Entrusted with the Gospel

Transcript

GR 2086
05/21/2017
Entrusted with the Gospel
Galatians 2:6-8
Gil Rugh

We are in the book of Galatians in your Bibles, Paul’s letter to the Galatians, the first of the smaller of the epistles as you move through your New Testament, after the Gospels, Acts, Romans, I and II Corinthians you come to Paul’s letter to the Galatians. We are reminded of the pertinence of what is being an issue, the Gospel and particularly the revelation that God had given to Paul.

A number of years ago a book was written that gained wide impact among Christians and much material was produced in connection with it. They had Bible studies and so on but this individual wrote in this book, “If anything is clear from the reading of the Bible this fact is clear, God speaks to His people, He spoke to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden in Genesis, He spoke to Abraham and the other patriarchs. God spoke to the judges, kings and prophets. God was in Christ Jesus speaking to the disciples. God spoke to the early church and God spoke to John on the Isle of Patmos in Revelation. God does speak to His people.”

Now so far we would say, okay. Then he goes on. “God does speak to His people and you can anticipate that He will be speaking to you also.” That would be in direct conflict with what Paul has been making an issue of in Galatians. God speaks to us today in His Word. He does not
speak to us directly the way He did to Abraham, the way He did to the prophets, the way He did to John on the Isle of Patmos as He communicated to him in what we have as the book of Revelation. This individual destroys the uniqueness of the revelation that was given to special chosen instruments and recorded for our benefit and goes on to say “God is communicating to His people in the same way today.”

He continues. “Does God really speak to His people in our day? Yes! God has not changed. He still speaks to His people. If you have trouble hearing God speak you are in trouble at the very heart of your Christian experience.” That is just not true!

Now it sounds like, well yes, we can say, “Yes, God has spoken to me in His Word.” This is a Word given to us. “All Scripture is God breathed and profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction in righteousness so that the man of God might be completely equipped,” thoroughly furnished for everything God has called him to do, ”for every good work” but God does not speak to me directly. He does not speak to you directly and Paul is arguing that he is one of those unique individuals that God had set apart to communicate His Word to and that is the issue in the book of Galatians, the uniqueness of Paul’s role as an apostle and one who has received direct revelation from God. It is not in direct conflict with other revelation. It does not put him in opposition to other apostles who have received direct revelation but he argues that he stands in a unique position. He writes to the Galatians and he reminds them that the message that he preached to them, he “had received directly from God.” It was a direct revelation.

Back in chapter 1, verse 11: “I would have you know brethren that the Gospel which was preached by me is not according to man for I neither received it from man nor was I taught it but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” But nowhere in this letter to these believers in the churches that he had established in the region of Galatia does he imply that they would be receiving direct revelation from God in the same way that he had. Rather he was arguing that the revelation he had received from God he had communicated to them and now in this letter, further giving them revelation from God. It is different than saying they should be expecting to get direct revelation from God just as he had. So this kind of influence that comes into the church is very damaging. God is not speaking to His people today in the way that He did in Old Testament times through the prophets for example or New Testament times when our Scripture was written. Now it is complete. We want to know what God has to say, we go to His Word and in that sense God is speaking today because as we read what He spoke through the Apostle Paul that is God’s message and the Gospel that he entrusted to Paul is the same Gospel that we proclaim.

This has become an issue. Judaizers have infiltrated the churches that Paul had established; constant problems in New Testament times. We call them Judaizers because they were Jews who had professed faith in Christ and yet had not really understood the truth of the Gospel and they were trying to make a hybrid that it is the message of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, Israel’s Messiah plus adherence to the Mosaic Law which was necessary for salvation and that is not the Biblical Gospel. Salvation never was through the Mosaic Law. Paul will go on to develop that clearly but now to try to make an added addition as we have noted the confusing thing for the churches is these Jews are saying they believe in Christ; all that is what we agree with so we have to be careful. It is not only what we agree on, it is what we disagree on that separates us.

So Paul has been defending himself and his Gospel and they go together because if he is personally discredited then the message he preaches will be discredited. If the message he preaches is discredited he is discredited. So they are so intertwined they can’t be separated and that is very important because that was God giving His Word to be preserved and recorded and passed down to us. It must be maintained in its purity.

In chapter 2 in these first ten verses Paul has been talking about the meeting he had in Jerusalem with the leaders of the church that were centered in Jerusalem, apostles and other key individuals over the very issue of the relationship of the Mosaic Law to the Gospel and that is recorded in Acts chapter 15. We call it the Jerusalem Council. That was after Paul had had an extensive ministry on his first missionary journey and had established the churches that he is now writing to in the region of Galatia. He is headquartered in Antioch, in the north. That is over 250 miles north of Jerusalem. We have looked at that on maps on other occasions.

Now individuals came from Jerusalem, Jews, and claimed that Paul did not have the Gospel right. They claim to have come from Jerusalem and so have true knowledge of what the original apostles like Peter and John and the leaders in that early church believed and taught.

Now it wasn’t a day where you got on the internet, obviously and checked things out, send them a text, find out is this true and that was a long trip to travel 250 miles in those days. It is not something you did in a day or two. That was a more extensive trip with a number of problems associated. There weren’t motels along the way and all of that. If you are going to walk that, you know, it was something of a trip. So this couldn’t be checked out easily so what the leaders in Antioch there which had become a center of Christianity you remember and Paul is there with Barnabas. He went out from there on his first missionary journey to Galatia and then came back there to report. They decide that Paul and Barnabas would go to Jerusalem along with some other key individuals, Titus one of them, see if there are any issues here. Paul is not going there to find out if the Gospel he preaches is correct but he is going there so it can be clarified. There is no difference in the Gospel we are preaching. Paul is preaching the same Gospel.

You know how rumors go and people can tell lies and they rattle around. In those days it was a plague on Paul’s ministry from the devil and it was difficult to settle down. So they go down there and that is the meeting he is talking about in chapter 2. He followed by saying “Titus was along with him and Titus is a Gentile.” We looked at Titus. We looked at these early verses. He was uncircumcised as a Gentile and he was not required to be circumcised. The leaders at Jerusalem clearly accepted that. They put no pressure on him to be circumcised.

The point he is making is the leadership in Jerusalem did not see the conversion of Gentiles as a conversion to Judaism which would require every male to be circumcised. For the Jews it is a non-issue because every Jewish baby was circumcised on the eighth day as we have noted.

We know that Paul is really strong on this. He sees those who have infiltrated the churches at Jerusalem, those who have come from Jerusalem are not genuine believers. That was clear in chapter 1 when he said, “Anyone who was preaching this kind of hybrid Gospel was not preaching the Gospel at all and they were anathema, cursed to hell.” It doesn’t matter if it is an angel.

The point is we have to declare the Gospel. We ought not to be confused and it is still confusing to people. You know error comes down and people say “Well, I think, you know, they seem sincere. They seem to have a point. I know them. I think they are trustworthy.” Things begin to get confusing.

Paul says this is the Gospel. It is the only Gospel. I don’t care if an angel comes from heaven and tells you something different. That is an angel on his way to hell. There can be no variation on this.

Now in verse 4 and 5 which we looked at last time he called them “false brethren, secretly brought in who sneaked in to spy out our liberty, to bring us into bondage. We didn’t yield to them even for an hour.” This is crucial so that the truth of the purity of the Gospel would be maintained. If the Gospel gets corrupted at this early stage what would we have down to this period of time? We have a pure Gospel to measure everything by. We have no excuse for confusion although the corruption continues.

So in verses 6-10 Paul is going to show how other apostles recognized the genuineness of his apostleship. They welcomed him as a fellow apostle. They encouraged him in his ministry. This is crucial because this is establishing that Paul’s Gospel is the Gospel. He didn’t get it from Peter but there is no difference in the Gospel that Paul received from Christ directly and the Gospel that Peter received. So they recognize he is a true apostle. His ministry is commended.

So we read in Titus 2, verse 6: “But from those who were of high reputation.” What they were makes no difference to me, God shows no partiality. “To those who were of reputation; they contributed nothing to me.” Now this sounds like he is putting them down. I don’t have any regard for them. That is not the point. Remember the point is he is an independent apostle. His Gospel came directly from God. This is crucial because he is going out into the Gentile parts of the world. If it is established that it all has to depend on the apostles that are going to remain in Jerusalem and focus on Jews, this will just never settle down; so those who were of reputation.

He picks that up from verse 2 where he said, “It was because of a revelation that I went up.” Again, he had received a revelation of the Gospel directly and God revealed to him it was His will that he go to Jerusalem and have this clarified clearly so that the leaders of which Paul will be one are in agreement and not allow others to come in and create confusion. “I submitted to them the Gospel which I preach among the Gentiles. I did so in private to those who were of reputation.” And so then verses 3, 4 and 5 are somewhat of an explanatory parenthesis. “I met in private with those of reputation.” We are ready to pick up verse 6: “But from those who were of reputation, what they were was of no difference to me.”

So verse 2 connects directly to verse 6 with verses 3, 4, and 5 explaining again why it was necessary for him to go up to those who had a reputation as the leaders. Paul deals with them respectfully. They are leaders but he makes the point that he is not lower than them. God is not dealing in a partial way. It makes no difference to me. These Judaizers came and they came as we are told in Acts 15 from Jerusalem. So they were implying they had greater authority and God had greater respect and showed partiality so truth was limited there to Jerusalem. That is a problem because most of those in Antioch can’t make that kind of trip in that day. You just can’t pack up and be gone for weeks. How are we going to settle this? Paul’s independent authority if he is going to be able to carry on a ministry in the Gentile parts of the world is a crucial issue. So he said, “It makes no difference to me.” I am not impressed.

Back up a couple of pages just in front of Galatians you have 2 Corinthians. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 11. You see here we are in the Greek part of the world now. He’s crossed over into Europe. Corinth is a Greek church that Paul established, a Greek city, but note what he has. He has an issue going here. Verse 5: “For I considered myself not in the least inferior to the most eminent apostles. Even if I am unskilled in speech I may not be as good a speaker,” an affluent speaker as some others but I am not deficient in any way in knowledge. The truth he had from God is the genuine truth. “I am not inferior to the most eminent apostles.” Because what do you have? I was coming around false apostles, deceitful workers. Verse 13, they are workers of the devil, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

So you see the genuineness of Paul, his apostleship. His message is crucial and so it has been established. So anyone who does check in Jerusalem Paul then did take the time to meet with them. So they could see that his Gospel was the same Gospel God had revealed to them.

While you are in 2 Corinthians you can look at chapter 12 and verse 11: “I have become foolish. You yourselves compelled me. Actually I should have been commended by you. For in no respect was I inferior to the most eminent apostles even though I am a nobody.” So you see when he says they had reputation but that doesn’t make any difference to me. He is not elevating himself. He is putting them all on the same level. We are all on the same level. We are nobodies and even the apostles aren’t superior in their spiritual character. We are all what? Slaves of the master. You know, it is not fitting that slaves would be deciding who is the most eminent, the most important. Slaves are what? To direct honor, respect to their master. So Paul says, “I am a nobody but I don’t come behind the most eminent apostles.” So he is not disrespectful to the apostles.

Come back to Galatians. In verse 6: “Those who were of high reputation” this is among men and this is what the Judaizers evidently are doing, claiming to be representing the leadership in Jerusalem. They are not. That is why Paul called them “false brethren.” That is why in Acts 15 Paul will not cut them any slack. It is a battle. We are not going to require circumcision. We are not going to require keeping the Mosaic Law. That is not the Gospel I received. We will see in a moment Peter saying “That is not the Gospel I received either. I received the same Gospel Paul received.” So there is unity at this early stage of the church.

God shows no partiality. So God is not impressed with Peter, partial to Peter as opposed to Paul. They are slaves of His. He picks them. He uses them. So Paul is not elevating himself in a wrong sense but he has to take a stand for the responsibility and ministry God has given him – to be honoring to God. I mean that is what a slave does. When the master says, “This is your responsibility and you carry this out.” He is not being humble if for some reason he doesn’t do it because some of the others say, “Oh, we don’t think you should do that.” He does it because the master told him to do it. And those opposing him aren’t true servants of the master. That is the debate that is going on.

God shows no partiality. That is repeated throughout the New Testament. You can go back to the Old Testament but just come over to Romans chapter 2. You see what Paul is saying here in the defense of himself in relation to the other apostles is emphasized continually.

I have a certain responsibility as pastor of this church but that doesn’t mean that God is partial to me and not to someone who doesn’t have near as visible a position. Well, “I will get some leniency when we go to the Judgment Seat that someone else won’t get” and that kind of thinking.

Look in Romans chapter 2, verse 11 and here he is talking about judgment. The Jews thought they were getting passes. They may have sinned too but we are not viewed in the same way Gentiles are. The Gentiles, they are sinners in a bad sense. We are sinners in a good sense. How do you make sense of that? So he reminds them in verse 11 of chapter 2 of Romans: “For there is no partiality with God.” Just because you Jews and we Jews, Paul being one, having the Mosaic Law doesn’t mean we will be judged less stringently than the Gentiles who don’t have the Mosaic Law. It is those who in faith respond in obedience to God, pleasing to God. There is no partiality with God. It is true the Jews had been given blessing but that didn’t mean now when they come to the judgment they don’t have to worry about hell because we are Jews! That’s what it came to in their thinking. No partiality with God.

Just after the book of Galatians is the book of Ephesians so jump over there, Ephesians chapter 6, verse 9 and this relates to what I referring to just a few moments ago. “Masters do the same things to them.” In other words, the way masters treat their slaves and slaves honor their masters. There is an equality, spiritually. “Masters to the same thing to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.”

So while slaves have a responsibility to their earthly masters, earthly masters have a responsibility to their slaves and believing masters and believing slaves both have to keep things in spiritual perspective. In relationship to our heavenly Master we stand on even ground, level ground. God is not partial to that physical master. That physical master spiritually is just a slave of his heavenly Master so we keep that in perspective.

It is true in the church. We have different roles we fill, different responsibilities given to us of God but God is not partial to one. Well he is much more important than me. It is not a matter of which slave is more so we keep in mind our role. That goes on through several New Testament passages, Colossians 3:25; James 2:1, I Peter 1:17 all talk about “God is not partial. God is no respecter of persons.”

Just come back to one Old Testament passage, Deuteronomy chapter 10, Deuteronomy chapter 10. Look at verse 17: “For the Lord your God is the God of gods, the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.” Sometimes even we as Christians if we are not careful, we slip into thinking, “well I am not doing what is right here but you know I have sort of made up for it over here” or “well you know, someone talking once said, ‘You know, sometimes pastors become experts in how serious other people’s sin is but they never see their own sin as so serious.’” That can become a danger for us. We somehow think God is not partial for each of us. I am just a slave like you are of the Master and when we have done everything He has told us to do He said what? “Just say we are unprofitable slaves because we have only done what He told us to do.” There is nothing exceptional in that. So that principle Paul is claiming.

Come back to Galatians chapter 2. “There is no partiality with God. Those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me.” He doesn’t say their ministry has not been used greatly of God but Paul didn’t get what he has from their ministry. This is crucial. It is not to elevate Paul. We saw in Corinthians he was willing to say, “I am a nobody.” He writes to Timothy and says, “I am the least of the apostles, I persecuted the church” in that sense. You keep that perspective but when it comes to revelation and authority from God, He cannot fail to be faithful to that. The truth he has received is the truth he is responsible to, so he carries this out, not because he is a superior person, but because he has been given a particular responsibility.

God shows no partiality. Those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me because why? “I received my information directly from God.” That is all he is saying. He is not putting them down.

Verse 7: “But on the contrary seeing that I had been in entrusted with the Gospel to the uncircumcised just as Peter had been to the circumcised” then you have that parenthesis and he goes on comparing his ministry with Peter down through verse 9 in that sentence, “So on the contrary.”

Up to this point Paul has emphasized the negative side. I didn’t get anything from them. The other side of that obviously, they didn’t get anything from Paul. This point regards the content of the Gospel but “Seeing that I had been entrusted with the Gospel to the uncircumcised.” What the difference is between Paul and he is going to use Peter, those of reputation he will mention down in verse 9, key leaders in the church at Jerusalem, James, Cephas and John. So now he is going to say, “What the difference is God has given to each of us independently the Gospel. But then He directed me to carry that to a certain group of people and He directed Peter to carry it to a different group of people.” So the issue is not what is the content of the Gospel? God entrusted the same Gospel to each of us if you will independently. So we compare it and it is the same Gospel. Then He said, “Paul you go to the Gentiles. Peter you go to the Jews with the same Gospel.” What the Judaizers are saying, “The Gospel is the Jewish message. You must be circumcised and keep the Law and with the coming of Christ you also must believe in Christ and His death, burial and resurrection.” In effect it is still Jewish.

So when you go to Gentiles you not only tell them about Christ you tell them about the necessity of converting to Judaism. So you have that hybrid Gospel. Oh but the Gospel is the same. Now I will carry it to Gentiles. Peter will carry it to Jews but when we sit down I am telling the Gentiles the same thing that is necessary for their salvation as Peter is telling the Jews. That is the point. “On the contrary seeing that I had been entrusted with the Gospel,” and that is a key statement for him and then you will see for Peter, “entrusted with it.”

The Gospel finds its source in God. All corruptions of the Gospel come from the devil and the devil’s servants, doctrines of demons. That is why in chapter 1 Paul said, “Those who preach that corrupted Gospel are anathema, been entrusted with the Gospel.” So it keeps it in perspective. It is not because originated something. It was given to him as a trust.

Come back to I Corinthians chapter 9, I Corinthians chapter 9, verse 17. Verse 16 for the context: “If I preach the Gospel I have nothing to boast of for I am under compulsion. Woe is me if I do not preach the Gospel.” Why, “For if I do this voluntarily I have reward. If against my will I have a stewardship entrusted to me.” Paul was always looking for ways to go beyond what God required of him. So that is where he goes on to say, “I didn’t take money for my preaching because I had the right to do that. I am looking for ways to go beyond what is required. I don’t have any choice. I have to preach the Gospel. God has laid that responsibility on me. It is stewardship entrusted to me.” So when I preach the Gospel I didn’t take any money from you, going beyond what God said I had to do. Paul is looking for that go beyond because you know this has been entrusted to me – what we want to note there.

Come over further back in your New Testament to Thessalonians, I Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 3, same kind of contrast that Paul is drawing. “Our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Gospel” so we speak. “Not as pleasing men but God who examines our hearts. We didn’t come with flattering speech” and so on. “We didn’t seek glory from men.” As we noted in our study earlier today with Ezekiel, you go tell them what I told you whether they listen or not and the fact is they are not going to listen but you tell them what I told you whether they listen or not.

Paul said, “I was approved by God to be entrusted with the Gospel. I had to be faithful to that and to the God who will examine my heart. I didn’t do it to please men.” We know Paul’s life and ministry. It was one of hardship because a lot of what he did was what? elling the Gospel to people who didn’t want to hear it. When all is said and done he will end up being executed. The people decided the only way we can stop him from telling us what we don’t want to hear is kill him but “he had been entrusted with the Gospel.”

You are back here, come over to Timothy, I Timothy chapter 1, verse 11 talking about the Gospel. Verse 11: “According to the glorious Gospel of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.”

Titus chapter 1, keep going, verse 3: “But at the proper time manifested God’s completed work of salvation provided in Christ, even His Word and the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of our God and Savior,” that constant. A trust was deposited with me as he referred to it in his letter to Timothy. The Gospel was deposited with me so to speak. Not only Paul but him in a unique way because what we have is what? It’s what was passed on to us with those who received it originally. How blessed we are that God in His grace kept them faithful to the purity of that Gospel. Now we don’t receive it directly any more but it has been passed down to us in the Word of God and in that sense we are required to be faithful as we pass it on to others just as we received it, going back to those who got it originally directly from the Lord.

Back in Galatians – Paul’s ministry was to the Gentiles. Peter’s ministry was to the Jews. So he said, “I was entrusted (Galatians 2:7) with the Gospel to the uncircumcised.” That is a way of referring to Gentiles because every Jewish man was circumcised because on the 8th day you were required to circumcise that Jewish baby boy. So you could refer to the rest as the uncircumcised. You are familiar with that. The Old Testament talked about the uncircumcised Philistines and so on. So it is a contrast between ministering to Jews and Gentiles. Just as Peter had been entrusted with the Gospel to the circumcised, Peter would focus his ministry to Jews and he notes. “He who effectually worked for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles.”

Come back to Acts 15. We have been here a number of times but note how this gets taken care of and Paul and Barnabas and they meet with these Jewish leaders particularly as he will say, “The pillars, Peter, James and John” key leaders leading the leaders in the church at Jerusalem. We met with them and the issue, verse 5 of Acts 15: “Some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up saying, ‘it is necessary to circumcise them, direct them to observe the Law of Moses.’” You note it says they had believed but in Galatians Paul said they were false believers, they were false brethren because verse 1 said; “Unless you were circumcised according to the custom of Moses you can’t be saved.” Thus the Gospel is anathema, not really the Gospel. So there is debate among this.

Verse 2 of Acts 15 as we have noted, Paul and Barnabas will meet with these privately and then there is the discussion that takes place then Peter stands up, verse 7 and what better spokesmen. You can’t get around what is the Gospel to the Jews and avoid Peter and the key role that he had among the apostles during Christ’s earthly ministry.

So for the Judaizers to claim to be representing Peter and the other leaders in the church at Jerusalem is going to be put to rest. “After there had been much debate Peter stood up and said to them, ‘brethren you know that in the early days God made a choice among you that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the Gospel and believe.’” Peter reminds them, “I carried the Gospel to the Gentiles first. My ministry had been to Jews.” Remember in Acts 10 God had to give him a special vision, the sheet lowered from heaven before Peter would have been ready to go. It if hadn’t been for that Peter is clear, I wouldn’t have come. He told the Gentiles that at the house of Cornelius in Acts 10. “I wouldn’t have come if God hadn’t made this so clear” by direct revelation.

So he said, “It was God’s intention that Gentiles hear the Gospel from me and believe it. And God who knows the heart testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit just as He also did us.” So their faith was evidenced. It was evidenced in the same way that the Jews, evidence that they had received the Spirit of God in Acts 2. They spoke with tongues. Not that that is a requirement all the time but it was when the Jews received the Spirit. He was when the Gentiles received the Spirit, confirmation. Note what he says then in verse 9: “God made no distinction between us and them cleansing their hearts by faith.” He makes clear the only way Jews could be saved and this was a result of his preaching the Gospel in Acts 2 to Jews and they received the Spirit, the Gentiles the same way but there is no distinction. “He cleansed their hearts by faith. Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?” We Jews and our ancestors never were able to keep the law. Salvation has always been by faith “but we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus in the same way as they are.” That settles it. There is only one way of salvation for the Jews and for the Gentiles and keeping the law is not a way for either one. When pushed Paul will develop this in his emphasis as we proceed through the book of Galatians. Everyone recognizes this.

When it all comes down, James then steps up in verse 19: “It is my judgment we don’t trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles but we write that they abstain from things contaminated by idols, from fornication, from what is strangled, from what is blood.” It is not a matter they have to be circumcised. They have to keep the law but certain things that would give special offense we ask the Gentiles believers not to do.

In other words the point is now not for the Gentiles, uh huh, we can do this, we do can that. No, we are not here to offend Jewish believers and there are certain things….. You don’t have to convert to Judaism, you don’t have to be circumcised, you don’t have to keep the law and this is the same thing Paul does with Christian liberty for example in I Corinthians, chapters 8-10, the use of the liberty; in Romans chapter 14, Christian liberty, eating foods, observing days. It doesn’t have to be the issue. Don’t make it the issue.

So be willing to yield your freedom in those areas. You invite Jewish believers to your home for lunch; that is nice. Don’t serve them ham sandwiches. You don’t have to do that. Give them peanut butter and jelly or something you know. So that is all he is saying here. We don’t want to trouble the Gentiles to do anything Jewish but be sensitive to Jews sensitivities and Paul writes that. He had to settle that in a Gentile church at Corinth, remember? Things sacrificed to idols, in connection with what did he say? “We all know that idols are nothing in the world.” So things sacrificed to nothing doesn’t change it. but knowledge just makes you arrogant because you have that knowledge doesn’t mean you have to go out of your way to antagonize so that is what he is saying with the Jews here. Verse 28 they write a letter and that is going to be circulated. This is what we have. So it is settled. There is no disagreement. So that is the background here.

You come over to Galatians again and Paul recognizes Peter and the uniqueness of his ministry so in verse 8 “He who had effectually worked.” Interesting here, the issue would have been the relationship of works to salvation and now Paul brings in that very word, ‘work.’ “He who effectually works for Peter and his apostleship to the uncircumcised worked for me also to the Gentiles.” So a reminder, it is not about the works that we do like we try to keep the law. It is God working in us that enables us to do the work of God. That is the key distinction. It is going to be an operation of God’s grace working in and through His people.

Come back to I Corinthians chapter 12, verse 6. Note what Paul says, verse 4: “There are varieties of gifts, the same Spirit, varieties of ministry, the same Lord.” So the variation God gives. Just like for Peter. He is directed to the Jews by God. Paul is directed to the Gentiles. Some have a gift of administration. Some have a gift of serving. Some have a gift of mercy. There is a variety but it is the same God working.

Look at verse 6: “There are varieties of workings but the same God works all things in all persons.” So what it is, it is the enabling power of God that enables us to do what is pleasing to God. That is different than saying we are trying to keep the law so that we can be saved. We are trying to do good things so that we will be acceptable to God. No, we as those who have been cleansed by God now indwelt by God are having His power enable and move us to do His work. That doesn’t mean I always feel like doing it but I draw upon the enablement He gives to do what He calls me to do. It is in His enabling. So there are a variety of workings but the same God is working is the point.

Down in verse 11, still in I Corinthians 12: “One in the same Spirit works in all these things distributing to each one individually just as He wills.” Remember we are all slaves in the master’s house. I want to learn to be content and do to the fullest extent of the abilities He has given me, fulfill the responsibility that He has entrusted to me and it is the Spirit working all these things. So it is not done in my own energy.

Jump over to Ephesians just after Galatians, Ephesians chapter 1, verse 11: “Also we having obtained an inheritance having been predestined according to His purpose (note this) who works all things after the counsel of His will.” Paul saw himself, his salvation, his life now as a result of God’s work. “We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works.”
Turn over to chapter 2, verse 10 of Ephesians. “We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works.” The result of our salvation is now, we are doing the work of God as He works in us enabling us to do what He had pre-planned for us to do.

Ephesians 3:20. We are not going to be able to get much further than this, “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works within us.” He is able to do far more abundantly than we would ask or think because it is His power working in us. It’s not, “What could I do?” It is what can He do in and through me? Think about it. He can use you to lead another person to salvation in Christ. How could you ever do that in your own strength and ability, bring a person to eternal salvation? But He works in and through you to do that.

Come to Philippians, that is our last verse we will do, Philippians 2 puts it together, verse 13, the end of verse 12: “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who is at work in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” So you pour all the energy and all the strength that you have to do what God enables you with His power to do. So it is not I just sit back and whatever God wants to do and if He wants me to get out of bed and get me to church He will get me out of bed, if not I will just stay in bed. If He wants me to prepare the lesson I will prepare it. If I don’t feel moved I will watch television. No, you “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” It is an awesome responsibility to be a slave in the house of God, to be entrusted with the responsibility that He intends to empower and enable you to do but there is the responsibility I have. I didn’t do it. I guess God didn’t want me to do it. Well maybe I was resisting what He wanted me to do because I didn’t feel like doing it. So that combination. So the work is important. What is in error is people move the works up front and it is incorporated as necessary as part of our salvation. It is a necessary result of our salvation but we are not able to do anything pleasing to God apart from the salvation He gives.

Paul wrote to the Romans, remember, “Those who were in the flesh (unredeemed people) can never do anything pleasing to God.” Those who are in the flesh cannot please God but now that we are in Christ, dwelt by the Spirit we are to have lives that are all about pleasing Him.

So there are works present because God is working in us but the works are not there as part of what is necessary for salvation. That is done by the grace of God. We will leave it there until the next time.

Let’s pray, Thank You Lord for Your working of grace. We are reminded we don’t receive direct revelation but we have received as what You gave as direct revelation contained for us in Your Word that we might study it, we might absorb it, we might take it in, we might meditate upon it, we might implement it in our lives. We have been saved by Your grace and with that salvation You have entrusted us with responsibilities. We are now Your servants, Your slaves to do Your will. You have gifted us to enable us to carry out Your purposes so that we can grow, we can contribute to others’ growth. We can bring this Gospel to the lost so that they might hear and You can use that Word in their lives to bring them to salvation. Lord may we keep in perspective the truth that we belong to You, that we serve You. May we be committed to the truth in all that we do in the week before us we pray in Christ’s name, amen.