Abounding Grace

Guest (Male): It is foolish to leave grace. You'll see why as you join us for Abounding Grace.

We are saved by grace through faith. In other words, salvation and even growth come from God, not from us. With that said, we can so easily drift away from this and start adding fleshly effort into the mix, and that leads to nothing but problems and defeat. Today on Abounding Grace, Pastor Ed Taylor opens Galatians chapter 3 and uncovers important instruction about the grace of God that we can all benefit from. Paul the Apostle is about to pose a series of thought-provoking questions, taking these Galatian believers back to their experience when they were first saved.

Pastor Ed Taylor: Open your Bibles to Galatians chapter 3 as we start a new chapter today, looking at the first nine verses. Galatians chapter 3. The title of our Bible study is "It's Foolish to Leave Grace." It's foolish to leave grace. That's what many of the believers in the Galatian region did. They believed a false teaching that the gospel was more than simple faith.

One thing we've learned in our study in Galatians thus far is this: if you add anything to the gospel, it is no longer the gospel. If you add anything to the gospel in order to be saved, it is no longer the gospel. You have this group of believers that were eternally changed by the faithfulness of the missionary journey of Paul, the Holy Spirit working through him. He comes to the region, preaches the gospel, lives are changed, and in just a short amount of time, false teachers come in with a false message of works. It was more than faith, they said. In order to be saved, they taught, you must be circumcised and keep the entire law of Moses. Basically, what they were saying was that in order to be saved, you needed to become a Jew first, then God could save you.

As we'll see in a moment, Paul addresses that. He says, "God's heart has been for the Jew and the Gentile from the Garden of Eden, from the very beginning." A lot of mistakes happen in our lives because we don't think about what we're doing or we don't think ahead. We're in a season or in a moment where we might say we're not paying attention. Think about how many mistakes you've made because you weren't paying attention. This is the realm where we're distracted, where we're preoccupied, lost in our thoughts, and this is where accidents happen, mistakes occur, and problems arise. It's not just in the physical realm, but it can happen in the spiritual realm as well.

If you're not paying attention, you become very vulnerable to being taken advantage of, just like the believers in the churches in the Galatian region. Paul hears about it, and his heart is broken. So he takes his pen in hand and he writes them a letter. It's a strong one because he loves them. What they're involved in requires a necessary word that would shake them back into reality because not only have they begun to follow a false teaching, which is bad enough since their eternal life is at stake, but they've also turned on Paul, the man that God used in their lives. They had begun to believe lies about Paul because the enemy wants to distance you from people that God has used in your life to deliver the truth to you.

So you're reading this letter and it's pretty strong. It's strong because they had left grace. They left the simple for the complicated. They left the true gospel for a false one. And so here's another strong phrase in verse 1: "O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?" There's a series of questions in the next nine verses that we're going to look at, but I want to highlight four of them as key. He's going to ask four key questions of the believers there to grab their attention.

This is question number one: who's bewitched you? Or you could say, what has happened? Who has lied to you? Who has seduced you? Who has led you astray? Paul is not saying by using this word that they got involved in black magic or astrology. He's using it in the sense that they had come under the spell of some false teaching. He says, "What is going on? Who has bewitched you?" But he begins by saying, "O foolish Galatians." Calling someone foolish is very strong as well. As you were reading ahead, you may have paused here and thought, "Now wait a minute, isn't this what Jesus forbid us to do when He said don't call anyone a fool?"

This is not what Paul is doing here. He is not calling them idiots. He is not demeaning them. He is not speaking in unrighteous anger. What he's trying to do is grab their attention and call upon the foolishness of the decision that they made. The word actually has the idea and suggests to us that Paul is acknowledging to them their intelligence, that they're smart, but they're not using their intelligence the right way. Today we may appeal to someone's common sense where you know they know, but they're not operating in common sense. They're not making the right decisions with the knowledge that they have. He says, "What is wrong with you guys? Who has bewitched you? Who has influenced you?"

By the way, this word "foolish" in the Greek, Jesus used it as well in Luke chapter 24, verse 25. So we know the word can be used without sin because Jesus said this: "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all the prophets have spoken." Now it's being used again in the context of belief. Why are you believing a lie? Strong words, but I believe Paul wants their full attention. He wants them to listen carefully. Sometimes you might feel this way toward someone that you love and you care for. I think of the person that commits their life to Christ, someone you've been praying for, whom you have invited to church, and finally they give their life to the Lord.

They start going to church, they start praying, they're reading their Bible, your conversations are changing, you're talking about the things of God, and you're enjoying life. Then out of the blue, they get hooked into some group, some cult, some weird teaching, and they're not walking in fellowship with you anymore. It frustrates you. You want to say, "Hey, let's read the Bible." They say, "Well, we're not supposed to read our Bible before 2:00 PM." Where did you get that from? They say, "I was just reading the Scriptures and it says right..." No, you weren't just reading the Scriptures. Somebody taught you that because that doesn't sound like it comes from the Lord.

You want to be able to say to your friend, "That is not from the Lord. Somebody taught you that. You watched some YouTube video, you watched some reel on TikTok, or you gained that knowledge through some pamphlet somebody gave you, but that did not come from the Lord." You have a strong word for them, not because you don't love them, but because you do love them a lot. I would go so far to say this: the more you love, the stronger the word because you have that permission in their life. You have that relationship. That's where Paul is here. Come on, guys, what's going on?

As a born-again believer, you have a brand new target on your back. You are now a target of every weird cult and "ism" that's out there. The cults almost always go after believers because their message has no power and no attraction out in the world toward unbelievers. It has no hope, no life, no substance. But to a believer who wants to follow God, who is sincere, they come to your door, they show up at work, they hit you up at Starbucks. You have to understand this: those in cults are trained to confuse you. Because if they can get you confused, your confusion will lead to vulnerability. And when you're vulnerable, there's a good chance you will trust the person that promises they can take you out of the chaos.

They're trained to do this. The first question usually they'll ask is, "Are you a Christian?" Then they will ask where you go to church because that will give them the angle that they're going to take. They'll find some obscure passage in the middle of Leviticus somewhere without any context, without any instruction, and you're reading it thinking, "I've never saw that before." Well, of course you never saw that before. You're four weeks old in the Lord. You're not in Leviticus yet. Or some of you are in your yearly reading and you skipped Leviticus. I can see it on the app. They want to get you confused so that they can be the solution to your confusion.

That is what happened with the Galatians. They were told that what Paul taught was not the complete gospel. They were told they needed to be circumcised and keep the whole law. It's important that you realize the new target that is on your back because the devil is an expert thief and destroyer and would love to replace your simple faith with complicated layers of nonsense that isn't the gospel at all. You have to be careful who you give your ear to and who you trust. We were just standing in Berea not a week ago. Literally standing in the city of Berea.

We were reminded from the Scriptures that those in Berea were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica. They had a readiness and an eagerness to receive the Word of God, and they tested everything that they heard by the Word of God. That's why it's important for you to read your Bible and pray every day. You want to train your ears to hear the voice of the Lord. The voice of the Lord sounds like the very words that you're reading in the Bible. That is the voice of God. The Word of God is inspired, it's living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword. As you're reading the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit is training you.

When somebody comes to you with something, you realize it does not even sound like God. Your spirit does not bear witness with that. I was saved without the law and I don't need to keep it to be saved. God did the work. It's His finished work, not my works. Notice what he says in verse 1. When you are under the spell of false teaching, the first thing that happens is you don't obey the truth. You have left the truth. What's the truth the Galatians left? That they were saved by grace through faith. It was too simple for them. Now they're out getting circumcised, spending more time learning the law than they are enjoying the Lord.

They're learning the law so that they can attempt to keep it so that they feel like they stay saved. But they are not obeying the truth. When you and I read the Bible, we're reading it because we have fallen in love with the Author and we want to know who He is. We want to hear His voice. We're not trying to keep some standard of righteousness. We have the righteousness of Christ in us and upon us already. And we enjoy it by faith. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. It's a beautiful cycle to be in as God builds you up.

So number one, they were not obeying the truth. But then notice they also weren't emphasizing the crucifixion. They weren't thinking about the finished work or Jesus dying on the cross. It says, "before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified." Because this is what happens when you exchange grace for any kind of legalism or works-based relationship with God: you no longer talk about what God has done for you; all you talk about is what you have done for God. It's a very miserable way to live because some days are better than others. On the good days, you feel good. On the bad days, you feel bad.

But on both days, by faith in the grace of God, you can feel exactly what God has for you as you remember what He's done for you. His finished work. It's because of what He has done, not what we have done. It's going to be simple and repetitive. I just want you to be careful on things that are simple and repetitive. We tend to just neglect them. I think of Christian clichés. Christian clichés get dismissed, but actually they are filled with amazing truth that you don't want to overlook. I was thinking of Christian bumper stickers. Some of you have this bumper sticker on your car: "God is not finished with me yet." Can I get an amen on that?

You probably need it because of your driving, but it's right there. "God is not finished with me yet." We just think it's a bumper sticker. No, that's a truth. God is still working in your life. And when you have a bad day, you look at that bumper sticker and you remember it is what God has done for you that He is at work in your life. Philippians chapter 1, verse 6: "He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." Do not dismiss the truths as simple as they might be, because when you believe the truth of God's Word, your life changes. When you believe a lie, your life also changes.

In verse 2, Paul asks question number two: "This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" That's a great question. Not only how were you saved, but how were you empowered by the Holy Spirit? Was it because of your good works? The answer is no. Or was it because of faith? And of course it was faith. They simply believed. Think for a moment about the people in Galatia. They got up one day and were just going about their day. It's a normal day. They were pagans, heathens, with no care and concern for God. They were just living life, and then on that day, Paul shows up.

He goes into the synagogue and into the marketplace, and he preaches the gospel. They hear it, they believe, their life is forever changed, and a church is planted. That's how it happened. They weren't waking up in the morning wondering what the law said. They didn't have any care and concern for the things of God. They were saved by faith. They received the Spirit by faith. They simply believed the gospel. And we know it wasn't by works because before Paul came, they didn't have any. They were heathens. They weren't living for God. Isn't that the testimony of most of us? It was His appointed time. We didn't know that, but God did all along.

I remember for me like it was yesterday. I didn't wake up on the Wednesday I was saved thinking I was going to get saved. At all. I was living life, trying to keep a marriage together, worried about going to jail again and paying my fines. I had a lot on my mind, but getting saved was not one of them. But God knew. And so when God would ask me, "Ed, do you think all your good works are what's going to make you right with Me? How did you receive the Spirit? Was it your works, or was it by faith?" Of course it was by faith. It started that way, it continues that way, and it's going to end that way.

In verse 3, he asks: "Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?" That is just kind of a side thing. It's not really a question that's going to draw out from them; it's just another rebuke. You started something in the Spirit, and you think you're going to finish it in the flesh? I know that sounds silly. I know we're like, "I can't believe it." But you know, this is a trap many people fall into. This happens to movements of God all the time. It starts with a revival and God is just doing amazing things, but then men get involved and try to control it and enforce all these man-made laws, and the movement is dead.

It started in the Spirit, but now it's trying to be perfected by men. It won't happen. Churches do this. Churches will start as a sovereign work of God and then somewhere along the way, men jump in and try to organize it and set it up, and a lot of churches die that way. People do the same thing. God starts something and then we think we can improve upon it. We think we can help God out a little bit. We think, "Oh come on, that doesn't happen." Really?

Do you remember Abram and Sarai received that great promise from God? "You're going to have a child." They're in their 90s, though. Fading into the sunset, wondering what the future holds, and then God speaks and says, "You're going to have a child." You look over at Sarai and think it's not going to happen. But you have faith in God. Okay God, if You say so. And then you expect she's going to wake up pregnant tomorrow, and it doesn't happen. And it doesn't happen. And that's what throws us off. We really want to believe God, but then it doesn't happen as fast as we thought it would. And we interpret that as maybe I heard wrong, or maybe God was wrong, or, "You know what, honey? Let's help God out a little bit."

There was a discussion between Abram and Sarai. Sarai suggests Hagar. She says, "If you go into her, she can produce for us the promise of God." Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and Hagar had a son named Ishmael. There are a lot of little Ishmaels running through this service right now that represent you and me trying to help God out a little bit. I heard the promise, but now it's not happening, so I think I can help God. Ishmael is a main source of the tension that exists in the Middle East even to this day. Because the promise wasn't Ishmael through Hagar. The promise was Isaac through Sarah.

Guest (Male): Today on Abounding Grace, we've listened in to a portion of Pastor Ed Taylor's study in Galatians. If you joined us late or would like to give this a second listen, go online to aboundinggraceradio.com or look for our program wherever you get your podcasts. Have you had a chance to download our Calvary Church app? Yes, this is another great way to take in the teaching of God's Word.

Pastor Ed Taylor: Hey, this is Pastor Ed, and it's an honor for me to share with you my brand new book. It's called "Letting Go of Your Past." And one of the things I wanted to let you know right away is there's an audio version. We've never done an audio version before, but there's an audiobook version that you can get and take it with you in your ears. It's kind of cool. This book God is using, testimony after testimony after testimony. I've been traveling actually with it around the country, teaching at different churches and sharing a Bible study on how to deal with your past biblically and then making this resource available.

The feedback coming back is so encouraging. I just know it'll bless you. You can look it up and see the different themes that it deals with. I believe it's like eight or nine chapters and 25 different things that will help you. One of them is your identity in Christ. Just knowing who you are will open your heart to receive all that God has for you. The title again is "Letting Go of Your Past" by Ed Taylor. You can get it on our store at calvarystore.com, calvarystore.com, or wherever you get books. I appreciate your prayers and your support. Just continue to pray for us and continue to pray for this little book because God is using it greatly.

Guest (Male): Please remember that Abounding Grace is made possible through the support of our listeners. We look to the Lord to provide and guide. And when you give a donation of $25 or more to Abounding Grace, you're invited to request a copy of Pastor Ed's book, "Letting Go of Your Past." To order it today, call us at 877-30-GRACE. That's 877-30-GRACE. Be sure to join Pastor Ed next time for more teaching from Galatians. That's right here on Abounding Grace.