Turning To A Different Gospel | Galatians (Ep. 1)

Ah! You clicked on Galatians. You're probably here because you want to unpack the book of the Bible called Galatians and good news you're in the right spot. My name is Paco and I'm gonna be leading you through it but to start off I got to tell you a story, okay? Back in the day, like way back in the day, I'm talking like early 21st century back in the day. I'm at this real fancy dinner. It's me, it's a girl who's about to become my ex-girlfriend, it's her mom, and it's a multi-millionaire. I gotta let you know I have no place in this fancy swanky restaurant, right? I got this suit on, doesn't fit me properly. I'm super nervous, right? And I clearly did not know how this whole thing was going down. They hand me the menu. I'm looking at the menu, there are no prices on the menu. What does market rate mean? I have no idea. And then they hand it over the drinks, right? So I got a drinks menu and I'm looking at all these items I'm like I have no idea how to even pronounce this stuff. I thought agave was a typo for a gave. I had no idea what I was doing there and I was super nervous. So the waitress comes over, she's like, hey what can I get you to drink? And I look at her and I'm like, well I'm gonna do what I always do. I'm ordering water. I'm gonna say, water please. She looks back at me and she says, still or sparkling? I have no idea what that means. So I reply, I'll have bottled please. I wanted to be a part of that experience that night so bad. I wanted to do all the details right. I wanted all the stuff to happen the way it was supposed to happen at those swanky restaurants. But all of the rules written and unwritten were really messing with me. They were really getting in my way. They were messing with my confidence. Like I knew that there was like a code of conduct on how to operate in these spots, but clearly I did not have access to it. If I only had a list of what to do, I wouldn't be such an idiot right. Now to be clear, I love a good fancy dinner and to be clear, I love a good list of do's and don'ts. I like the written and unwritten rules, but when it comes to following Jesus, when it comes to walking out our faith, if we just lean on the list of do's and don'ts, the rule book, the to-do list, it's gonna fall short. And that's what the book of Galatians is all about. The book of Galatians was written to the church in Galatia.

Now Galatia is a spot in Asia, which is like modern-day Turkey, okay. And it's a it's a network of churches. So think like a lot of small gatherings of people. And the Apostle Paul, the guy who penned most of the New Testament, he is writing to this church, this group of people. And it's important to note here that the church of Galatia, the intent of this was the the letter to be read by these folks and then passed along to the other folks and kind of make its way throughout the region, okay. So in writing this, Paul has a lot of themes that he's writing about to different people throughout the region. But in Galatia, the Galatians, they well, they've got some unique troubles, some unique things that are pressing on them that have infiltrated their church, right. So imagine it like this. If I wrote a letter to San Diego, it shouldn't just go to one person, right, dealing with one issue. It should go to the whole region. And I should be looking at the region kind of in general going, hey, what is what is the thing that's troubling San Diego? It wouldn't go to just one person. It should go to all the San Diegans or the San Dieganites or the San Diagono. It should go to everybody in the area, okay. So the Galatians are the people who are the audience for this letter. That's the backdrop of what's happening. And at that time, these people called the Judaizers have entered the the scene. And what they're doing is that they might have had good intentions, right, but what they're doing is they're adding things to the list of do's and don'ts that the Galatians have to follow in order to have a relationship with Jesus. That's important. Really, really important backdrop of the story, okay. So let's open it up. Galatians chapter 1, verse 1 says, Paul, an apostle, not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead and all the brothers and sisters who are with me to the churches of Galatia. Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age according to the will of our God and Father to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. It's very cordial of you, Paul. Very, very church-like. I feel like you should be like, ah man, in return to that, right? And grace to peace.

And grace and peace and something very religious back to you is what it feels like the rest of this letter is gonna be, right? Nah. It gets real. It gets real real. Watch this. Galatians 1.6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel. Not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preach to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be cursed. Paul gets hot. He's heated about how the Galatians are believing these people. So he reminds them, look if anybody's telling you something different, let them be accursed. And for you to remember who I am, I'm Paul. I'm that dude. I'm that guy who Jesus called directly. I'm that guy who goes around the world preaching this message. I'm that guy who has the authority and the power to know and to understand that what's happening with you is not supposed to be happening. Paul is hot. He's angry. He's also heated with his boy Peter. Now Peter, you might say. Yeah, Peter. Peter, that dude, you know, you call me out upon the—yeah, Ocean's Peter. Yeah, that guy. You know, Peter, the rock, the firm foundation. Yeah, one of the earliest followers of Jesus. Paul is heated with Peter because these rules, this rulebook that keeps growing and growing, start to really frustrate Paul. He knows that if people start to put their trust in the rulebook as opposed to their trust in Jesus, things aren't gonna go well for them. Let's pick up the story here. Galatians chapter 2 verse 11. But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. Quick side note. Cephas. Peter. Same dude. They just go by different names. Some of the language break down in there. Some of your translations will say Peter. Some of them might say Cephas. Recognize Cephas, Peter. Peter, Cephas. Equal sign. Same guy. Got it? Got it. Now why is this important? Well, it's important because Peter, right, Peter gets this vision from God. Peter's called specifically to the Jewish culture back in that time. And the Jewish culture, they had rules and rituals that they knew

before God, that honored God, that told them what to eat, when to eat, how to eat, and it helped them be distinct and be set apart from the rest of just whatever was happening in culture. So Peter gets this vision from God where like this this supernatural thing happens. And basically God says to Peter, listen Peter, I made all this. What I make clean, you don't call unclean. What that, what's that mean? That means that it's not necessarily about the food. It's about, it's about what God has provided. It's about what God has given us. And he's given us all this food. So we say, Peter, listen, don't make it about what you eat and who you eat with. Make it about me. But what happens is, as Peter is interacting with these people who are adding to the rulebook and are saying, listen, if you don't do A, B, C, D, E, and then all the way to Z, you are a mess. Peter starts acting different in front of different people. And it was confusing, folks. Now that's important because when we start to add rules to what God is doing, it not only messes us up, it messes people up that are around us. And Peter was a leader in the church, so when people started seeing Peter act different, they started to go, wait, am I, am I doing this right? And then all of a sudden, everyone's back in the rulebook and no one's seeking relationship with God. Let's continue. Galatians 2 14. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas, or Peter, before everyone, before them all, if you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews? Stop right there. If you, Peter, a Jew, live like the Gentiles, eat with the Gentiles, eat what the Gentiles eat, how can you force the Gentiles, these people who had come to know Jesus, to live like you? How could you force those guys to keep these rules when you're not even keeping the rules? You see how hypocritical that seems? But this rule book keeps growing, right? This rule book is really leading people astray. This idea that the rule book is what makes you right with God has even seeped into Peter's lifestyle. Let's pick it up at Galatians 2 19. For through the law, I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

and the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. No one is right with God because they kept a list of rules. You are right with God because of the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. If you get this right, your life will be more free. You will have more freedom to follow what God has called you to. If you start with the list of do's and don'ts, you will never make your way to Jesus. But if you start in relationship with Jesus, the list of do's and don'ts, it shrinks drastically. The stress of getting everything right shrinks drastically, and you end up with more freedom to follow what God has for you. I recognize when we when we look at the Bible, and we look at, you know, the story of God, and we see all these letters, and the epistles, and the context for what Galatia is, and the context for the beef between Peter and Paul, it could feel like you're at a fancy restaurant, and you're forever an idiot because, like, you don't have the inside scoop. I just want you to know this. Living for Jesus is about trusting him and his power, and through that relationship, all of the the nuggets in Scripture, all of the stuff that we don't currently understand, starts to become a little bit more clear. But like every relationship, it takes time, and it takes trust. So my hope for you is that you engage with this book of Galatians, that you put your trust, you start by putting your trust in Jesus, and what is true of him, his righteousness, his knowledge, his power, his wisdom, his understanding, that starts to become true of you. No matter what's happened in the past, no matter what life you come from, you can have that kind of understanding, that kind of relationship with Jesus. So where is it that you need that today? As you read this book, as you read chapters one and two, as you kind of open it up, I want you to be thinking about where do you need the life of Jesus to show up in your life today, the ways of Jesus to show up in your life today? Where do you need things to die? What needs to be maybe resurrected in your life? Are you keeping the rules, but not in relationship with Jesus? Are you saying you're leaning into the Jesus, but you

have no spiritual disciplines in your life? You need both. Spoiler alert, Paul's message to the Galatians is the same message that God has for us today. Our relationship with Jesus has to be the starting point. So my question for you, what does your relationship with God look like? Does it look like a bunch of like things and rules and like everything has to be in the exact right spot, and I have to know all the right things about everything? Or are you seeking to know him more, seeking to understand him more? Because when we start with that, all of this stuff starts to make a little bit more sense. And over time, we start to see that the rules and the rulebook, it has its place. Everything has its spot that it's supposed to be, but none of it makes sense unless we start with Jesus.