James Reed's FORGE

The Gospel of Matthew is written from a Jewish perspective. Matthew points out time and again how the prophets are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. We're going to pick up the pace as we take Matthew in larger chunks each episode. May this episode be a blessing to all who hear it.

We are at the end of Galatians, and I think that it’s important for us to note the manner in which Paul began, and now the manner in which he ends this Book. Throughout this Book, we have seen Paul’s seriousness, and we have seen his heart for the Lord’s Church. One of the things that I hope you have seen is Paul’s emphasis upon fleeing from false teachers and their teachings. Paul opened up with a righteous indignation. Now, at the close, from verses 11-17 Paul takes his parting shots once again at the Judaizers. It was after all their heretical activities among the church in Galatia that prompted the writing of this letter to begin with. If you get no other point from our study through this great book, I want you to get this point: When false beliefs are embraced, taught, propagated, and ultimately believed, it is the truth of the gospel which is at stake. In other words, you cannot embrace the truth of grace alone, faith alone in Christ alone while at the same time you embrace a works-based salvation.

We need to understand that calling sin what it is, is not judgment. If I love you, I must do everything I can to lead you to repentance. We want to encourage others who were once a part of the fellowship to come back. All will be made whole again, if the one who has fallen down comes to Christ in repentance. This doesn’t make me your judge; it makes me your friend. Confess, repent, believe, and come back. Or, as the case may be, stop pretending to be a Christian when you’re not. Again, this doesn’t make me a judge; it means I love you in Christ. What do we do when we see someone who has spiritually fallen down?

We’re moving on through Galatians. By the end of today, we will only have one more chapter to go—Lord willing. As I brought out last week, we’ve had a lot of solid doctrine in this great book, and now Paul moves us into some practical application. Today, we’re going to be talking about our flesh and our renewed spirit because of the Holy Spirit. If you’ve ever caught yourself doing something which you know was wrong, you may have been tempted to doubt your own salvation. After all, would a true Christian do what you just did? If you’ve ever had thoughts like that—and I know I have had those thoughts—these verses from God’s word are for you today.

I want to speak to you about Christian liberty. Salvation in Christ is liberation, and the Christian life is one of liberty—Christ has set us free (Gal. 5:1; John 8:32, 36). Christ’s liberating action is not a social gospel. It is not Critical Race Theory nor is it Liberation Theology. It is not progressive, nor is it humanistic. In fact, Christ’s liberty does not have anything to do with political or economic improvement. When we talk about the liberty we have in Christ, we mean that we are free from working or attempting to keep the law as a means of salvation. We are free from the power of sin and from superstition.

As Christians we have been set free from superstitions. Gnosticism, which infiltrated the Church even within the Apostles’ lifetimes claimed matter and physical pleasure are intrinsically evil. However, Paul insists that Christians are free to enjoy all created things (1 Tim. 4:1–5) as God’s good gifts, as long as we do not transgress the moral law, nor hinder our own spiritual well-being or that of others (1 Cor. 6:12, 13; 8:7–13).[1]

[1] R. C. Sproul, ed., The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (Orlando, FL; Lake Mary, FL: Ligonier Ministries, 2005), 1700.

Can you imagine someone wanting to be in jail or prison? Who would want to go back after tasting freedom? That’s what Paul is bringing out to the Galatians in our text. The Holy Spirit directed Paul to use analogy here to show the Judaizers that God’s plan of redemption has always been the plan of grace. We’ve learned

This is me explaining why I no longer hold to the Dispensational view of the Bible, history, and eschatology. I felt I should get into this just a bit based on where we are in Galatians of all places. What you think about these subjects affects how you view the covenants which God has put in place, and it will determine how you view all of Scripture. I ramble a little, but I try to keep it focused. Hopefully, you will find this helpful and edifying.