No. 37. >> I've given a lot of thought to the future of our little congregation here in eastern Wyoming. Paul seems to be making statements about the future in Galatians 5. What does the future of the Galatian congregation look like from Paul's perspective? >>DR. ARTHUR A. JUST, JR.: Boy, this is so important to recognize that we need to think about the future. And even though we live kind of in past, present and future as Christians, we need to live knowing about what we have in Christ and that it's already ours. Now, this is what Paul is doing here. And this is what you need to do with your congregation in Wyoming. You need to make some is statements to them about realistic reality in the future. Real life in the future. Real life in the future is defined by Christ. And Paul here is going to be making realistic statements about the future of the Galatians if they are a community that lives in Christ. Now, I'm going to say something here that's extremely important. When we now go forward into this, you must see that Paul is not addressing individuals. He's addressing communities. He's talking to the church. And that's the case in all of his epistles. We are such an individualistic world that we tend to look at what Paul says and take it personally as being addressed to us. Certainly individuals are involved. But he's talking to communities here. So when he talks about the fruits of the Spirit, he's not talking about them in individuals, even though they manifest themselves in individuals. He's talking about the fruits of the Spirit as they manifest themselves in corporate communities, in communities. Now, starting in Verse 2 through Verse 12, Paul is going to throw a lot of impressive images at us. He's going to use images that are very common to life. And that's good. That's a good preacher. These are images that anybody can identify with. For example in Verse 4 he's going to talk about losing our footing. Falling. And you know how when you're falling, you lose sense of reality. He's going to say: Don't do that. Christ will ground you. In Verse 7 he's going to talk about running a race. That's a very common image in Paul. In Verse 9 he's going to talk about leaven and that's very common in the gospels particularly in the teaching of Jesus. And he's talking about now a world that is post cross, post resurrection. And post law. That if the law has in fact been brought to fulfillment in Christ, then Christ is what defines the world, not the law. So look at how he begins this section. He says: Look. You know, another imperative. I, Paul, am saying this to you. If you accept circumcision -- and I think the one to translate this is if you make circumcision the center of your reality, then Christ avails you nothing. Now, these are high stakes. You can either go with Christ. Or you can go with circumcision. If you're going to define your world, if your realistic life in the future is going to be defined by circumcision then Christ is out of the picture. He avails you nothing. Yeah, this translation says: Christ will be of no advantage to you. Now, those are high stakes. And he is saying very clearly that there's two ways here. And then in Verse 3, he continues this. He says: I am testifying to you that everyone who accepts circumcision, then he is obligated to keep, to do, the whole law. Now, this is a truth that we have seen before. This is the way it is. You can't just pick and choose in the law. If you're going to go with the law, you've got to go with the whole thing. If you join the Mafia, you're in it for life. That's just the way it is. And I think he's saying a truth here that flies in the face of what the opponents are saying. You can pick and choose. Pick the laws you want. We'll give you the ones we think are absolutely necessary. You don't have to worry about those other things. But Paul says no. You go into prison, you know, debtor's prison, you're never going to get out. This is where they lock the door and throw away the key. Now, that's just the way it is. And he said that's reality. That's a realistic statement to you about the future if you go the way of circumcision. But then he keeps going on. In Verse 4 he says this: You are severed from Christ. You who want to be declared righteous by the law. You have fallen away from grace. Now, I think that language of severed from Christ is the language of circumcision. If you cut off the foreskin of the flesh, you have cut yourself off from Christ. If that's the way you want to be justified. And if you are, you are losing your footing in Christ. You're falling away from Christ. Now, that's a frightening thing. I don't know if you know this but there are three things in the world that are usually thought of as being places where Satan can be located. Darkness, total darkness, lack of any differentiation. You know, that's complete nothingness, that's Satan. Snakes. You feel a snake. Nothing feels like a snake. That's why Satan is represented by a snake. And then falling, you know, when you fall, you're out of touch with reality. If you lose Christ, if you sever yourself from Christ, you're out of touch with reality. You know, gravity -- you're afraid. That's a frightening thing. That's why we say that we fall in love. We lose touch with reality when we fall in love. I mean, that is true. But if you fall away from Christ, you are not in reality. And if you go with the law, you are severing yourself from Christ. So you're not in touch with reality. You can see that Paul is really making a point of what is true life like. What is real life like in Christ. Now, he goes on. Verse 5. And here he's going to speak to them very, very directly. He says: For through the Spirit by faith we, ourselves, eagerly await the hope of righteousness. Now, this is a phenomenal statement. One is because it's the only occurrence in Galatians of hope. And hope is always the future reality. That's why we talk about realistic things in the future. And it's the hope of righteousness. The hope where righteousness now comes to its complete fulfillment. If you want to see kind of real life brought to its final end, this is talking about heaven, it's talking about where we're with Christ completely, then you live by the Spirit by faith. Not by works of the law. But by the Spirit by faith. Now, this is a profound statement. That we do look forward to that fulfillment when all things are right in Christ. And there is no barrier because of sin or because of the virus that has infected us, death in those kind of things. We live fully in Christ when we realize the hope of where everything now is made right. And there is no wrong. And that gives birth to the statement we've talked about already. For in Christ Jesus, notice that in Christ Jesus. In connection with Christ. You know, that's that baptismal language when you are in Christ Jesus and he is in you. Circumcision isn't an issue. Uncircumcision isn't an issue. What's an issue is how faith is actively expressing itself in love. Why is that? Because Christ is in you. And his love is now in the world through you. That's what your faith does. Is it embodies Christ. And his love. So that you're showing actively in your person Christ's faithfulness unto death and your faith in Christ. And you're showing it in expressions of love. Now, remember love is charity. Love is giving. Love is gift and forgiveness and mercy and compassion. That's the life of Christ. That's what the Christian is in the world. That is what faith is. Simply being Christ in the world. Now, Paul builds on that. This is the realm now that you live. And you're the Christ in the world. How does the world see Christ in you? And so he goes on. He says: You were running well. Who has prevented you from being persuaded by the truth of the Gospel or literally obeying the truth of the Gospel. You know here is that race imagery. The truth is the Gospel. Obeying the Gospel. Obeying the truth. Who has prevented you? The opponents have. They are the ones that are keeping you from running the race well. He says in Verse 8: The one who is persuading you is not the one who called you. Who is persuading you? The opponents. They are great rhetoricians. But they are not the ones who have called you. And what they have done, Verse 9, is they have infected the whole lump with a little leaven. And that leaven is the law. You put a little law in -- it's like being a little bit pregnant. It doesn't work. A little law, the whole thing is law. You can't just do a little bit of it, it's all or nothing. Now, you can see here where Paul is again being polemical with them because he wants to make his point. And then in Verse 10. This is a verse in which he's talking about the future for the Galatians, the power of Christ to shape their future. And that the power of Christ is greater than the teacher's persuasion. This is what he says: I have confidence in you in the Lord. In the Lord. Confidence. Here Paul is being the pastor. Showing them: I have confidence in you. That you will take no other view than mine. Because that's the Scriptures. Because I represent Christ. And because you know -- you know -- that I am speaking the truth. And he says this: And the one -- and he is speaking here of one person -- the one who is troubling you, the leader of these opponents, he will bear the judgment. Whoever he might be. Paul doesn't even want to name them. Everybody knows who he is. But Paul is not even going to give this man the respect to name him. The one who is troubling you, perverting the Gospel for you. The one who is causing you such anxiety. Who is actually making you doubt your faith, he is going to bear the judgment of the Lord if he continues to do this. And you know who he is. And then this is really an extraordinary finish for Paul in Verses 11 and 12. He says: But if I, brothers -- notice brothers -- if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? Now, I think they are saying that Paul does preach circumcision. And you remember in that first missionary journey, he does circumcise some. He circumcises them because of the Father. It's not a matter of salvation. It's a matter of not creating a barrier. So maybe that's what they are referring to. But he's saying to them if I am preaching circumcision along with the opponents, then why am I being persecuted? You know that's not what I'm preaching. Because he says -- at the end of Verse 11 he says very clearly: If that is the case, then the offense of the cross has been removed and I have been preaching the scandal of the cross -- literally it's the scandal of the cross -- all along. Here notice. He puts circumcision and preaching of the cross next to each other. We're going to see in the next two chapters that the problem the opponents have with Paul is that the cross of Jesus Christ and the preaching of that cross is too prominent in what Paul is saying. And then perhaps the famous statement -- and this is one that I always tell young preachers. Don't imitate Paul here. Paul -- and it's a wish. He says: I wish that those who are troubling, unsettling you, that they would -- and the translation here is emasculate themselves. It really is castrate themselves. Now, that's pretty strong words. And I think the image here is intended to be graphic obviously. But really the image is an image of paganism. Bear with me. I'm just trying to explain what Paul is saying. Paul is saying that when you have the knife and you're about ready to do circumcision, to cut off that foreskin, he says: I wish that the knife would slip and it would castrate you. Not you, the Galatians. But the opponents would castrate themselves. Now, castration is what pagan priests do. Jews, as you know, castration is a great sign of uncleanness, of unholiness. And Paul is saying if you go the route of circumcision, that is like castration among the pagan priests. If you go that route, you are no different than a pagan. Now, do you see what Paul is saying? This is not only graphic image. Bloody image. Very brutal image. But the point is -- and they would have picked this up -- that if you begin to use the flesh, circumcision, dead foreskins as a means of making yourself right with God, then you are no different than a pagan priest who castrates himself so that he might be able to offer sacrifices to idols in the temple. Paul is a equating his opponents with pagan priests in the most graphic of ways. Do you think Paul is upset here? I think he's very upset. And I think he's showing very clearly that he is not going to shrink from any kind of image that indicates that the Gospel, the truth of the Gospel, is at stake. And he wants them to see that ultimately to be a Christian is to be someone who is completely and totally committed to the truth of that Gospel.