There is only one Gospel, only one message that is as good as it is true.
Only one proclamation that can properly be called good news.
And to abuse, eschew or skew any part of this Gospel’s views
would be to lose the very thing that makes it good news.
The church in Galatia was led away from their original belief that they were blessed
by God through faith in Jesus, not works of the law.
And we know this because in Paul’s letter to the Galatians we hear that another Gospel
was being taught by a sect of the Jewish nation.
They taught that blessing was based on obedience to the law Moses was given.
Blessing was dependent upon a person’s observance
of all the commands and decrees that Moses had written.
Yes, Jesus was the promised Christ the Old Testament predicted,
but believing in his death and resurrection wasn't what made someone a Christian.
You see, something else was needed, something extra, an addition.
To truly be blessed you must obey all the law’s requirements and restrictions.
And the mark of a man who truly keeps God’s commands is the mark of circumcision.
This mark, this sign became the battle lines for division.
Those who preached this false Gospel came to the Gentiles
and tried to force on them this additional condition.
So, Paul sent a letter to the Galatians in order to show them
how Jesus actually fulfilled the command of circumcision.
But Paul’s letter doesn’t start with Moses and commands.
He starts with the promise God made to Abraham.
This promise was not based on circumcision but on faith in what he heard.
For sin had brought death. Life had been cursed.
But God promised that one of Abraham’s seed
would bless his people and free the Gentiles from that curse.
Abraham was blessed before he was circumcised because he took God at his word.
Which is why Paul says that the only way to be free from the curse sin deserves is to
have faith in this promised seed God had conferred.
Abraham was given the sign of circumcision not to earn the promise that had already been
freely given, but as a way for the promise to be visibly confirmed.
Circumcision was a way for every Jewish man to physically observe that from their offspring
God’s promised son would, one day, emerge.
So, 430 years later, when the law of Moses occurred,
it did not set aside or defer the promise God made with Abraham at first.
The promise was still based on faith, not on works.
And that’s because the law could never save.
It only brought a curse.
No matter how hard they tried, the sin within their hearts would never let them perfectly
observe what the law commanded them to do in each and every verse.
For this was a law no one was able to keep.
Not because its requirements were too high, but because their sin problem ran too deep.
So, no one would be blessed by following the law because, in sin, all are immersed.
Instead, everyone who tried to be blessed by the law would only be cursed.
The curse would last until the final seed came, until Abraham’s promise was fulfilled
and the one circumcision was pointed to was given a name.
For Jesus was the promised seed of whom Abraham heard and believed.
He would bless Jews and Gentiles.
From the curse of death, he would set them free.
He would rescue us from the curse of the law
by dying under the curse of the law, even though we broke his holy decrees.
For the law itself says cursed is anyone who hangs on a tree.
Through his death he has provided the promised life that is freely given to all who believe.
And with this new blessing comes a new sign that all who put their faith in Christ freely receive.
And that sign is the Holy Spirit.
He is our new circumcision. He is the sign of the redeemed.
He performs, not an outward operation, but an inward surgery for those who have faith in Jesus.
The Holy Spirit is our guarantee that there is no curse for those who believe that Christ
has taken our death and given us his blessing.
There is nothing extra, nothing we need to add to.
We are saved by faith alone and not by what we do.
This is the only Gospel, the only message that is as good as it is true.
The only proclamation that can be properly called Good news.
Hey, I’m David with Spoken Gospel.
Thank you so much for watching our video introducing the book of Galatians.
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