Galatians
Study 7: 1:11-24
The true Gospel
(Part c)
4.
Not of fleshly consultation
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....immediately
I conferred not with
flesh and blood: neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were
apostles before me;
but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. Then after
three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him
fifteen days. But other of the apostles saw I none, save
James
the Lord’s brother. Now the things which I write
unto you,
behold, before God, I lie not. Afterwards I came into the
regions
of Syria and Cilicia; and was unknown by face unto the churches of
Judaea which were in Christ:
Gal.1:16b-22
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After
his
conversion Paul says
he did not confer with flesh. He
was
alone and learnt from God. Once a person is born again one of
the
biggest dangers is for others to lay down rules and
regulations
for them to follow. For example: read your Bible every day, pray
every day, and attend meetings here there and every where; make sure
you witness to people etc. Now these things are not wrong,
but
what is wrong is the imposition of these things as a law on believers.
Such legalism is a form of what has become known in
these
days as
‘shepherding’, heavy or otherwise makes no
difference, the principles
are the same. We are told plainly in scripture that the elders are not
to lord it over another, indeed Paul himself told the Corinthians that
he didn’t have dominion over their faith!
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The
elders which
are among you I
exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of
Christ, and also
a partaker
of the glory that shall be
revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you,
taking the
oversight thereof,
not by constraint, but
willingly; not for filthy
lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God’s heritage,
but being
ensamples to the flock.
I Pet.5:1-3
Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your
joy: for by faith ye stand
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Paul
did not
consult with flesh
and blood; instead he learnt from
God
Himself, we too have the privilege to learn from God. Indeed this is
part of the NC that we will learn from God:
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For this is the
covenant that I will
make with the house of Israel
after those days, saith the
Lord; I will put my laws into their mind,
and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they
shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his
neighbour, and every man
his
brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all
shall know me, from the
least
to the
greatest.
Heb.8:10-11
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This
doesn’t mean we can’t
ask for advice or help, but what it
does mean is that we are not to be dominated by anyone and certainty we
are not to seek to lay down the law for others. This includes so called
leaders in assemblies, whether they be called pastors, elders or
whatever. How many lives have been ruined, or wasted to use
Paul’s
word, by such wicked domination? Who knows? Let us make sure we are
neither a victim of, nor a guilty party to, it.
5. Change of
nature
and nation
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But
they had heard only,
that he which persecuted us in times
past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. And they
glorified God in me.
Gal.1:23-24
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Paul
had a
complete
transformation of life: what he once was he is
no longer. He
was a Pharisee of the Pharisees, totally against the cause of Christ;
yet now his life had been completely transformed and had become one of
its greatest apostles.
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Therefore
if any man
be
in
Christ, he is a new creature: old
things are passed
away;
behold all things are become new.
II
Cor.
5:17
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And
this is
what the gospel is
all about: when Christ is revealed
in us
and is formed in us we are born again: the very life of God
is
planted in us; our lives totally change. Before, we were dead in
trespasses and sin but God in His mercy and grace makes us alive by His
Spirit. We are completely changed in our lives. The point being that it
is a work of God, we were born again from above, no work of man or the
flesh accomplished that at all. Salvation is of God not of the flesh.
New birth is to be born from above, the old is passed
away;
clearly this means that our sin nature is dealt with and this includes
the old flesh religion. That is done
away it too.
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for
ye have
heard of my
conversation in time past in the Jews’
religion,
Gal.
1:13
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There
are two
things to note
here: firstly his
experience
of the
Jews’
religion was past. So on new birth Paul was delivered
completely from
the OC and its obligations, and remember he was high ranking
Pharisee;
in fact he counted it all but loss for the sake of Christ.
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But
what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Phil.
3:7
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So if
Paul
counted it all loss
and was delivered from it what was
the
need to return to the deeds of the law?
Secondly the phrasing of
Gal. 1:13 suggest that
the Jews’ religion is
something separate from true Christianity.
These
two
thoughts are important
to understand: being in Christ
separates us from our past life and the old Jewish religion has no part
of it, this is a key
thought of
this epistle. Indeed, in Christ there is no Jew or Gentile,
national boundaries are done away with in the Spirit.
Ye know that ye were Gentiles,
carried
away unto these
dumb
idols, even as ye were led.
I
Cor . 12:2
Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor
uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but
Christ is
all,
and in all.
Col. 3:11
For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for
the
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Phil. 3:20
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Our earthly nationality is of no consequence. We
can
conclude that
there are only three groups on the Earth: Jews, Gentiles and
Christian. As a child of God I am not a [physical] Jew nor a
Gentile but a Christian. One of the curses of Christianity is 'pride of race';
many
believers not understanding this truth believe patriotism is
the
correct attitude to adopt, the 'God
is on our side mentality' that does so much
damage to the
gospel message.
Regeneration changes us totally, not only is
our sin and self dealt with but also the springs from whence we come:
we are no longer of earthly seed but of heavenly seed. We are
no
longer part of this world's system and that includes
nationalism
in all its guises.
6. Concluding
thoughts to
Ch. 1
The Gospel then frees us from sin and self, and plants
the
life of
Jesus in
us and gives us a new nationality! It is all of
God’s grace and
is by revelation from Jesus Christ. Not one part of the gospel owes its
origin to the fleshly efforts of humans. It is all of God from start to
finish. It is God revealed, Christ centred and life
transforming:
tell me what work of the flesh can do that?
Nothing then of the flesh has any part in the gospel, we are not saved
by the flesh, and we certainly can not continue the life by fleshly
efforts. How can we, when we have been translated to the heavenly
realms?
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