November 24, 2021 – Galatians 1:1-24

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed! As we have said before, so now I repeat, if anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed! Am I now seeking human approval, or God’s approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ. For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles…” Galatians 1:6-16

John Piper, American Reformed Baptist minister and author told his congregation in 1983 the reason he had “chosen to preach from Galatians over the next several months is that more than any other New Testament letter, this one is alive. I mean that in Galatians Paul is at his most vigorous. The sheer emotional force of the book has captured me again and again over the years. You can’t read the first ten verses without feeling that something utterly important is at stake. You can’t read Galatians and think, “Well this is an interesting piece of religious reflection”—any more than you can examine a live coal with your bare hands. “

Galatians lifts up two things of which we should take notice: the need for the cross of Christ to get right with G-d, and the need of the Spirit of Christ to obey G-d. Anything that diminishes Jesus Christ is anathema to Paul. Anything that puts our own efforts in place of the presence of the Holy Spirit is also anathema. And the reason Paul begins with such an immediate punitive tone is that someone had convinced the Galatians to ignore the role of the Holy Spirit in their faith and instead to put the works of law where faith in the cross belonged. And my friends, Paul is just getting started with the church in Galatia.

Let us pray:

Lord Jesus, help us to remember that it is not by works that we are saved, or by works that you will come to love us. Help me instead to remember that it all depends upon faith – faith in the Gospel we hear, we read, and we receive through the sacraments. Amen.

Pastor Dave