Book 34

 

Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 3 * PART 4 * BOOK 34

GALATIANS 5:13-23 – PART 2

We’ve been looking at all the wicked ramifications of the old Adam, the flesh, and that which was part and parcel of our past before salvation, and it’s still the mundane living style of the unbeliever, but now we’re ready for the other side of the coin, the flip side. now verse 22.

Galatians 5:22-23

“But (here we have a total flip side. You talk about something that’s a flip side, this is. This is just a total inversion of all of the activity of those previous verses we looked at in the last lesson. And now we’ll read them all and come back and comment. But) the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. 23. Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

Now there are nine fruits listed here, and we’re going to divide them into three segments of three each. So the first part of the fruit of the Spirit of love, joy and peace is the inner results of Salvation in the life of the believer. This is what we can experience just simply as a result of having believed the Gospel for our salvation. I’ve always made the statement that we aren’t saved as a fire escape. We’re not saved just to escape Hellfire, not at all, but we’re also saved to do as Jesus said. “to have life and have it more abundantly.”

We’re going to see in these nine fruits of the Spirit, that this is the abundant life. And that’s why Paul says, “against these things there is nothing that can oppose them.” There is no law that says, “Well there’s nothing good about love, there’s nothing good about joy, and so forth.” No way, these are all attributes of the life that enhance the believer. I always have to look at it this way. Wouldn’t it be great to live in a community where everybody lived this kind of a life, as opposed to living in a community where everybody practices what we saw in the last lesson. Well we see those other practices too often, and it’s pandemonium, the police blotters are full of people who practice those things.

You don’t see people named on the police blotters who practice these fruits of the Spirit in verse 22 and 23, at least not very often. It probably can happen, but it’s not very routine. I feel sorry for policemen and law enforcement in general. Have you ever stopped to think what it would be like to be a policemen and be confronted with this stuff? I mean they’re putting up with all these things that we looked at in the last lesson. They never have to put up with people who are in trouble because of the fruit of the Spirit. OK now here we go.

Galatians 5:22b

“…love, joy, peace,…”

These three things that just simply come from within when we’re a believer. We talked about the agape love in our first lesson this afternoon, and the definition of it which is “seeking that other person’s highest good.” Can you imagine living in a family, (we know that would be impossible for a whole community,) but wouldn’t it be great to live in a family where all the members of that family all the way down to the grandchildren, and maybe even great-grandchildren would do everything with the idea that they wanted to bring about their highest good for their fellow family members? Wouldn’t that be something? You wouldn’t find teenagers in the drug culture, because that doesn’t bring about the family’s highest good. You wouldn’t find teenagers dropping out of school, you wouldn’t find members of the family getting into trouble, because love, you see, when you seek the other persons highest good does nothing but enhance the things that are good.

So love is that agape love that comes as a result of the indwelling and outworking of the Holy Spirit, and it’s going to have an effect on our life style. We’re going to be fulfillers of the whole law by virtue of our operating love. Now the next one is joy. We use that word too often time flippantly. But do you know the difference between joy and happiness? Lot’s of people think it’s the same thing, and it’s not. Joy is that which comes from within as a result of the Holy Spirit indwelling us, as a result of what God has done on our behalf. We have joy unspeakable because regardless of what may happen to us in this life, we have life eternal. We have the promises of all the things that God has prepared for us. Now that is what precipitates real joy.

Happiness on the other hand is the result of our circumstances. In other words if everything is going well, and you’re healthy, the bills are all paid, and you’ve got a little money in the bank, and you’re driving a decent car, and you have a nice home, all these things contribute to happiness. But you see they are just circumstantial, they have nothing to do with that which is in the inner life. So always remember that. Joy is that which is within whether you have money in the bank, have trials and tribulations, you can still have joy. But you won’t be happy, I mean that stands to reason. When things are going wrong it’s pretty hard to be happy, but you can still have joy. Now one of Paul’s letters is just packed with this concept of joy and rejoice. Who knows what it is? Philippians. All right let’s go and look at it for a moment. Turn ahead a few pages to Philippians, and we’ll just skim through the letter right now. But some day down the road if the Lord tarries we’ll also be teaching it verse by verse. Now right off the bat in Chapter 1 verse 18 we find one. Now I’m not sure that we’ll see them all, but let’s try.

Philippians 1:18

“What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretense, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.”

Now remember the things Paul is talking about just ahead of this verse are that his adversaries were constantly giving him a bad time. This was not a place of happiness for Paul, but he had joy. So he could rejoice even though he had all that opposition. Now come on down to verse 25.

Philippians 1:25

“And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;”

Now listen, were these Philippian believers living in a happy environment? No, but rather they were under constant pressure, and persecution, and yet Paul could say that they had joy because of their faith. It was an inner thing with them. Now moving on into Chapter 2.

Philippians 2:2

“Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, (see how all these things fit together?) being of one accord, of one mind.” Now skip across the page to verse 16 and we find another one.

Philippians 2:16-18

“Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain. 17. Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all. 18. For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.”

Isn’t that something, and the man himself was under constant pressure. We covered that in 1st and 2nd Corinthians, how he suffered for the sake of the Gospel. He was under trials and tribulations constantly, and yet the man was full of joy and was able to rejoice. Now you see we’re spoiled, and I have to tell the Lord that every once in awhile. I’m so spoiled, and I think you are also. We’ve all got it so good. What if all of a sudden the tables would turn and there would be a knock on our door at 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning, and someone says, “You’re under arrest.” “For what?” “For being a Christian.” Hey what would happen? I think we’d all almost panic that our world is coming apart, but listen this was routine for these people. They and Paul were under constant persecution, and yet the man could be full of joy. Now remind yourselves of that. If all of a sudden my little world should start falling apart could I still be joyful? Now I don’t expect you to be happy, but we are to be joyful. Now looking at verse 18 again.

Philippians 2;18

“For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.” Now come on over to verse 28, and let’s look at another one, and here Paul is speaking of Epaphroditus, his brother in the Lord..

Philippians 2:28

“I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.” Well then come down into Chapter 3.

Philippians 3:1-3

“Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. 2. Beware of dogs, (those that would attack them)beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. 3. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”

Now come on over to Chapter 4, and I can see them again. My they just jump off the page, you can’t miss them.

Philippians 4:1

“Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy (now I’ve always maintained that Paul had a special feeling for the Philippian believers. Remember it was in Philippi that he was sick in bed, almost unto death. And the Philippian believers nourished him and brought him through, so I think he always had a real tender spot in his heart for them) and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.” Now come on down to verse 4 for another one.

Philippians 4:4

“Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.”

See Paul repeats rejoice again, and I’ve always said the repetition in Scripture is for emphasis. The whole emphasis in this entire Book of Philippians is that in spite of their trials and their sufferings they would still have joy. Well now verse 10.

Philippians 4:10

“But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.”

There may be others in Philippians as I have just grabbed them as they jumped off the page at me. But this joy is one of the fruits we saw in Galatians Chapter 5. Now coming back to the Book of Galatians 5:22. First we have love for all that we come into contact with, and especially believers. Love remember is that which seeks the other person’s highest good.Then we can have joy in spite of adversity, or persecution. and the third one is “peace.” Now in order to understand the word “peace” we’ve got to come back to Romans Chapter 5. Remember it’s why peace isn’t listed in the activities of the unbeliever. The unbeliever has never experienced this, and he can have no peace. The Scripture speaks of them like the waves roaring, their lives are filled with turmoil, but look what verse 1 says.

Romans 5:1

“Therefore being justified by faith, (that puts us back like Adam was before the fall. When we become believers, God reckons the old sin nature, the old Adam dead and gone, and God looks at us as if we’ve never sinned. Therefore since we’ve been declared as if we’ve never sinned, and the slate has been wiped clean) we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”

Now the unbeliever can never experience that peace, in fact Romans 8:7 tells us that the unbeliever is an enemy of God. You see we don’t have to be in a constant turmoil, and wonder,“Oh is God going to zap me? Is God all of a sudden going to disown me? Is He going to cast me out?” No! Because we have that abiding peace with God here in this text and now let’s go to Philippians Chapter 4 and look at the peace of God. Now justification brings about the peace with God, then we’re no longer an enemy. We are now His, and we can enjoy His fellowship moment by moment, regardless of how well we’ve been able to behave, if you want to use that word. We still have that constant fellowship because of our justification which gave us the peace with God. Now here we have the other peace that is spoken of and that is in verse 6 and 7. When someone calls with an urgent prayer request these are the two verses I give them, and you might be ready to do the same. These are the best two verses in all of Scripture for someone in need, and look what it says.

Philippians 4:6

“Be careful for nothing; (or worry about nothing) but in every thing (what ever the need or circumstance) by prayer and supplication (and here’s the secret) with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God….”

Never ask the Lord something without thanking Him for it in advance. That’s one of the criteria of prayer. Always thank Him for what He’s going to do with your prayer request. I always tell my classes whether God answers yes, or no, or maybe later, whatever He says, you have an immediate answer in verse 7. The minute you get up from your prayer place you’ve got your prayers answered because of what this next verse says.

Philippians 4:7

“And the peace of God, (now we have the peace with God at the moment of salvation, but now as a believer, and we enter into this Spirit filled walk, now we have the peace of God)which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Whatever the circumstances, God is there calming our situation saying, “I’m in control.” Now we all know that it’s been hot this summer where I live, and I’m getting concerned about grass for my cattle, and the only hope that I have are these promises that I have the peace with God, and the peace of God, and I can take it to Him in prayer. In fact I was talking to one of my neighbors and told him I sure hope it rains before too long, and he said, “Are you praying?” I said, “You bet I am, absolutely, and I’m quite sure that God in His own time is going to answer.” But what ever the circumstance we have that peace with God and the peace of God. Now reading verse 7 again.

Philippians 4:7

“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, (some of these things we can’t comprehend how He answers. Some times He says no. It may not rain, but whether it does or not what do I have? I have the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, and it) shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

He is the constant, He never fails, He’s always there! Alright now let’s come back to Galatians Chapter 5. So we’ve covered love, joy, and peace. Now the next three are more or less an attitude toward our neighbors, or maybe our families, the people around us, and that is –

Galatians 5:22b

“…longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,…”

Another word for longsuffering is patience. Now what do those three lead to? Well that leads to a pretty good happy family environment doesn’t it? If all family members can exemplify these three fruits of the Spirit, patience with one another, gentleness with one another, and goodness, my you talk about family – wouldn’t that be perfect? What a beautiful family relationship we could enjoy if all members of the family would just practice those three fruits of the Spirit.

Now the last three fruits of the Spirit are pretty much tied to our association with God Himself.

Galatians 5:22b-23

“…faith, 23. Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

And the first thing that God looks for is what? Faith. Let’s look at that for a moment in the Book of Hebrews Chapter 11, and verse 6. I think that’s why it’s listed first. Also in I Corinthians Chapter 13 the love chapter how does God end it?

I Corinthians 13:13

“And now abideth faith, hope, charity,…” You see faith has to be the first one. Do you see that? But here in Hebrews let’s look at verse 6.

Hebrews 11:6a

“But without faith,…”

Remember my definition of faith? Taking God at His Word! Believe it from cover to cover. Now granted not all of the Bible is written to us Gentile believers. When Leviticus Chapter 5 says, “That anyone who has touched something unclean has to go through the rites of purification, and has to bring a particular offering,” Hey we don’t do that. Well why not, it’s in the Bible. See that’s what people like to say a lot of the time. “Well it’s in the Bible.” Well if that’s the case you’d better go back and practice Leviticus. Then these same people don’t know what to do with it. You have to realize that the Bible is for us, but it’s not all to us, and that makes all the difference in the world. The secret of being able to separate the Scriptures is to see what was written to the Gentile Body of Christ, the Church, us today, and that all comes from the pen of the apostle to the Gentiles, the apostle Paul. But a great majority of the Bible was written to the Nation of Israel, the Jews, and even the Jewish believers in the Four Gospels. So you’ve got to be careful in how you rightly divide the Word of God. Now looking at this verse in Hebrews again. .

Hebrews 11:6a

“But without faith it is impossible to please him…”

In other words there is no way you can get to first base with God unless He sees faith first. How you might say, “What about a sinner seeking salvation?” The first article of faith for a lost person seeking salvation is Romans 3:23.

Romans 3:23

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

And we have to believe what the Bible says, and that is “all have sinned, and come short…” Now that’s the first step of faith for the unbeliever. “Yes Lord I’m a sinner, I have fallen short!” Then the next step of faith is to believe the Gospel for salvation, that “He died for you, was buried, and rose again the third day.” But that’s all taken by faith. And that is the key, and without it –

Hebrews 11:6b

“…it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

Now back to the Book of Galatians. I see we’ve only got a couple of minutes left, and I was wanting to finish Chapter 5 today. Now the next one after faith is –

Galatians 5:23a.

“Meekness,…”

Now I’m afraid that a lot of people think to be meek is to be a milquetoast. Someone who never has enough gumption to ever take up for himself. But that not what meekness means in Scripture. The best way to explain meekness in Scripture is to look at Moses. Now was Moses a milquetoast where everybody walked on him? No. Moses was a leader, Moses was a man who was highly educated in all the schools of Egypt. He was a military leader. I think he was a civil engineer. Moses did everything, but what does the Bible call him? “The meekest man that every lived.” Moses’ attitude was such that God could use him, he was pliable, he was someone God could mold, and Moses became a great man because of him being meek. To be meek you have to be pliable and useable. Now the next one is –

Galatians 5:23b

“…temperance:…”

Do you know what real temperance is? You know we think of in America at least, is the fight against alcohol, whisky and so forth as being temperance. No, temperance goes across the whole of human activity. And it merely means maintain a balance in whatever you do. This is something that is well pleasing in God’s sight. We don’t slip over to the far right or to the far left, but by the basis of the Word of God, you maintain a balance. And all nine of these fruits of the Spirit, Paul says –

Galatians 5:23b

“…against such there is no law.”

Who can fault someone who is the epitome of these nine Graces. Well no one can! You show me a person with these nine Graces and I’ll show you someone who is to be envied.

_______

PLAN FOR HEAVEN

Romans 3:23-27

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his Grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that He might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what Law: of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.”

Romans 6:23

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Romans 1:16-19

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.”

I Corinthians 15:1-6

“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.”

Romans 5:8-11

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.”

Romans 4:5

“But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”

Ephesians 1:13:14

“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

I Thessalonians 4:13-18

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

Romans 10:8-13

“But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shall be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Revelation22:21

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.”

MANIFOLD RESULTS OF SALVATION

THE GOSPEL – Our Position – I Corinthians 15:1-4

JUSTIFIED – Romans 3:24

REDEEMED – Romans 3:24; Ephesians 1:7

SANCTIFIED – I Corinthians 1:30

FORGIVEN – Colossians 2:13

BAPTIZED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT – I Corinthians 12:13

GLORIFIED – Romans 8:17

INDWELT BY THE HOLY SPIRIT – I Corinthians 3:16; 6:19

IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS – Romans 1:18; Isaiah 61:10 (clothed with garments of salvation, covered with the robe of righteousness)

QUICKENED – New Creation (Made Alive) – Ephesians 2:1

ADOPTION – Joint Heirs – Romans 8:14

TRANSLATED and DELIVERED from Power of Darkness – Colossians 1:13-14

RECONCILED – II Corinthians 5:18

ETERNAL LIFE – Ephesians 2:5-7

 

Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 3 * PART 3 * BOOK 34

GALATIANS 5:13-23

Now we’ll go right back to Galatians Chapter 5 in our study. We were studying the works of the flesh when we closed in the last lesson. The works that old Adam promotes, the playground of old Satan himself, or old Adamic nature, which is the only nature that a lost person has, and that’s why the world is so saturated with immorality and wickedness of every sort. I know some of the lost are inhibited to a certain degree by their background and training, but they still can’t be victorious over that old Adam because that takes the power of God. So whether it’s in the life of the believer, who in a moment of weakness let’s old Adam take over, or in this case, I think, Paul is dealing mostly with the unbeliever and his lifestyle here.

The works of old Adam are made manifest. They’re obvious, and we covered the first ones in our last lesson in adultery, and fornication. In other words sexual immorality. We closed with a picture of old Esau who was a fornicator, he was destitute of faith. And the one before Esau was Ishmael who also did not have that will to be obedient to the will of God. So even Ishmael went and married an Egyptian which was contrary to what God wanted for the offspring of Abraham when he had instructed that they not marry the Canaanite. And remember Esau married two Hittite women who were already steeped in immorality and wickedness.

Genesis 26:34-35

“And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite: 35. Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.”

So this sexual immorality is one of the first things that Paul mentions, and it isn’t just here, in some of his other classification of human sins, the sexual things are almost always number one. Now let’s go into the next area because verse 19 for the most part is dealing with sexual sins of adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, but now look at verse 20.

Galatians 5:20

“Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,”

Now all of those can be lumped together when you get into the area of idolatry or pagan worship. Now let’s go back to the Book of Jeremiah Chapter 44 as this is one example that I can turn to quite quickly, and I think you’ll appreciate what I’m trying to show you. This too has been plaguing the human race ever since the Tower of Babel at least, and that is that bent to worship a false god. It’s just about automatic in the human nature to want to follow that drawing power to worship a false god, idols of one sort or another. Even the Nation of Israel, who had the proof of the living God all the way back from their beginning, and they should have known better, but here they would follow after these pagans and you remember that was the controversy that Elijah had with King Ahab upon Mount Caramel with all the prophets of Baal, because Israel had also been following Baal. But here in Jeremiah it lays it out so plain. and distinctly as what the results are going to be if a people or a nation are going to go into the worship of false idol gods. Here in Jeremiah the Israelites are speaking back and say –

Jeremiah 44:18

“But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, (that was one of the pagan goddesses) and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.”

The Israelites weren’t reckoning that God was trying to deal with them, but what were they trying to say? The reason we’re having all our problems is we have quit worshipping the queen of heaven. Imagine, the Jews were saying that. Now verse 19.

Jeremiah 44:19-21

“And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?” (In other words the women were the primary culprits here.) 20. Then Jeremiah saith unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying, 21. The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them, and came it not into his mind?”

Now do you see from verse 21 how far pagan worship had penetrated the Jewish community? It wasn’t just a few of them, but rather the whole. Men and women, places of authority, kings, and government people, they were all worshipping false idols and pagan gods. Now verse 22.

Jeremiah 44:22a

“So that the LORD could no longer bear,…”

The Lord couldn’t take it any more. That scares you doesn’t it? Most people can realize that America can be identified with ancient Israel over and over. I’m not the first one to say that. I mean we see so much that God has to look down on America, who at one time as a nation, was steeped in the Word of God, our founding fathers based everything on the Word of God. The Constitution was almost, you might say, Biblically oriented, and now what are we seeing? A constant tearing down of all these principles. And Israel went through these same things. Now reading verse 22.

Jeremiah 44:22-23

“So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day. 23. Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened unto you, as at this day.”

It wasn’t because they had quit worshipping the female goddesses. It was because they turned against the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then in verse 24 Jeremiah the prophet says –

Jeremiah 44:24

“Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt: 25. Thus saith the LORD of host, the God of Israel, saying; Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her; ye will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows.

Jeremiah goes on to warn them that God is not going to continue to deal with them except in gross judgment and punishment. God won’t stand for that kind of behavior. Now let’s come back to Galatians. Fortunately we’re still in the age of Grace, and God is not pouring out His wrath on wicked men, but their day is coming, and we’re getting closer and closer. I think the world is getting more and more aware of the trials and tribulations that are going to come upon the planet. I think all of our weird weather is just a little bit of a fore warning of what the world has ahead of them. I think there’s no doubt about it the whole world is having a complete upset of normal weather patterns and of course the tremendous increase in earthquakes which are multiplying every year. There are many, many earthquakes that take place everyday that the press doesn’t even bother to report it. The only ones we hear about are the ones that cause damage, the real strong ones. In fact I believe that we are in the closing seconds, not minutes, not hours, of this age of Grace. I don’t believe we have a lot of time left. Well anyway back to Galatians Chapter 5, and remember all of these in verse 20 can all be lumped into false worship.

Galatians 5:20

“Idolatry, witchcraft, (that’s associated again with the powers of Satan, and it’s a form of worship, a form of religion) hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies.”

Israel, who we just saw back in Jeremiah Chapter 44, was trying to elevate the worship of this female goddess. What was it? That was heresy. That was absolutely false, and yet they were falling for it. They were so blinded that they thought that it was because they weren’t doing enough to please this female goddess was the reason they were having problems. It never entered their mind that it was God who was displeased with them, because they were so steeped in idolatry.

And of course we in America are getting to that place so fast. I thank God for a few men in high places that still call upon God, but for the most part when dilemmas come upon our nation, for most of the general population it never enters their mind that maybe God’s got something to do with that particular dilemma, and maybe God’s trying to get our attention, but that doesn’t even enter their minds. God is so far removed from the thinking of the majority anymore that it doesn’t bother them. Now let’s move on into verse 21.

Galatians 5:21a

“Envying, murders,…”

See this is all tied together. Just as soon as you have sexual immorality, what does it trigger? Jealousy, envying, murders and so forth. My land how many triangles have ended up in a murder or one or more. It all comes together.

Galatians 5:21b

“…drunkenness,…”

Now I don’t like to quote statistics because I never know how accurate other people are. I have read already that we would probably be shocked at the percentage of our prison inmates because of alcoholism. It’s alcohol that got them in trouble in the first place. Of course now we have the drug culture that feeds in as well. I remember a long time ago I was visiting with a group of young medical interns, and at that time interns just barely had enough money to buy their toothpaste, and they were getting along on something like $25.00 a month. I’ll never forget one of those interns made this statement. “Fellows let’s face it, there’s really only one place to make a lot of money, and that would be anything that would degrade society.” And I’ve never forgotten that statement. Now you think how true that is. Anything that degrades society will create wealth for those people, it’s just one of the facts of life. And that is what Paul is bringing out here. These people thrive on these wicked activities.

Galatians 5:21a

“Envying, murders, drunkenness, revellings,…”“

Now what does revelings imply? What do they think they’re having? A good time. Oh they think they’re having a good time and for the moment maybe they are. But oh listen what does it invariably lead to? Just the opposite. It leads to misery, broken homes, broken health, and just about anything else bad you can think of, and yet they continue on in this life style of the old Adam which remember, I’ve said over and over, it’s the playground of old Satan himself. Now Paul says-

Galatians 5:21b

“…revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Now let’s go back again to the Book of Romans. Chapter 1, because Galatians and Romans fit hand and glove anyway so it’s only natural that we keep going back to Romans. Here Paul, for the first time in the Biblical order of his letters, begins to lay out the picture of this Adamic nature.

Romans 1:28-29

“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, (they have no concept of the things of God. They have no concept of eternity. They’re just living for the here and now So) God gave them over to a reprobate mind, (God says `If that’s the way you want to live, then have at it.”) to do those things which are not convenient; (not normal, or natural. Now look at the picture and it fits right with Galatians Chapter 5.) 29. Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whispers,”

This isn’t pretty is it? We’d rather skip verses like this, but listen, this exposes that true sin nature of man. Now granted the vast majority of people are able to keep these things under control, but when they lose control what happens? Any of these can happen, and our newspapers and televisions are full of it. Now verse 30.

Romans 1:30a

“Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things,…”

Now that reminds me of something. Keep your place here but come all the way back to Genesis Chapter 6, and as you read this for goodness sake remember what the Lord Jesus Himself said about the days of Noah. “For as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be at the coming of the Son of man.” And again all you have to do is look around you, read your paper, listen to your news, and it’s obvious. Now Genesis 6:5 Now the setting here is just before the flood.

Genesis 6:5

“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Now does that tell you something? Evil and unrighteous things were all they could think about, and we’re not too far from that in today’s world. Now verse 6.

Genesis 6:6

“And it repented the LORD (or made Him sorry) that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.” Now drop on down to verse 11 and 12 of this same Chapter.

Genesis 6:11-13

“The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. 13. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”

Well that’s what led up to Noah’s flood, but we’re also approaching the same kind of a judgment when God will pour out His wrath and vexation on Christ-rejecting men, in what we call the final seven years of Tribulation. Now another place where Paul lists all these deeds of the ungodly is in Romans chapter 3. Now I hate to deal with negatives, and it’s almost depressing I know, but on the other hand we have to realize what we are seeing in the world around us. And listen, it’s not limited to just America. I’ve always given America credit, we’re still better than most places in the world. But this whole idea of wickedness and unrighteousness is not limited to the western hemisphere whatsoever.

Romans 3:12

“They are all (the whole human race outside of salvation) gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; (that is to God) there is none that doeth good, no, not one.“

Now look at the picture, and remember before salvation this is where we were in God’s eyes. I had a call this morning and the fellow said the thing that opened his eyes was that I pointed out that we must recognize that we’re sinners before we can be saved. Now this doesn’t mean we have all done these things but potentially we could have all been guilty of them.

Romans 3:13

“Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: 14. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 15. Their feet are swift to shed blood: 16. Destruction and misery are in their ways: 17. And the way of peace have they not known: (now look at verse 18, and doesn’t that say it all?) 18. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Now that’s the world in general. They don’t even give God five minutes of their time. Now let’s come back to our text for a moment and time will be gone. And let’s look at verse 21 again.

Galatians 5:21

“Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Such wickedness we have today, and we’re so busy. If we have time there’s one more verse I want us to look at in Matthew Chapter 24.37-39. And here Jesus is speaking, and He was God, He was the Creator, He knows the end from the beginning. He knew exactly what was coming on the earth. So He says explicitly –

Matthew 24:37

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,”

Now stop for a moment. There’s nothing wrong with that is there? No, there`s nothing wrong with your daily supply of food and drink. There’s nothing wrong with marrying, and weddings and starting families. So that wasn’t the problem, it doesn’t show it as that’s what brought God’s wrath upon them, but they were so occupied with all of these human mundane events that they didn’t have time to listen until the day that Noah entered into the ark. Now verse 39.

Matthew 24:39

“And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”

Now you have to compare the Lord’s statements in that they were so busy with their daily, materialistic activity they did not have time for the things of God. In Luke Chapter 21 I think it says they were also building, and doesn’t that fit so perfectly with today. I think for those of us who are looking for the Rapture, we will find at that time such a world-wide economic activity as we’re seeing it even today. People are so caught up in this today and that is the reason you can’t get them interested in Spiritual things. Hey they’ve got it too good! They’re making big bucks, the stock market is roaring, who’s got time for eternity?

So that’s why I have to feel that the world economy is not going to collapse January 1, 2000 with this Y2k thing. Now I’m not going to knock the idea, and ridicule that it’s of no count, but it just doesn’t seem to fit that the world can be in the situation that Jesus described so far as their materialistic bent, and their wicked activity, which of course they couldn’t do if they couldn’t travel, they wouldn’t have all this opportunity for the sinfulness that we saw in the Scriptures. So I have to feel most of this activity will keep going up until at least the mid-point of the Tribulation. And at that time is when the sky is going to fall. Everything at that time is going to go into a chaotic condition, there’s no doubt about it. But I can foresee nothing to indicate the world is going to fall apart, or stop all their materialistic activity before the Lord comes. So keep these things in mind. Always remember that Genesis tells us that the world was filled with violence. All they could conceive of were things that were wicked. But at the same time they were doing all the things that are part and parcel of everyday living as today, and so I believe that the time is short, the Lord’s coming is seconds away in the view of the whole time period. Everything is getting ready for the Lord’s soon return. First for the Church when we meet Him in the air at the Rapture, and then 7 years later when we come back with Him at His second coming.

 

Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 3 * PART 2 * BOOK 34

THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES VICTORY OVER SIN -PART 2

Now we’re going to pick up again in Galatians Chapter 5:17 where we ended in our last lesson. This is where I like to depict the two natures of the believer. Now I know a lot of folks have no concept of the two natures. But when we become a believer the old sin nature, the old Adam that we’re born with had to be crucified, he had to be literally put to death in the realm of the spirit. Now that is done when we believe in our heart the Gospel for our salvation, that Jesus died for our sins, was buried and rose again. When we do that then Christ reckons that old nature crucified, and we’ll see that in Romans again in just a moment.

After salvation then immediately God places opposite that old Adamic nature a new Divine nature, and I maintain that new nature cannot sin because it’s divine. So when we, as believers, sin it’s just the simple matter that old Adam has taken control for a moment, and it’s through the old nature that we continue to sin, but always remember that as far as God is concerned old Adam is dead. That’s why God can declare us “justified,“ and it’s just as if we’ve never sinned, because old Adam is dead and gone so far as God is concerned. But experience tells us that in our every day life old Adam is still there but we try to keep him suppressed.

The new nature is imparted by a divine act of God, so in this area between the old sin nature and the new nature, which is now receiving its prompting and its power from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit at the same time comes in and indwells and takes up residence, as well as regenerates our spirit which in Adam’s case died the moment he sinned. So with the Holy Spirit now in consort or in complete agreement with our spirit, we once again have that means of fellowship with God through the Spirit, and then, here is the crucial part. The Holy Spirit working on our spirit is going to influence the new nature and the new nature in turn is going to control the acts of the physical body. So as long as we’re led by the Spirit the body is going to find itself in complete agreement with the laws of God that are good for society, good for family, they’re good for material relationships, all of these things prompted by this God-given part of us make the difference.

Now like I said, we as humans are going to sin. We all fail, we all fall, and it’s when this part of us, the new nature suddenly withdraws and comes away from the battle line, and old Adam immediately jumps at the opportunity and immediately begins to control the acts of the body, then, of course we find ourselves as believers, sinning. I mean believers sin, and we can’t get away from that. But the whole idea is that we keep that spirit part of us literally exercised by the Word, by prayer, by Christian fellowship, and then we can pretty much control the activity of the body. Now let’s look at verse 17 and 18 and then we can go back and compare Scripture with Scripture.

Galatians 5:17-18

“For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one with the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 18. But if ye be led of the Spirit ye are not under the law.”

Now let’s show this from Scripture. First and foremost we cannot do the things that we would do, let’s not find ourselves beating our breast and saying, “Oh, I’m without hope, I can’t seem to win,” because the apostle Paul went through that same thing. Now let’s look at his dilemma in Romans Chapter 7 first, and maybe that will give us some comfort. You see we’re not alone when we know we should do something and we just don’t do it. We know we shouldn’t do certain things, but the first thing we know, we’ve done it. All right in Romans Chapter 7 let’s just drop down to verse 15. I mean this just says it all.

Romans 7:15a

“For that which I do I allow not:…”

Well what does he mean? Well that’s what Paul is doing in the body and flesh, this new nature prompted by the Holy Spirit tells him that it’s wrong. Do you see that? So he says, “the things that I do I know better. I don’t want to do them. Now move on in the verse.

Romans 7:15b

“…for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.”

Now what’s he’s saying? The things that now the Spirit and his new nature hate he’s finding that old Adam is still slipping in and getting the job done, whatever it is. But in order to control the failures of the body this new nature has to be strengthened and becomes uppermost in all of our thoughts and acts, and deeds. We have to constantly keep that old Adamic nature in suppression. Now I think you’ve all heard the expression, “Well the Devil made me do it.” Well that’s not very often the case, rather it’s old Adam who makes us do it, but let’s not leave Satan out of the picture entirely. Where does Satan work? Well through that old nature. That’s his playground, that’s where he loves to fulfill his desires. He loves for our old Adamic nature to control, and to exercise the desires of the old nature, but we have in I John, this:

I John 4:4b

“…because greater is he that is in you, than he that is the world.”

So we have that comfort to always rely upon. Now let’s turn a page to Romans Chapter 8. I like to show that Paul doesn’t just write these things in one place and leave it, but it’s a constant repetition of these things. Let’ just start with verse 1.

Romans 8:1a

“There is therefore (in spite of our dilemma in Chapter 7 that the things we know we shouldn’t do, we find ourselves doing them some times, but in spite of that there is therefore) now no condemnation (how can anybody twist that? That’s what it says, that in spite of our dilemma, in spite of our failures, God has promised that there is no condemnation, but what’s the criteria?) to them which are in Christ Jesus,…”

Now remember no unbeliever is in Christ. Oh, he may try to walk like a Christian, he may try to behave like one, but unless he’s in Christ, he’s not one. But for those of us who are in Christ, and remember we get to that position by faith, and faith alone in believing the Gospel. (Ref. I Corinthians 15:1-4) And that’s an act of God. Now I’m going to leave the last part of that verse because I would rather pick it up in verse 4. But now for verse 2.

Romans 8:2-3

“For the law (remember I’ve explained that the word `law’ doesn’t always mean the Ten Commandments, but in this case it means a fact of life. For the law, or fact of life) of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from (another fact of life, and that is the) the law of sin and death. 3. For what the law (now we’re coming back to the Mosaic Law) could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God (now God takes precedence. We can’t do it but He can by) sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, (to take care of that problem of old Adam) condemned sin in the flesh:” Now here’s the verse we came for.

Romans 8:4a

“That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us,…”

Now we need to stop here for a moment. When we start talking about Law and Grace we can’t be confused. The Law from God’s view point was perfect! It was the very mind of God expressed so far as being the best for mankind’s benefit and his own good. But from the human standpoint the Law was weak and beggarly, it was a yoke. Now why those two seemingly contradictory statements of the same Ten Commandments? Well you see God revealed His righteousness and His Holiness when He gave those Ten Commandments. But man over here without the power of the Holy Spirit and in his own flesh couldn’t begin to keep that perfect Law.

And so it became weak and beggarly, a yoke that poor old Israel just chafed under constantly. So here’s the whole concept: Yes the Law is perfect, but we can not keep it in the flesh because it had no power to impart to man to keep it. Now I hope I’ve made that plain. The Law had no power to help mortal men to keep it. That was its weakness! And consequently man couldn’t keep the Law, in fact they couldn’t even come close to keeping it. But now under our economy of Grace we’ve got something far better. It was good under the Law but under Grace it’s far better. Now looking at verse 4 again.

Romans 8:4

“That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

Now that the Law might be fulfilled in us, not that we’re better at Law-keeping than Israel was, but because of our position, because of the power of the Holy Spirit we no longer walk after the flesh or after old Adam, but after the Spirit. Now here it is – Just as soon as old Adam is crucified, and in God’s eyes he’s completely dead, he’s out of the picture, but in our experience he’s still here, but he’s defeated. He doesn’t have to remain uppermost. If he remains uppermost it means we’re not fighting the battle. But with the help of the Holy Spirit empowering our spirit we can live victoriously, but always remember that old Adam is powerful and he will come to the forefront at times, and that is where the warfare exists, and there would be no warfare if it weren’t for the indwelling Holy Spirit. If we didn’t have Him helping us there wouldn’t even be a battle line. We wouldn’t stand a chance against the forces of old Adam, and forces of Satan if we didn’t have the Holy Spirit. That’s the secret.

In fact the word Pneuma Hagion in the Greek, do you know what it really means? In the English it is that Power from on High. That’s what this is. The Holy Spirit is the Person, but when He gives us that which we need to confront the old nature and his desires, and to live victoriously in the flesh we can’t do it without the Pneuma Hagion which is the Power from on High that is exercised through the Person of the Holy Spirit. And we have to understand by Faith – “But Lord I have the Holy Spirit, I can draw on Him, and I don’t have to force myself to be a law keeper.” It just simply now comes naturally to let the Sprit run the race for us. All right while we’re here in Romans Chapter 8 and this fits with Galatians so perfectly come on down to verse 5.

Romans 8:5

“For they that are after the flesh (they’re still living in the realm of old Adam, and know nothing of God’s saving Grace) do mind the things of the flesh; (now you want to remember that’s the grand majority of the world’s population. All the lost out in the world today are there for is to gratify the flesh. They have no concept of eternity, they have no concept of Spiritual things, and all they are concerned about is to gratify the flesh. Oh they may do it with pomp and circumstance. They may do it in high echelons of society, but it’s still just the gratification of the flesh. Now on the other hand the flip side of that is ) but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.”

Iris and I can tell, no matter where we go in our travels, it doesn’t matter whether they’re in the upper or lower ends of the economics, we don’t care. We enjoy the whole spectrum, but we’ve noticed now over the past several years when we’re invited to come in and spend the night or have dinner, they don’t talk about the weather or sports, or politics. The minute we sit down it’s in the Book! And that’s the way it should be. Granted people have questions and maybe think that I have the answers, but nevertheless we always come away from those places just thrilled. “Now these people have only one thing on their mind, and that’s the things of the Spirit.” Now that’s not the natural person, because he’ll talk about anything but the things of the Spirit. Now let’s go back to Galatians as we need to make a little headway today. Looking at verse 18 again.

Galatians 5:18

“But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.”

Now that’s what the Book says. You don’t have to write and tell me that I can’t say things like that. Remember I’m not saying them, but rather the Bible is, God’s Word says it. When we’re under Grace and under the working and power of this Pneuma Hagion this power from on High, then we’re not under the Law. In other words I don’t have to check the Ten Commandants every day to see if I’ve broken one or more today. See, that’s not the way we look at it, that doesn’t even enter our minds that I have to keep the Law, because the Holy Spirit is in place of the Law. Well I’m sorry but we’ve got to look at another verse in Romans 7:6 and this says it better than I can. We’re going to keep on repeating it, and repeating it until people know it forward and backwards.

Romans 7:6

“But now we (as believers) are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.”

Well what are the two concepts there? Are we going to work and live under the idea of the new nature who is being prompted and encouraged by the Person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, or are we going to still try and satisfy old Adam. See, old Adam knows enough that maybe he should try to keep the Law, as a lot of people realize that it’s wrong to steal, it’s wrong to do these things, and so old Adam can recognize that, but you see on the other hand he knows he can’t keep the Law anyway so pretty soon he gives up. But you see the new nature doesn’t have that problem. Our new nature under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, realizes that we can’t keep the law by the energy of the flesh. It’s impossible. But when we let Him lead us and guide us and direct us then the Law takes care of itself. Read that verse again.

Romans 7:6a

“But now we are delivered from the law, (and that means exactly what it says.) that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit,…”

Now that word newness means exactly what it says. A whole new ball game. When we become a believer and receive this new nature it’s completely different. I don’t care what prime time of life you’re in. Whether you’re a teenager or middle age or in the advanced years it’s the whole idea that regardless where we are in our life, once we enter into this Spirit-led life, we’re not under the Law, we’re under Grace. Now back to the Book of Galatians. Now we get into the part that really gets explicit. There are no punches pulled here. There are no ifs, ands, or buts, there’s no question. Now verse 19.

Galatians 5:19a

“Now the works of the flesh (of old Adam, Satan’s playground) are manifest, (in other words there’s no hiding it, there’s no doubting it. It’s just like looking in a microscope again and seeing everything exposed by that bright light from below) which are these; (and what does it start with? Sexual sins) Adultery,…”

You know as you look at the world all the way back through history, what has always been the most hideous of mankind’s sin? Sexual immorality! The pagans were rampant in it as we expressed that in our study of Corinthians. We saw some of the places in the Mediterranean recently where Paul was confronted with this type of gross immorality. So it’s always been that way, and I think even going as far back as Ishmael, and Esau – in fact let’s look at Esau’s result in Hebrews Chapter 12. Even all the way back to Esau, and remember he was one of the twins of Isaac and Rebecca. I want you to see this because this has always been, I think, the most crucial shortcoming of the human race. And we’re seeing it explode all around us even here in the 1990’s.

Hebrews 12:16

“Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, (now the two go hand and hand. When you have someone who is immoral, he’s also profane for all practical purposes) as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.”

Now do you get the make of the man’s personality. Number one, he was destitute of faith. Those of you who were with me when we taught Genesis remember we pointed out when he came in hungry as a bear, and he smelled that bean soup cooking what did he tell old Jacob? “Give me a bowl of your bean soup.” Well old Jacob wasn’t about to give it free, so Jacob said “I will in turn for your birthright.” Remember Esau saw absolutely nothing of any kind of worth of the birthright. He’d rather have that bowl of bean soup. Why didn’t he see any value in the birthright? It was something to be appropriated by faith, and how much faith did he have. NONE! Esau was destitute of faith. Consequently what kind of a man was he sexually? Immoral!

 

Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 3 * PART 1 * BOOK 34

THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES VICTORY OVER SIN

Now before we start with the Scriptures, let’s review just a little. Galatians is a Book determining the fact that we’re not under Law but rather Grace. I know there are lots of people that don’t know what we’re talking about, and they’ll look at you quizzically and say, “Well, what do you mean?” Well hopefully what the Book of Galatians is showing is that we’re not under the system of Law, we are not under any kind of legalistic demands for our salvation. But rather salvation is all of Grace by faith only + nothing, or else any works you add to salvation takes away from the finished work of the Cross. See this is the whole concept of God dealing with us, this predominately Gentile Body of Christ in Grace, is that we have to believe that He did everything that needs to be done.

And as soon as we try to add to that for salvation then in actuality say, “Well Christ didn’t really finish it!” But he did and God has let us know in his Word and especially through the writings of this apostle Paul that it was finished and we stand in His presence justified, forgiven, sanctified, glorified, and all those good words simply because we can believe that it is a finished transaction. So this has been the whole concept of this little letter to the Galatians who were being tempted to go back under legalism, which at that time was prompted by the Jew, and that was circumcision. So Paul has been dealing with that in particular. But for us today circumcision is not so much the criteria, but it’s all these other things that people try to tell us that we have to do beside believing the Gospel, as found in I Corinthians 15:1-4. But don’t you believe what they say, because the Word says that it is by faith, and faith alone. And back in Romans Paul uses the old man Abraham as the prime example of someone who was saved by faith and faith alone. Now as we begin our study in verse 13 we find –

Galatians 5:13a

“For, brethren, (believers) ye have been called unto liberty; (freedom) only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh,…”

Now we need to stop there and go back to Romans Chapter 3 because Scripture has to constantly explain Scripture. Then we will also look at a verse in Chapter 6, and I think this just says it all.

Romans 3:8

“And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some (those that opposed him) affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.” (and sure.)

We sometimes hear that even in our own culture. “Well to be under the Grace of God means that I’m saved and now I can do as I please.” Listen, the Scripture never teaches that, and when Paul says, “that it was reported, it was slanderously reported.” In other words, they were trying to drag the guy’s ministry down in the mud by telling people, “Oh the apostle Paul just teaches that once you’re saved you are at liberty to do what ever you want to do.” And there have been some great men that took that line, but not the apostle Paul. Now turn with me here in Romans to Chapter 5:20, and the text is also along this same line of thinking. That, yes, we’re saved by Grace, we live by Grace, we walk by Grace, but that is not license.

Romans 5:20

“Moreover the law entered, that the offence (that sin might be seen for what it really is) might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:”

Now that tells you that no matter how far down an individual can go into sin and wickedness, yet the Grace of God is always capable of going even lower and bring that individual back up to a place of righteousness. Now verse 21.

Romans 5:21

“That as sin hath reigned (like a king) unto death, even so might grace (this liberty, this freedom) reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”

All right then you come on into Chapter 6:1 I’m sure that Paul still has on his mind that he was slanderously reported in Chapter 3 to have taught that they could now do as they please.

Romans 6:1-2

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? (in other words, are we to actually test God’s offer of Grace, by seeing how much evil we can do, and get away with it?) 2. God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, (old Adam) live any longer therein?”

So this is the whole concept, that yes we’re set free, we are at liberty, and yet not liberty to go contrary to the Word of God. Now that wouldn’t make sense would it? But to have liberty as a believer is so wonderful. But this is an area where we can have a difference of opinion, because something that might not strike me as being intrinsically sinful to some one else it may be. So here is where our liberty comes into play. You have to determine between yourself and the Lord as to what your behavior is going to be in certain areas. We covered this several months ago, a good example is giving.

Someone may be led to give 30 or 40 percent of their income, well that’s great, but someone else may not be able to have that kind of opportunity, and they may give considerably less,but no one is mandated as to how much they give in this age of Grace. That’s Christian liberty! That’s what we have in Grace. Now that’s just one example. Now coming back to Galatians Chapter 5. We are not to use this liberty as an occasion to the flesh, and say, “Well I’m now saved, I’m a child of God and I can do whatever I wish.” Well I think most true believers know better than that. It’s these people who may have tasted of salvation, and had an emotional experience, but they’ve never really entered in to a genuine salvation experience. Now those kind of people may be able to take this approach, but for the true believer I think most of them know better than that. Now verse 13 again.

Galatians 5:13

“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”

Now you want to remember that Paul is writing to the Galatian believers who were in various congregations, and amongst themselves believer with believers, they were to serve one another through love. Now I need to come back to my definition of Biblical love, or the Agape love as we saw it in John’s gospel when Jesus said to Peter, “Peter loveth thou me?” Do you remember those accounts? And Peter never did really get the full impact of Agape love, because Peter came back and said, “I Phileo you,” Meaning I’m fond of you. It was a lesser term then agape.

My best definition for us in the English speaking world of agape love is, “Seeking that other persons highest good.” That is true agape love in practice, when in every circumstance try to seek that other person’s highest good. Now that means many times we will even sell ourselves short in order to accomplish that which is the highest good for the other person. So this is what the apostle Paul is talking about in verse 13. Rather than use our liberty for an occasion to satisfy the lust of the flesh, rather we are to let that God-given agape love, the love that always seeks the other persons highest good. Now verse 14.

Galatians 5:14

“For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself.”

Now let’s go back and compare what Paul writes in Romans Chapter 13. And again you need to compare Scripture with Scripture so that you don’t say, “Well that doesn’t really mean what it says.” A lot of people will say that when you confront them about something. But it does mean what it says, and if you don’t believe what it says in this one then find another place where it collaborates it and it all fits.

Romans 13:8b

“…for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”

Every part of it, because love is always the answer for what the Law demands, and I’ve gone over all of this more than once. Can you steal from someone that you really love? Why no way! Can you go out and bear false witness about someone you really love and are seeking their highest good? No. And it’s the same way with sexual immorality of the day. If true agape love is functioning, the present day surge of immorality and adultery would die on the vine. Because there is no true love in that kind of sexual satisfaction. It always leaves people miserable, you all know that. Triangles do nothing but cause unhappiness and grief and sorrow, and why? Because there is no true love involved in something like that.

Coveting is another one, you don’t wish you had something that someone has that you love. So love is the fulfilling of the whole Law, and then Paul goes on to repeat them in verse 9. So when I say that Paul teaches that we’re not under Law but rather Grace, that doesn’t mean that Paul says we’re free to steal, bear false witness and covet. No way but all he means is that the Law doesn’t hang over us as a threatening punishment, that if you break it the hand of God is going to come down on you. That’s not what he’s saying. He’s saying, “That once we’ve come into Salvation through faith and under the Grace of God our whole system of want to changes.” We no longer want to do these things that are contrary to the Law. So it isn’t a matter of having to have the Law in order to maintain Christian discipline. We’re going to see when we get down to a couple of verses later that it’s that indwelling Holy Spirit that takes the place of the Law. And that’s what we have to constantly emphasize. Now if we can come back to Galatians Chapter 5, and for repetition let’s read verse 14 again.

Galatians 5:14

“For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Now that takes care of everything. Now verse 15 is just an admonition.

Galatians 5:15a

“But if ye bite and devour one another,…”

Now that will take in the bearing of false witness commandment. My, you can destroy a persons character in 5 minutes, and this is what is so sad about our political system. We love our freedoms and liberties, but you know all someone has to do is by innuendo make something of a derogatory comment and immediately that person is put on a defense, but what has happened in the eyes of the public? He’s guilty. Whether he is or not just by virtue of implication he is now guilty until he can prove himself innocent. Well Paul is telling believers that this is the same thing that they are doing to each other. Every time you say something nasty about one of your fellow believers you are by implication putting them in a place of defending their character or what ever. And so Paul is saying, “You had better be careful, because it will eat you alive.”

Galatians 5:15b

“…take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.”

Literally just eaten up by those to whom you are being an adversary. Now let’s move on an as you can see I have already drawn my circles on the board, to save a little time, to show the make up of mankind.

Galatians 5:16

“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”

In other words, to keep from fulfilling the lust of the flesh you must walk in the power and the control of the Holy Spirit. Now that makes sense doesn’t it? When the Holy Spirit is operating you’re not going to go out and steal, the Holy Spirit will never tell a believer to go and steal or do anything contrary to the Word. So when we walk in the Spirit and He is in complete control then these things of old Adamic nature, which is still lurking there in the background, won’t come to the front. Now getting back to the circles that I have drawn on the board. Now verse 17.

Galatians 5:17a

“For the flesh (old Adam, that old Adamic nature) lusteth (or declares war on our new nature or) against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh;…”

So it’s a constant battle. The battle line are defined from the very moment we’re saved until we leave this life by death, or we trust one day soon, through the Rapture. But until one or the other happens we are in a constant warfare. Now reading on in verse 17.

Galatians 5:17b

…and these (two forces within each believer) are contrary (they are at total odds) the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”

These two natures can’t agree on anything because the new nature has a whole new set of values that are in compliance with the righteousness, and the Holiness, and the laws of God. And the old nature, whose god is Satan, and the god of this world, this nature is bent in rebellion, and unbelief, and so they are two totally opposites, and they war constantly. Now we haven’t had a study on the circles that make up mankind in a long time so let’s go back to Genesis. I’m amused, and encouraged because in my system of teaching the two things that most people says have really opened their eyes to the Scripture are the timeline, and the 3 circles. The timeline has literally opened the Bible for so many people and the 3 circles help people understand the make up of man.

We had a gentlemen at one of our last seminars who said that when he first heard of me he hated me with a passion. He said, “My wife had gotten some of your tapes, and I hated those tapes, and if I could have gotten away with it I would have destroyed every one of them.” But he said, after arguing over the tapes he agreed to watch one of the half hour tapes just to get them out of the house and out of sight. He said, “I watched the first half hour and went about 10 minutes into the second half hour and,” he said, “you had the 3 circles on the board, and it just totally blew my mind. After watching you explain those circles I could see my problem, I was under the control of that old Adamic nature, and I had to have what my wife had and what you were talking about.”

So there is another prime example of how the teaching on the three circles has helped so many folk, and clarify our make up. Now the outer circle represents our own individual body. And as we’ve pointed out from Corinthians the body is just the exercise of the five senses, and it’s merely the temporary dwelling place for the next circle the “soul,” which I usually refer to now as the “personality,” the real you. It’s your personality, and is made up of the mind, the will, and the emotions in each person. Now that’s what really makes us click. It’s our mind that does the thinking, and formulates every thing. The will is what carries out the thinking, and then you have our make-up of emotions which is our love and anger, joy and what have you. Then we had the third part that Adam was first created with, body, soul, and spirit, whereby he had fellowship, and communion with the Creator. Now we know that as soon as Adam sinned as God had said –

Genesis 2:17b

“…for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

And so Adam didn’t die physically for 930 years, but his spirit, that part of him which he had been having fellowship with His Creator died, and became dormant. His spirit was still there but was dead like a car battery that has been run down, and it will remain dead until some outside power source comes in and regenerates it. Then at the same time with Adam, another thing happened to him. His personality, by which he was created, became then a sin nature. We refer to it as our old Adam. It had only one bent and that was rebellion against everything that God instructed or taught, it would say no. In fact all you have to do is just stop and think for a moment.

You look at the world around us and it’s been this way all the way back through history. Every thing that God says, “This do” for our own good what does Satan say? Well just the opposite. Satan is always telling the human race just the opposite of what God has instructed us to do. On the other hand every thing that God says we shouldn’t do, what does the Devil say? Do it. So this has been the conflict then between man and God ever since Adam became that original “sin nature” and his spirit or the place of fellowship was completely put out of commission, it was made dormant.

So now when we come into the human experience, yes we’re living in that same body of flesh, blood, and bones which operates the five senses and it’s in that body that now our old personality, this sin nature, is operating, and that’s as much as we’ve got. We’ve got no way of communicating with God while in that condition. Now people don’t like for me to say that, I know. When that poor old GI in the fox hole would cry out for God to help him, God didn’t hear that unless he cried out for salvation. That’s the prayer of an unbeliever that God hears, because you see there’s no means of communication for the lost person and God. There is none. Romans 8:7-8 makes it so plain that the lost person is an enemy of God. Well you don’t deal with your enemy if you’ve got one.

So here we are as a race of people living in the flesh with an old sin nature, a personality that is an enemy against God, and with nothing to keep us in communication with God. But now for the flip side. Here comes the Cross, and Paul teaches so explicitly for the first time in Scripture about this whole idea of a sin nature, and that is that if this sin nature can be crucified, and literally by faith committed unto God to have Him put it to death (because this old sin nature has to be declared dead, at least so far as God is concerned), although it remains a viable force in our living, but the minute God reckons old Adam as crucified, God then puts within us a new nature, a divine nature which is the very mind and nature of Christ Himself. And that’s what we mean when we become Christ-like or a Christian.

But never lose sight of the fact that even though God reckons old Adam as dead, and God sees him no more, and that’s justification. It’s just as if we’ve never sinned so far as God is concerned. So it’s just as if old Adam has been completely put out of God’s sight, but in our experience as a believer, he’s still there. The only hope we have is that God has intervened with something that will help us control this old Adam and we can keep him defeated.

 

Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 2 * PART 4 * BOOK 34

GALATIANS 4:15 – 5:11 – PART 2

Now let’s just get right back where we left off in Galatians Chapter 5, and we’ll begin with verse 6. Remember what we’ve just been saying, and that is you cannot attach anything to Paul’s Gospel for salvation – if you do then Christ shall profit you nothing. Now verse 6.

Galatians 5:6

“For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.”

Now what love are we first and foremost talking about? The love of Christ as He poured out Himself on the Cross for us. Lets turn to Philippians Chapter 2 and look at a verse, and remember what we’re talking about – The love of Christ that sent Him to the Cross.

Philippians 2:5-8

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; 6. Who, being in the form of God, (He was God) thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7. But (as God) made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, (a bond slave) and was made in the likeness of men: (now here it comes. The word `love’ isn’t used but certainly implied) 8. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

What was the engine that drove His obedience? Love! His love for mankind, His love for the Father drove Him to be obedient to the work of the Cross. And death on the Cross was the most horrible death a person could possibly experience. Now another verse we need to look at is found in II Corinthians Chapter 5 and verse 14.

II Corinthians 5:14

“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:”

But why did He die for all? Because of the love that constrains. There is another good one in the Book of Romans Chapter 13. This is Paul writing to believers, and this is one of those areas of Scripture that is so practical. There’s nothing pie in the sky about any of these things that he writes, this is everyday practicality.

Romans 13:8

“Owe no man any thing, (or defraud no one) but to love one another: for he that loveth another (under Grace of course) hath fulfilled the law.”

Isn’t that amazing? We don’t have to have Temple worship, or a priesthood, or animal sacrifices, or the Ten commandments constantly drilled into us. Once we’ve stepped under the light of Grace and the Holy Spirit empowers us, love becomes the whole motivating power behind everything that we do, and then we automatically fulfill the Law. As I’ve said so often, can you steal from somebody you love? I can’t comprehend it. Can you bear false witness, or can you gossip about someone you love? No. Can you covet something that a loved one owns and you wish it was yours instead of theirs? No. When love is operating, the Ten Commandments automatically fall away. They no longer become something that we must be taught and have drilled into us. Now reading on.

Romans 13:9-10

“For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery. (if your Christian love is operating you won’t commit adultery.) Thou shalt not kill, (that’s obvious. You certainly are not going to kill somebody you love.) Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness. Thou shalt not covet, and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (now here it is in a nutshell) 10. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”

Isn’t that simple and practical? Now let’s come back to Galatians Chapter 5 once again. Now verse 7, and don’t lose the concept of this letter. These Gentiles had come out of paganism as a result of Paul’s Gospel and now they were being deluged and undermined by the teaching of having to keep the Law – and now he says:

Galatians 5:7

“Ye did run well; (your past has shown that you did become believers) who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?”

In other words Paul says, “What’s happening to you people?” Oh, he knew, but yet he’s trying to put them on the defensive by asking the questions. You know that’s what the Lord always did. He asked the question not because He needed the answer, but because He wanted to put His subject on the stump. And so here Paul is doing the same thing.

Galatians 5:7

“Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth.”

I remember a gentlemen I knew down in the French area of Louisiana which I’m sure is probably 99% Catholic. And he made this statement, but it’s so appropriate in so many places. He said, “I knew somebody was down there that was not a Catholic.” And I said “Who in the world fooled with you?” Well you know that’s just exactly the way it is in so many instances. We run into a group of people and they’ve been so thoroughly programmed, and when you find one that’s different you wonder, “Who in the world blew you away?” Well that’s what Paul is saying. “Here I had you indoctrinated, I had you taught correctly.” Now who’s come along and is blowing you away? Paul knew who it was, it was the Judaisers. Do you see that? Now verse 8.

Galatians 5:8

“This persuasion (to come away from Paul’s Gospel of Grace) cometh not of him that calleth you.”

Who called them? The Holy Sprit of God. Well if the Holy Spirit did not lead them away then what spirit did? The evil spirit. Remember we’ve only got two spirits in the world. It’s either of the Holy Spirit or of the satanic evil spirit. Let’s go back to John’s little epistles. I don’t like to say anything unless I can show it from the Book. Go back to I John Chapter 4, and this is what the world is up against tonight just as much as when Paul wrote to the Galatians. The human race hasn’t changed one iota, not one bit.

I John 4:1

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” And then you come on down to verse 3.

I John 4:3

“And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of anti-christ, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.”

So what are we up against? The two spirits. It’s either of the Holy Spirit or of the evil spirit. Now of course Satan has his demons, but nevertheless it’s going to originate in the satanic powers, and this is what the world is up against. I mean it’s up against everything that Satan can throw at them. You know I always remind people, don’t get the idea that all Satan can promote is what we call skid row behavior. Satan will promote the most beautiful things, Satan will promote that which we think is culture and enlightening as long as he can keep people from the truth. He doesn’t care what he uses as long as people fall for it. With Satan the end always justifies the means. Satan will use good things but it will be of the evil spirit rather than the Holy Spirit that is speaking. Now come back again to Galatians Chapter 5, and look at verse 8 again.

Galatians 5:8a

“This persuasion…”

To go back under legalism didn’t come from the Holy Spirit who brought them out of paganism, but it came from the same evil spirit that held them in paganism until the Gospel freed them. You see Satan never gives up, and we’ll see in our next taping session when we get further along in Chapter 5 that for every believer there is a constant warfare isn’t there? And it’s between the two natures. One is Holy Spirit driven, and the other is the old nature that still has its roots in the satanic power of the curse, and so those two natures are in a constant warfare. So it is between the believer community in general and the world in general. They are two total opposites. So we’re up against two forces constantly. And so, even with the believer, Paul says the spirit that is taking you back into a false gospel is not the same spirit that brought you out. Now verse 9, and here comes the warning.

Galatians 5:9

“A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.”

Now in common language what’s leaven? Yeast. And when you put yeast into the dough it’s not just going to leaven some of it, but rather all of it. Now it’s the same way with false teaching. If you let a little bit of false teaching in as leaven it isn’t long before it permeates the whole, one leads to another. For those of you who know your Bible, what has happened to Christendom in general? It’s been leavened. Christianity today is leavened. All the things Scripture and Christianity stood against 50-60 years ago are now part and parcel of everyday experience.

I’ll never forget a long time ago when one of our kids was at the university and we visited a church up there. And the pastor there made such a tremendous point. All of the things of the world came knocking at the Church’s door and the Church said, “Yeah we can accommodate that, we can live with that.” And then it wasn’t long that the door opened a little wider and some of the other world stuff came in and the Church said, “Yeah we can also live with that.” And now you see the doors are wide open and you can’t tell the difference between the Church and the world. What happened? “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” Now verse 10.

Galatians 5:10

“I have confidence in you…”

See Paul didn’t give up on these people. He’s not going to throw them to the wolves He’s still hanging in there and trusting that he’s going to bring them back to the truth. But like I said in an earlier lesson on the basis of what he wrote to Timothy what happened? They didn’t come back, because he said in II Timothy 1:15 “This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me;…” And this is where these people were. They were in Galatia in Asia Minor, but at this point in time this apostle still has not given up on the fact that he’s going to bring them back into the truth of the Gospel of the Grace of God.

Galatians 5:10

“I have confidence in you though the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be.”

Now those are strong words aren’t they? In other words Paul is saying, “Whoever it is that is bringing in this false teaching, and is leading you away from the Gospel of Grace, his judgment is sure.” He’s going to one day stand before the Great White Throne where only lost people will stand, and he’s going to be judged, absolutely they are. I’ve said for years that preachers and theologians who mislead people are going to have the hottest corner in the lake of fire, because they are misleading multitudes.

You know when you pick up this Book, I don’t care if you’re a Sunday School teacher, or if you’re just leading a small devotional, every time you pick up this Book you are accepting a tremendous responsibility, and don’t think I don’t take it seriously. I never take teaching the Word of God lightly. I also have to understand that if I would be guilty of misleading someone to the place of missing heaven’s glory then I would have to answer for it. But so far I have never felt guilty of that. I feel as though we’ve had so many people write and call and express a joy of salvation that it just sort of puts the stamp of God’s approval on our ministry. Over and over people who have been steeped in their particular background, Sunday School teachers, and church officers write and say, “For the first time in my life I now know what it is to have a real salvation experience.”

Well if the Lord wasn’t blessing it then that could never happen. So we have to feel that we are presenting the Word as close to the truth as is humanly possibly. My, I’d be scared to death of presenting an error. Now I’m not saying that I’m above error because I am human, and I don’t expect everyone to agree with me on every thing, but on these fundamentals of Who Christ is. That He was virgin born, that He is God the Creator, and that His atoning work of the Cross, His death, burial, and resurrection has completed every bit of God’s requirement for salvation. He’s coming again, and I will never compromise those things. I’d rather go back and just simply stay on the ranch than teach any other way.

I suppose a lot of people think I should have never left the ranch, but this is why I sound bold at times. See, I don’t have to depend on some denominational retirement account. I don’t depend on a salary from any of this, and if I was booted out of all of this situation then I could just go back to the ranch full time and pet my cows a little more than usual. Iris thinks I give them more attention than they deserve anyway. But we’re going to proclaim the truth as the Lord lays it upon us even as the apostle Paul did, and he said –

Galatians 1:10

“For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” And listen, I’m far more fearful of God and want to please Him more than I do men. So here in verse 10 Paul says –

Galatians 5:10b

“…but he that troubleth you (with his false teaching) shall bear his judgement, whosoever he be.” It didn’t matter whether this false teacher was highly educated, a philosopher, or a high man in Judaism, it doesn’t matter. Paul says, “This person will one day stand in judgment.”

Galatians 5:11a

“And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution?…”

Well who were his chief persecutors? The Judaisers. A verse comes to mind in the Book of Acts Chapter 15. Most of you know this but we may have someone watching the program for the first time and have never seen this before. But here in this chapter is exactly what Paul was up against. And here Luke, the historian, is writing.

Acts 15:1

“And certain men which came down from Judaea (to Antioch where Paul and Barnabas had been ministering primarily to Gentiles.) taught the brethren, (those believing Gentiles at Antioch) and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.”

Do you see how clear that is? That’s what Paul was up against. See these people came down from Jerusalem with authority. I mean after all they were emissaries of the Twelve. A lot of people probably don’t like the idea that I put Peter, James and John, along with a lot of these Judaisers, but Galatians 2:7-9 indicate that. Now for the sake of time I’m going to skip the next 3 verses and now come up to verse 5. As the counsel takes place in Jerusalem with the Twelve and Paul and Barnabas.

Acts 15:5

“But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, (in other words they, like the Twelve, had believed for salvation in His name only that Jesus was the Christ.)saying. That it was needful to circumcise them, (these Gentile converts at Antioch) and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”

Now these believers at Galatia was falling for that, and this is what Paul had to constantly remind them that they had not been taught that way. Now back to Galatians chapter 5 and we’ll finish up on verse 11.

Galatians 5:11

“And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? (Paul says, `If I preached what the Judaisers in Jerusalem preached then I’d have clear sailing. I wouldn’t have any opposition, I wouldn’t be under this persecution. Because that’s their main reason for hating me and fighting me. I will not give in to circumcising these Gentile believers. If I preached circumcision) then is the offence or the cross ceased.” (or brought to an end)

Isn’t that amazing? All Paul would have had to do to have an easy road was to succumb to the pressure. All he would have had to do was give in and say, “Okay, Okay I’ll teach circumcision, I’ll preach Law-keeping, just get off my back.” Now God wouldn’t have been satisfied but the world would have. And the Church would have just died a natural death and Satan would have gloated all the way into eternity, but Paul didn’t. Paul never backed off and gave in to these Judaisers.