this book. But in addition to studying grace, we will also be studying grace’s evil nemesis—legalism. If grace is Superman, then legalism is Lex Luthor. If Grace is Batman, then legalism is the Joker. If grace is the Chicago Bears, then legalism is the Green Bay Packers. Or vice versa.

Let me put it this way for those of you who don’t watch football or read comic books. If grace is a beautiful fabric, then legalism is mildew. If grace is a field of flowers, then legalism is the frost that kills it. Legalism stymies the efficacy of grace. And there is no way to mix the two together in our spiritual lives. They are like oil and water. 

One reason that legalism is so dangerous in the Christian life is because it masks itself as true spirituality. It’s a pretender, a faker. Some people mask their need for God’s grace in an endless list of “dos and don’ts” so that they have the appearance of godliness, but deny the power of God. Legalism creates an elaborate scheme of grace-avoidance, which is essentially God-avoidance.

For this reason and many others we are going to embark on a journey, starting today, of what you might call “grace-retrieval.” And the journey will involve two things. First it involves embracing the exclusivity of God’s grace as the remedy for sin. Ephesians 2:8–9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” And secondly it involves surgically removing any vestige of legalism as a means of dealing with sin. We don’t fight sin with legalism. We actually fight it with the same grace that saves us. Because the grace that saves us, changes us. More on that throughout this series. 

But today, my goal is to introduce this book of Galatians and work through the first five verses. Let’s get familiar with this ninth book in the NT and the forty-eighth book in the Bible. 

Coincidently this is the first book that the Apostle Paul wrote. It’s the first of his thirteen letters that are found in the Bible. On Sundays right now we are looking at 2 Timothy which was his thirteenth and last letter. On Wednesday nights, we’ll be looking at his first letter—Galatians. 

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So let’s get after this book today by answering six introductory questions: 1) Who, 2) What, 3) When 4) Where, 5) Why, and 6) How. Let’s start with the who. 

1) Who wrote Galatians? 

That’s easy enough. Look at verse 1.

1 Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 

2 and all the brothers who are with me,

When we first meet Paul in the NT, he is standing by approvingly as the saintly Stephen was stoned by Jewish leaders (Acts 7:58). Afterwards Paul is roaming the countryside looking to persecute Christians who he perceived as a threat to orthodox Judaism. 

Acts 8:3 says that this Paul (or Saul) was “ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.” But on the road to Damascus, recorded in Acts 9, the risen Christ appeared to Paul in a dramatic scene and asked “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Paul was radically converted after that encounter and became one of the staunchest advocates for Christ in the first century. God used Paul to write thirteen books of the NT, including the book of Galatians. 

And what’s interesting is that God used one of Judaism’s strongest legalists to write the definitive theological statement on anti-legalistic, grace-based salvation. Only our God could do something like that! Some have called Galatians “the Magna Carta of Christian liberty.” How interesting that this was written by a converted Pharisaical Jew and persecutor of the church named Paul! 

In addition to the Apostle Paul, I should point out that the book of Galatians was co-authored by the Holy Spirit. One of the things we believe here at VBVF is that all Scripture is God-breathed (all sixty-six books of the OT and NT). 2 Timothy 3:16 says that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” 

Now we also need to address another aspect of this first question. We need to know who wrote Galatians, but we also need to address to whom it was written. And Paul gives the answer to that question in verse 2.

To the churches of Galatia: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 

Now this is unique in Galatians. Typically Paul will write a letter to a specific church like the church in Corinth or the church in Rome. Or he will write to a specific person like Titus, Timothy, or Philemon. But here he writes to “the churches of Galatia.” That’s unique and important for understanding the historical context of what Paul is writing about here. We’ll get more into that in a moment. But make a note for now that he’s writing to “churches.”

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Here’s a second question we want to answer. 

2) What was the occasion for the letter of Galatians? 

In other words, why’d Paul write this letter? To answer this question, turn with me to the book of Acts. And let’s look at chapter 13. We’re going to let Scripture interpret Scripture right now, and we are going to set the stage for the book of Galatians. As I said already, Paul was converted to Christianity in Acts 9, and some years later in Acts 13, he was assigned by his home church in Antioch as a missionary to the Gentile people.

Acts 13:1–3 says, “Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.” 

By this time, Paul was a seasoned Christian, and God was sending him out to preach the gospel in other parts of the world. This was a fulfillment of Jesus’s Great Commission, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt 28:19). Paul’s obedience to the Holy Spirit led him on what’s referred to as the “first missionary journey.” This was an incredibly successful evangelistic campaign that saw many come to Christ and saw many churches planted in Gentile territory. The success was phenomenal, and you can read about what took place on that journey in Acts 13-14. 

When Paul got done with this first missionary journey, it says in Acts 14:26–28, “… and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. And they remained no little time with the disciples.”

 This was a time of great celebration. This was a time of victory for the Kingdom of God. But like any other movement of grace, Satan retaliated with his own brand of legalistic grace-aversion. I promise you this, wherever God is moving and working in the lives of his people, Satan is quick to mobilize his forces to squelch the Holy Spirit’s fire. 

We see this pattern again and again in Scripture. Whenever Jesus starts doing incredible things in Galilee or Jerusalem, the Pharisees are there to throw a wet-blanket on the party. And when Paul and Barnabas start to spread the kingdom of God to the Gentiles, Satan shows up too. 

This is evidenced in Acts 15:1. Luke writes, “But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’” Okay, so here’s what’s happening. Barnabas and Paul were busy preaching the exclusivity of God’s grace for salvation, and these legalists came in behind them and started preaching “Jesus + circumcision” equals salvation. 

Throughout this series, we’re going to be using the term “Judaizers.” What do we mean by that term? That’s these people. That’s Acts 15:1. “But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’” They were teaching “Jesus + circumcision” equals salvation. Or more generally Jesus + law obedience = salvation.

Let me just tell you right now, watch out for the “Jesus plus” people. Those who advocate for “Jesus plus good works” or “Jesus plus church attendance” or “Jesus plus legalism.” There is no “Jesus plus”; there’s just Jesus for salvation. And Paul and Barnabas knew this. 

Continuing in Acts 15:2–5, Luke writes, “And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, ‘It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.’”

At this point in time, the church was still in its infancy, and they had just recently, through Peter’s influence, begun reaching out to Gentile converts. This debate about circumcision and other legalistic requirements came to the fore in Acts 16, and God used Paul to emphasize the exclusivity of faith in Christ for salvation. This debate about circumcision and the conflict with legalists is the milieu in which Paul wrote his letter to the Galatian churches. 

Several years ago I got to preach through Philippians, another of Paul’s letters. Anyone who’s read that book is struck by how tender and pastoral Paul’s tone is in the letter. Paul wrote Philippians while suffering in prison. And that setting had a perceivable effect upon his writing. You could say the same thing for 2 Timothy which Paul wrote shortly before his death. 

Well Galatians was written at an earlier stage in Paul’s life when the purity of the gospel was at stake. One commentator said that Galatians is the angriest of Paul’s letters—it’s young Paul’s fiery defense of the purity of the gospel. And while I don’t think that Paul’s pastoral heart is completely absent in this letter, I would say that this book is more emotionally charged and aggressive than Philippians or 2 Timothy. Paul even sarcastically suggests that those who think that circumcision is necessary for salvation should go ahead and do us all a favor and castrate themselves (5:12). Paul even gets angry at the Apostle Peter in this book! We’ll get to that in a few weeks. So, yeah, this is Paul at his angriest in the NT. 

And let me just give you one more statement concerning this second question, “What was the occasion for the letter of Galatians?” Well this letter is Paul’s defense of the gospel’s purity in the church’s infancy. The church says “yes” to God’s grace and “no” to human striving and other forms of legalism. Paul was so exercised by the ways in which the purity of the gospel was compromised that he sat down one day, and wrote this direct, stern, gospel-defending letter to the Galatian churches. And it’s aggressive.

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Some want to know when this happened. In other words, 

3) When was this letter written?

Well most scholars date this first letter of Paul’s to around AD 48 or 49. Paul got saved around AD 34 after Jesus’s resurrection. He went on his first missionary journey around AD 48. And he went down to Jerusalem for the Jerusalem Council in AD 49. 

The best sense that we can make of the historical situation is that after Paul completed his first missionary journey in AD 48, some legalists came right after him to the Galatian churches and started persuading people to be circumcised in order to be saved. Probably as well, they told the new converts that they had to obey other aspects of the OT law in order to be saved. This infuriated Paul and he subsequently wrote the Galatian churches this letter. 

In terms of harmonizing the writing of the book of Galatians with the book of Acts, Galatians was written shortly before Paul travelled to Jerusalem to argue with James and Peter and the other Apostles about these issues. He may have written from Antioch, his home church. Or he may have even written from Jerusalem before the Council began. One scholar has even suggested Paul may have written while traveling from Antioch to Jerusalem! 

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Here’s a fourth question for us.

4) Where is Galatia located?

Now keep in mind, the Holy Spirit, as coauthor of this book, has a broader context in mind for this letter than just Galatia or the churches that Paul visited two thousand years ago. Churches throughout the world for twenty centuries have benefited from this book of Galatians. But there was an immediate context in which Paul wrote, and we see that in Galatians 1:2 when Paul writes, “to the churches in Galatia.” God’s Word is grounded in historical reality. This is not some fairy tale or a pseudo-letter written by Paul. There was an original audience in Galatia who read Paul’s letter. So the question remains, “Where is Galatia?” 

Well if you look with me on the map you can see here the entirety of the Roman Empire. The Empire basically encompasses all of the shores of the Mediterranean in Asia, Africa, and Europe. In the middle is Rome, the capital of the Empire. To the east you can see Jerusalem, the capital of ancient Israel. And north of Jerusalem, you can see Antioch. This was Paul’s home church from where he and Barnabas were launched out for their first missionary journey. Some have called Antioch the third most important city in ancient Rome behind Rome and Alexandria. 

When Alastair was little he loved looking at the maps in the Bible with me. And usually I would point out things to him like this: “Jesus lives here in Israel, and he died here in Jerusalem. And Paul is from Tarsus, which is over here. And Paul was part of the church in Antioch which is over here.” But then I would add things like this: “And also Baka and Deda (that’s Grandma and Grandpa in Croatian) live here in Croatia. And Uncle Dalibor and your cousins live here too.” 

And I remember seeing the confusion on his face. Because he didn’t quite know how to reconcile how Jesus lived on the map here (in Israel). But Grandma and Grandpa live here (in Croatia). But what I was trying to do is ground the truths of Scripture for him in historical and geographical reality. Just as assuredly as his Croatian relatives lived here in the twenty-first century, Jesus and Paul lived in regions close by in the first century. 

I’m trying to do something similar here today. I’m trying to anchor your imagination in the historical and geographical reality of the Biblical text. These things actually happened in time and space on our planet. 

Okay, let’s talk Galatia! Where’s that located? Well, if we zoom in on the north-east side of the empire, then we can see Paul’s first missionary journey more closely. 

Paul left his home church in Antioch and travelled to the island of Cyprus. From there he went to the cities of Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. At each of these cities Paul and Barnabas saw dramatic conversions of both Jews and Gentiles. People were coming to Christ due to Paul’s preaching, and the gospel was taking root in these foreign lands. 

But also in these cities, they incurred severe persecution. The gospel of grace is incredibly divisive, and some people are so addicted to their own legalism that they refuse to accept the message of grace. The worst of the persecution came in Lystra where Paul and Barnabas were stoned by the local population and left for dead (Acts 14:19).

 The reason I mention this story and these cities (Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe) is because these towns were in the region of Galatia. That was the name of the Roman province that encapsulated them. And the churches that Paul established in these cities are the ones to whom he wrote the letter to the Galatians. 

So if you see in your Bibles in Galatians 1:2, “The churches in Galatia,” think these cities! Think these churches—the churches in Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. 

And that might explain Paul’s tone in this book too. It’s as if Paul is saying to them in his letter, “I bled and nearly died to bring the gospel to you. And now you are trying to mix grace with legalism! How dare you!” It’s as if Paul is saying literally, “over my dead body are you going to pervert the purity of the gospel.” In Galatians 1:9, Paul says, “As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.” That’s pretty strong language. I told you that Paul is fired up in this letter. 

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Here’s a fifth question for us. 

5) Why the title “AWOL from Grace” for Galatians?

You might think to yourself, “Is grace really that important?” And “Is legalism really that big of an issue? Why’s Paul so angry in this book about this matter? What if people do have a “Jesus plus” mentality? Doesn’t that just mean they are doing more than they have to in order to be saved?” 

When I was at Moody, I took a class on world religions and Christian apologetics, and one of the things that we did as a class was take a field trip to some of the religious centers around Chicago. So we loaded up a bus and travelled around town for one of the strangest days of my life. In about an 8-hour time frame, we visited a Muslim mosque, a Hindu temple, and a Buddhist temple. 

Our first visit was to this Muslim mosque, which was in suburban Chicago by the way, not in the city. And in the mosque we got a lecture on Muslim soteriology from a Muslim imam. And this imam told us that in order to go to heaven, a Muslim must please God with good works. In fact he told us that at the end of our lives, God will add up the good things that we’ve done and the bad things, and if the good things outweigh the bad then we will go to heaven. 

Now I’m not sure how much that imam’s description of salvation lines up with the rest of Muslim thought, but his “gospel” was way different than the gospel recorded in Galatians. His gospel would actually be pretty funny, if it wasn’t so sad. Is God really determining our salvation by adding up our good and bad works to see if we have 50% or more good works? Where does someone find assurance of salvation in a scheme like that? What about human depravity? What about a remedy for sin? Where does God’s grace factor in? 

Now what alarms me is not that Muslims have it wrong and are misguided. Of course they’re misguided, that’s why they need the gospel. What alarms me is how many “Christians” adopt this kind of works-based system for sin management and atonement. For some Christians they seem to think that the gospel boils down to this, “I don’t drink, smoke, or chew or run with those who do!” Is that the gospel? 

No, the gospel is this. You are 100% sinful. Not 50%. Not 49%, not 51%, but 100% sinful. And in your sinfulness, God has made provision for salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ. By faith in Christ you can atone for sin and live for an eternity with God. It’s not a result of your resourcefulness. It doesn’t come to you because you are smarter or better behaved than somebody. It’s simply a matter of God’s grace. Nothing else! Paul says it this way in Galatians 2:16, “we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.” 

Martin Luther said it this way. “Trying to be justified by the Law is like counting money out of an empty purse, eating and drinking from an empty dish and cup, looking for strength and riches where there is nothing but weakness and poverty.”

So back to question four, “Why the title “AWOL from Grace” for Galatians”? I’ll give you two reasons for that. First, we need to protect the purity of the gospel. Salvation is by grace through faith alone. Nothing else! No “Jesus plus” soteriology. 

Not only that, but there’s a second reason as well. We need to kick legalism to the curb in order to magnify God and not ourselves. God gets the glory for our salvation. Legalism is self-aggrandizement. It’s “Look at me, aren’t I a good little boy or girl. I’ve earned my way to heaven.” No! God has no tolerance for that. Grace gives glory to God. It’s his work. He gets the praise. 

One of my favorite passages in Scripture is 2 Corinthians 4:5 where Paul says, “We do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’s sake.” When we preach legalism, we preach ourselves. When we preach grace, we preach Jesus Christ as Lord.

I think that legalism enables self-reliance and self-aggrandizement in us, but it also does something else. It enables self-delusion. Let me explain with an illustration from Phillip Yancey’s book What’s so Amazing about Grace? 

Yancey had a sociologist friend who studied among Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka. And these monks had agreed to follow the 212 rules of the Buddha. One of the rules required that the monks not carry money with them, but the sociologist noticed that the monks carried money with them to pay bus fares. The sociologist asked one monk a few simple questions. 

Sociologist: Do you follow the 212 rules of the Buddha?

Monk: Yes

Sociologist: Do you carry money around with you to pay the bus fair?

Monk: Yes

Sociologist: Do you know that the Buddha strictly forbids the carrying of money?

Monk: Yes

Sociologist: So do you still follow the 212 rules of the Buddha?

Monk: Yes

This would be funny, if it wasn’t so sad. And we could sit here and poke fun at Buddhist monks, but in reality westerners are guilty of the same games. 

One of the purposes of the law was to point out sin in the human heart, and there is futility in trying to fully comply with the demands of the law. But some people instead of admitting their sinfulness, they just deceive themselves into thinking they are fulfilling the law. They bend rules and they trick themselves or they gravitate towards their favorite rules and ignore the more difficult ones. All of this is an elaborate attempt to evade the truth that they are sinful beings in need of a Savior. 

But we don’t have to play those games. Jesus died for our sins, and there is great freedom in acknowledging our failure and falling upon the grace of God.

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And here’s a final question for us. Let’s answer the question how.

6) How do we receive God’s grace?

Well for those of you who don’t know Jesus Christ as your Savior, the first step for you is to accept the free gift of salvation given by God. The best way to turn away from legalism is to turn towards the grace that God offers you through Christ. 

You might say, “How do I know if I qualify for God’s grace? Well, here’s my answer. God’s grace is only available to sinners. So if you are a sinner, you qualify. If you’re not a sinner, then don’t bother.”

Martin Luther said, “God accepts only the forsaken, cures only the sick, gives sight only to the blind, restores life to only the dead, sanctifies only the sinners, gives wisdom only to the unwise fools. In short, He has mercy only on those who are wretched, and gives grace only to those who are not in grace. Therefore no proud saint, no wise or just person, can become God’s material, and God’s purpose cannot be fulfilled in him. He remains in his own work and makes a fictitious, pretended, false, and painted saint of himself, that is, a hypocrite.”

And if you want to receive that grace today, you can. Let me encourage you to do three things. First of all, admit your own sinfulness. Just tell God… tell him right now in the quietness of your own heart, “I’m a sinner who lacks the power to save myself.” 

Secondly, I’m going to encourage you to believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior. Believe that he, as God Almighty, came to earth to die on the cross as a payment for our sins, and afterwards he rose from the dead. 

And thirdly I’m going to encourage you to confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. From this point forward, God is in control of your life, and you are not. Confess your willingness to surrender to God, and then buckle up because God is going to take you places you never thought you could go. 

Paul alludes to this gospel of grace in his introductory statement. 

1 Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 

God the Father raised Jesus from the grave, establishing the victory over sin that we need. That victory isn’t achieved by our works. It’s achieved through faith in Christ’s finished work!

Also Paul says in verse 3, 

3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 

Paul doesn’t say, “Grace to you and peace from [the Apostle Paul].” Paul doesn’t say, “Grace to you and peace from [the church].” And notice how the deity of Christ is emphasized here. Paul never says, “Grace to you and peace from God the Father [and the archangel Michael].” Grace and peace are divine realities that are bestowed upon us from divine beings, namely the first and second person of the Trinity!

3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 

4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 

How are we delivered from this evil age? Not by works! We can’t even deliver ourselves from our evil selves! Christ Jesus had to give himself for our sins. Christ Jesus did the work. And so Christ Jesus gets the glory. Look at verse 5.  

5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. 

 For everyone in this room maybe some who have come to Christ recently or others who have been Christians for many years the battle with legalism rages on. And I want to invite you to do a few things in order to live a life of grace and not legalism. We can work on this together. I have my own legalistic demons to ward off from time to time, so we’re in this together. Let me encourage you all to take the following steps.

 First, make the study of God’s Word a top priority in your life. Now I know that this activity can turn into another form of legalism, but it doesn’t have to. God has given us everything we need for life and godliness here in his Word, and there is great joy and edification in searching out his truths. Do it because you love God, not in order to be loved by God. Do it because you are saved by grace, not in order to secure that grace. 

In addition to that I would encourage all of you to commit to being a part of our study of Galatians for the next few months. It’s going to be an incredible journey and there are so many rich truths that we are going to see in God’s Word, so come be a part of it. Some of you might want to sit down and read through the letter in one sitting to get the broad context for the book. I think that would be fantastic and extremely beneficial for you. If you miss a week or two of the series, no worries. Just catch up online!  

Let me encourage you to do something else as well. I would encourage you to take an inventory of legalisms in your life that you struggle with. This is a prayerful thing. Nobody knows better than you what you struggle with in terms of legalism. But I would encourage you to write down some of those struggles and ask God to break that cycle in your life. 

Maybe take that inventory to your small group and have your brothers and sisters pray for you about that? Listen, there is great joy in breaking the bond of legalism and rediscovering anew the magnificence of God’s grace. I don’t want anybody to miss out on that. There is a depth of joy and peace that we have yet to discover, that waits for us if we can purge legalism out of our hearts. I want that. And if you want that to, then let’s get started and let’s ask God to lead the way. A way that is paved by grace and not by legalism.     

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You might say, “We’re ready, Pastor Tony! Let’s do it!” Good. Come back next week, and Mitch Palermo will lead us through 1:6–10.