Galatians Part III
The following are my notes from Galatians 2:14 through Galatians 3:15
The following are my notes from Galatians 2:14 through Galatians 3:15
My next set of notes covers Galatians chapter 1:18 through chapter 2:14
THE SADDEST THING FOR ME WHEN I READ AND STUDY THIS BOOK IS THE FACT THAT MOST ORGANIZED CHURCHES TODAY ARE STILL PREACHING A PERVERTED GOSPEL OF SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT COMES FROM MIXING GRACE + LAW.
STAY TUNED FOR MORE…………………….
One of the last books I preached on before I left the church was the book of Galatians. I plan on posting my notes from those sermons over the next few weeks. Hope you enjoy. Remember this is only my notes.
I started with the first 17 verses:
1 Paul, an apostle, not from men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God, the Father, who raised him from the dead,
"And God will reveal this great truth to all of us.
Matt 16:15-18 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
"2 and all the brothers with me, to the congregations of Galatia:3 grace to you and peace from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. "
4 He gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of this present wicked world, according to the will of God, our Father, 5 to whom is the glory forever and forever. Amen!
"6 I wonder that ye are so quickly removed from Him who did call you in the grace of Christ to another good news;7 that is not another, except there be certain who are troubling you, and wishing to pervert the good news of the Christ;"
"8 but even if we or a messenger out of heaven may proclaim good news to you different from what we did proclaim to you — anathema let him be!9 as we have said before, and now say again, If any one to you may proclaim good news different from what ye did receive — anathema let him be."
"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.11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man."
12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
"13 For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:14 And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers."
Paul also speaks of profit in performance based religion. The profit comes from the ability to burden people with a list of requirements that they must keep in order to be OK with God. And you will always see money connected to the powerful preachers of our day. After Paul had the gospel revealed to him he no longer sought the type of profit that so many preachers cherish today. He no longer cherished the traditions of religion. His heart was solely focused on sharing freely the goodnews that Christ gave himself for ALL and that he loved ALL.
"15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: 17 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus."
There is a new TV show called "Moment of Truth" where the contestants are rewarded only if they tell the brutal truth when asked some potentially very damaging questions about their lives. It’s amazing how money can motivate we humans to hurt ourselves and others.
As I thought about this show and listened as people in the audience seemed so surprised at some of the deep dark secrets being told by the contestants it reminded how ingrained it is in all of us to judge others that seem less moral then we are. Yes, any of us can find someone who is less moral then we are but do we really think there isn’t someone out there who is more moral then us? What if the whole world around you knew your deepest and darkest secrets? It would be quite humbling for any of us wouldn’t it? I suspect if you were put into that position that it would change the way you judge others wouldn’t it?
I guess that’s one of the main issues I have with organized religion. People in organized religion want to decide who God will accept and who He will reject based on the standard of morality. I don’t have a problem with any group of people who are encouraging each other to live the best lives possible but each of our lives are are so different and it is impossible for any of us to really know who is living their best life possible. Let me give you an example of what I am trying to say:
My wife Nancy is always telling me what a wonderful, beautiful, kind, and loving person I am. At least in her eyes I can do no wrong. When I tell her I feel the same way about her she always rejects it and puts herself down. Now here’s the thing, I know my wife better then any person who is now living except for God and what I know is that if you knew all that she had been through from the time she was a small child you would realize that her growth as a human being is far greater then mine.
Now back to my issue with organized religion: Organized religion sets up a specific moral standard that everyone involved knows is required to be considered a part of the "FAITHFUL". If people don’t live up to that standard they are looked upon with suspect. It doesn’t matter that they may have a story that if you could know every detail of their life you would be choked up with pride for how well they actually did under the hand they were dealt.
I love the way my wife looks at me and feels about me but I will never allow that to make me think I’m good enough to judge others or to think I am any better then she is. I have learned not to be sucked into false righteousness. God knows my story and I would never want to answer some of the questions He could ask of me in front of the whole world.
The reality check that I am talking about here is the very reason why God needed to show us a grace so bold that once we truly accepted it we could never again condemn another person for anything, even unbelief. Once you truly understand Bold Grace like this you can’t even judge yourself and that’s where this great peace comes in.
We often talk about being Perfect here at Bold Grace, but we not talking about an earned perfection. We are talking about a God who sees a perfection in each of us that we can’t see because HE knows every single detail of our lives and how those details led us down the paths we each have taken.
My path compared to my wife’s path was much easier, so how could I dare claim to be a better person then her? Unfortunately organized religion is full of people who do dare to claim a higher moral life, that is until their own "MOMENT OF TRUTH" comes to the surface.
Are there humble, non-judgmental people in organized religion? I’m sure there are, but I would not say that is the norm. In fact I would say it is rare to truly find such a person because they are constantly being bombarded with a message of judgment and condemnation of folks who aren’t living like the organization says they aught to be.
Someone will undoubtedly say that I am judging and condemning people in organized religion. I must answer that by defining what I mean above when I talk about people who are judging others whom they think is less moral then they are. When they judge people they are making a distinction about who God will accept and who He will reject based on the moral standard they have been taught. When I make judgments about them I still fully believe God accepts them because He knows their entire story and their individual paths. I never condemn the person regardless of how much I may hate their message, but I will condemn the message of anyone who thinks they are somehow more acceptable to God because of some formula of morality they have followed.
If we would each in the quiet of the night face our own "MOMENT OF TRUTH" I am convinced we would get up the next morning with a much kinder attitude toward all of God’s beautiful children.
Peace to All Who Will Understand.
A few years back I worshiped with some Quakers for about three years and I would often hear them use the word "Clarity" when they were pondering something that was bothering them. I think that is a very good word and one of the things Jesus came to do was to bring clarity to our minds.
The first thing He did to accomplish this for us was to rescue us from a system that had our minds full of turmoil. That system was the LAW. The LAW consisted of the Ten Commandments plus approximately 630 other laws that had been handed down to the Israelites through the years. The turmoil in our minds comes as a result of desire to live up to God’s standard of righteousness without the ability to do so. Listen to the following scriptures:
James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.Gal 3:10 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."
As you can see from the scriptures above it is impossible for any of us to live up to the law demands and therein lies our great problem when it comes to being right with God based on our performance.
Now unfortunately the organized church of today still does not get this because they continue to preach a gospel that is a mixture of law and grace. If the Law that God provided could not make us righteous what makes the church think they can do a better job of coming up with another standard for correct performance? Paul also tells us that there is no law that can make us right. Listen:
Gal 3:21-22 For if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
When Paul says "a law" he is clearly saying that there can be NO standard of human performance that will ever make one right with God. He goes on to say that we were all failures when it came to our performance but the promise God made to redeem all of mankind came about because of the FAITH OF JESUS. Yes, it is given to them that believe and thanks be to God one more time because he will not leave any of us in unbelief. Paul tell us his own conversion came about because of his unbleif……..listen again to Paul’s account:
1 Tim 1:12-17 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners — of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
The grace of the Lord was POURED OUT on Paul abundantly along with the FAITH AND LOVE that are in CHRIST JESUS. Paul was converted out of UNBELIEF and was GIVEN faith and love. And the best thing is he says this conversion was given as an example for ALL that will eventually believe in the awesome Lord.
Now let’s get back to the CLARITY issue for a minute. Why do church folk have such a hard time understanding this very BOLD GRACE? I believe Paul again gives us the answer:
2 Cor 3:13-18 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Turn on your televisions on Sunday morning or go to almost any local church and you will hear the LAW preached. And where you hear the law preached you will find DULL minds. And how does one get away from this DULL mind? Turn to the LORD of Bold Grace. You will find freedom. Your vision of others will become clear. You will see the image of God everywhere. You will see his Glory more and more even in the worst of circumstances and this glorious vision of a FAITHFUL GOD will transform you more and more from the inside out.
Are you seeking CLARITY OF THOUGHT? Give up your quest to be righteous by your own beliefs and performance and be awakened to this loving God who has always loved you, loves you now, and will never abandon you regardless of how bad you think you are. Allow me to leave you with one last scripture because I know there are many out there that have their minds full of turmoil (self condemnation) because of what they are hearing preached every Sunday.
1 John 3:18 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
Peace to All Who Will Understand,
Cliff
Recently some one ask me what purpose does Bold Grace have? I wrote the following post a couple of years ago and I think it answers that question best, so here it is.
Bold grace has a purpose, a magnificent purpose that we can be excited about. Bold grace is not just for the forgiveness of sins, or for letting us humans have a pass while we live this life. Bold grace comes from our perfect God through the life of His son Jesus Christ and its power is far reaching. Paul the apostle enlightens us on what is the purpose of this bold grace of God.
Titus 2:11-1511 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. 15 These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.
Now for me, I am convinced that He accomplishes this in every single life. You might say: "Well Cliff, I just don’t see that in a lot of people that I know." What you are forgetting is that we are human and very limited in our understanding of God. Every day that I allow this bold grace to teach me I am more and more in awe of our PERFECT GOD. To deny the power of grace, is to limit our Perfect God to our thinking. God’s thoughts are not my thoughts, and His ways are past finding out.
Paul describes our creator as the GREAT GOD and OUR SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST. Ask yourself, how great is your God? The God I see preached in most of our churches is powerless, with more power to send people to HELL then to HEAVEN.
In a recent comment Bruce said:
It wasn’t until I found this group of friends at boldgrace that I finally found true community. Even with the great distances between us, there is more love, friendship, compassion, and community than I’ve ever seen in any traditional church. The reason? We have no leaders, and have no need for any leaders. We’re simply a bunch of friends on a journey together, enjoying God’s peace and grace. No agendas, no power struggles, no funds to collect, no building to pay for, no need to build community (because it just “happened”). It’s not to say we’re without our challenges and pains, but they seem to be rare. This is probably the only true community of which I’ve ever been a part.
I feel the same exact way and I know Geo, Steve, and Mindy would also agree. As I thought about what Bruce wrote it made me realize the reality of his last statement in my life also. He said: "This is probably the only true community of which I’ve ever been a part."
So, what is it that makes our friendship so special? I can only answer for myself but I believe that the very root of the answer is found in NOTHING. By that I mean each of us came to this understanding of God’s very BOLD grace by ourselves as individuals and when we came together as a "COMMUNITY" here at boldgrace.com we did not bring anything else with it. Bold Grace by its self plus nothing is our secret and I believe it is the great secret that makes the Gospel good news indeed.
Does that mean that we don’t share ideas that can improve our lives in the here and now? Of course not. We often share and talk about different books we are reading and how new things we are learning help us understand this life more clearly. We also love hearing all the different comments that encourage us to keep this site open. As Bruce said, we have No agendas, no power struggles, no funds to collect, no building to pay for, no need to build community (because it just “happened”). We are only here to share this unbelievable peace that is a direct result of realizing this BOLD GRACE.
Some may wonder why we so strongly reject adding anything to it and the reason is simple. It is God himself who gives us the answer:
2 Cor 12:9 "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
Grace has taught me to accept myself the way God accepts me. Grace has taught me to accept Bruce, Geo, Steve, Mindy, and everyone else exactly the way they are because it is GOD who takes our weaknesses and shows us His PERFECT POWER in spite of them.
Yes, we do believe we are perfect because we believe His Grace really does have POWER. He doesn’t need us to do something or believe something for His Grace to Work. Who ever comes to our site will not be asked to change anything in their life. We will tell them they have always been loved, are loved now, and will always be loved by a God who truly loves without conditions.
The amazing thing is that when people really get this message of Bold Grace it does have a powerful effect on their lives. The security of an indestructible love has more power than all of man’s greatest wisdom. Just knowing that God will never leave you, never forsake you, never abandon you, and that He will be standing by you even in your weakest of moments is a knowledge that is our greatest resource here on earth. This LOVE from God comes without judgment or criticism. This LOVE comes with freedom to choose our own way. We can choose a painful life of striving to be good enough or we can choose a peaceful life by believing in this Bold Grace, but either way God will STAND with us.
Bold Grace plus nothing is the secret to true community. God made us all in His image and I am so glad that my eyes can see the beauty of that image in myself and in the world around me.
Rom 8:38-39 I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love which Christ Jesus our Lord shows us. We can’t be separated by death or life, by angels or rulers, by anything in the present or anything in the future, by forces or powers in the world above or in the world below, or by anything else in creation.
The following verses tell us that God has taken complete responsibility for what we need to learn while on this earth. Maybe that’s why He tells us to quit judging each other.
Heb 8:10-13 This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.Heb 10:16-18 "This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.1 John 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.1 Thess 4:9 But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.Matt 7:1-4 Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?1 Cor 4:3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.
Isn’t it a peaceful feeling that we do not have to rely on anyone to teach us what is most important?
And isn’t it a peaceful feeling to know it is not my job to judge others?
Wow, if the church quit teaching and judging, what would be left? I guess they didn’t get that memo from God.
I posted this in October of 2007 and I think it speaks to a lot of things we have been discussing here on Boldgrace.
I was sitting on the back porch this morning smoking a cigarette thinking about how perfect God’s creation is. Some folks struggle with that idea because they are so stuck in a mindset that is based on "getting good". The reality for each of us is found in knowing we are his perfect creation and that can not be threatened by anything in this world. You may ask, "Why then is there so much chaos in this world?" Well, for me the answer is simple. God allowed us to experience the illusion of imperfection in order that we might fully realize our actual perfection. Think about the only warning he gave to the first human beings.
Gen 2:15-17 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
This video is for my fellow travelers who think there is no way out. Speak up and use your voice. You will find some who don’t care at all, some who care a little, and some who care a great deal. Maybe we can’t solve all your problems but at least you will find someone who cares here at BoldGrace.
Matt 10:29-31"Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny? Not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s permission. Every hair on your head has been counted. Don’t be afraid! You are worth more than many sparrows.
We won’t judge you. We won’t condemn you. We won’t point out all your weaknesses. And the reason we won’t is because we know your value. There is a God of Perfect Love that you can trust. He leaves none of us behind. He will never forsake anyone. He has a plan for you that is perfect. We hope you choose to awaken to the LOVE that surrounds you, but either way His LOVE will wrap you up and hold you safe at all times.