Don’t Rebuild That Wall!

The Apostle Paul had established churches throughout the province of Galatia in what we now know as Turkey.  Whether it was southern Turkey or northern Turkey is up to debate but we know that that these churches were relatively close to Paul’s hometown of Tarsus. These churches were dear to Paul not only because of their location but because of their enthusiastic acceptance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the working of the Spirit of God and the mercy and grace of the Father.  They had been set free by an obedience that came through faith.

But then, some Jewish believers from Jerusalem came through Galatia. These Jewish believers had been raised in the Jewish tradition and were proud of their strict adherence to the Jewish law.  Now that they had been convinced that Jesus was the Christ and acknowledged that salvation came through faith in Jesus dying on the cross and having been raised from the dead, they had a dilemma.  What about all those years they had spent following the law? Following the law was part of being a good Jew.  Just because a Jew had become a Christian he didn’t stop being a Jew therefore if following the law was part of being a good Jew then of course it must continue.

Now what about these Gentile sinners? How could Gentile sinners become Christians without having to first adhere to the Jewish law?  How could Gentile sinners get off easier than Jewish believers?  Jesus was a Jew.  How could a believer be a believer without being a Jew or at least by following the Jewish law?  Who was this man who was telling Gentile sinners that all that mattered was listening with faith? Who is this Paul?

Paul was not part of the Jerusalem church.  In fact when he first visited Jerusalem as a Christian following his encounter with Jesus in Damascus he was run out of town.  Prior to his encounter with Jesus he was dragging Christians back to Jerusalem to have them imprisoned or killed.  What authority did this man Paul have to tell these Gentile sinners that they could live in the freedom and joy of the Spirit, being changed from the inside out by the Spirit?

In the self righteousness of a good Pharisee these Jewish believers insisted that the Galatians believers follow the Jewish law in order to prove that they were really saved.  Ignoring the works of the Spirit and the transforming hearts of the believers, they demeaned Paul and exalted themselves above him based on their heritage and their behavior.

Sometime in the early to mid 50’s A.D. while in either Tarsus, Antioch, Ephesus, Athens or Corinth Paul is informed that his precious churches have been infected by this insidious heresy.  He is understandably upset with the Jewish believers whom he has never met but he is astonished with the Galatian believers to whom he has poured out his spirit, soul and strength.  He cannot believe they have fallen prey to such a foolish exchange.  He cannot believe that have rebuilt the wall!

In his letter to the churches in Galatia Paul, in response to the Jewish accusations, says, “We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners.”  He tells us in another letter that he was in his pre-Christian days “as unto the law, perfect.”  He understood the law but now he understands its purpose.  As he had clearly explained to the Galatians, the purpose of the law was always to show us our utter sinfulness and our need for a savior who rescues us from the wrath of a perfectly righteous and holy God.  When the Galatians had listened attentively to the message of the Gospel (The wrath of God is justifiably on everyone because all have sinned and continue to fall short of the glory of God but in His mercy and love God in the person of His Son Jesus Christ came to earth as a man, lived a sinless life in perfect communion with the Father, became all of the sin of the whole world, died on the cross as the payment for those sins, and was raised from the dead by God the Father after three days as the ultimate proof that He was who He claimed to be, the Son of God, in order that all who by hearing with faith are persuaded that in believing they are made the righteousness of God and the children of God who will live with Him forever) they received the Spirit of God and were changed from the inside out into the children of God who walked in the freedom and truth of God’s mercy and love.  God’s love compelled them to first love Him and then love one another as they loved themselves.  The love of God had allowed them to move beyond the wall of the law and as they did it crumbled because it had completed its work.

But now the Jewish believers had bewitched them and convinced them to rebuild the wall of the law.  As they began to focus on the law, the law simply convinced them of their sinfulness and life, joy, hope and growth vanished being replaced by enslavement, fear and guilt.  Paul writes to them, ” You foolish Galatians”, “I am astonished how quickly you are deserting the Gospel”, “Who has bewitched you”, “If you rebuild what you have torn down, you prove you are a sinner once again”, “If righteousness is possible through the law then Christ died for nothing!”, “Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?”, “Are you so foolish, having begun with the Spirit are you now being perfected by the flesh?”, “For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse”, “The righteous shall live by faith”, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons”, “and because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying Abba (Daddy) Father!” “So you are no longer a slave (in need of a wall) but a son, and if a son then an heir through God.”

Don’t rebuild that wall.  The Holy Spirit is now your guardian and God has written His law on your heart.  Let the Spirit change you from the inside out as your listen attentively with faith and you will walk out His ways in His strength and in His time.  He has prepared good works for you to do in advance and He will accomplish His purpose in you and through you. “It is no longer I who lives but Christ who lives in me.”

 

 

 

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