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Guest (Male): This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. Thanks for joining us today. Here at Connect with Skip, our mission is to help you know God's word and apply it to your life through clear, practical Bible teaching and real encouragement every day. And if you'd like to keep growing in your walk with Jesus, sign up for Pastor Skip's free weekly devotional. You'll receive biblical insight, teaching highlights, and exclusive resource offers straight to your inbox. Plus, when you sign up today, we'll send you a free digital download of a chapter of Skip's book, Biography of God. It only takes a minute to sign up. Go to connectwithskip.com and join the list today. That's connectwithskip.com. Now, let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig.

Skip Heitzig: The word apostle simply means sent out or sent on a mission. So all of you, in that sense, are apostles. You're sent out, you're commissioned by God. For example, Barnabas is called an apostle in the New Testament. Timothy is called an apostle in the New Testament. Silvanus is called an apostle. Andronicus, Junia are all called apostles in the New Testament in a secondary sense. Paul, an apostle not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead.

You know how Paul got saved. He was Saul of Tarsus, who had a very interesting meeting on the road to Damascus. He was going there to be part of the Jewish cancel culture. He was canceling all Christians. He was arresting them, throwing them into prison, even threatening them with death. An interesting thing happened to him on the way to Damascus. He got saved. He was called by Jesus because Jesus appeared to him on the Damascus road. He didn't receive it from men. It wasn't through man. It was a direct calling because of a direct revelation of Jesus Christ to him.

There are some groups, some denominations, some segments of Christianity and even Christendom, those who I would consider outside Christianity but are part of Christendom, who make a big deal about what they call apostolic succession. The Catholic Church is one of those groups. We can trace our lineage from this Pope to that Pope to that Pope had his hands laid on him all the way back to Peter. The Mormon Church will do the same. They have 12 apostles and they have an apostolic succession. The Eastern Orthodox Church, apostolic succession.

Paul comes on the scene and says, "I'm not part of that. It wasn't that I got my hands laid on me by Peter. In fact, he just said, 'Yeah, I met with Peter. I was just with him a couple weeks, but that's it.' It wasn't a big deal. What was a big deal, bigger than Peter, bigger than a Pope, bigger than the Orthodox Church, is Jesus Christ personally commissioned him."

We often get the question, "What gives you the authority? Who is it that grants you the authority as a pastor, as a church, as a leader?" It's a good question. It's a fair question. It's a question they asked John the Baptist as he's baptizing down by the Jordan River. "Who gave you the authority? Where'd you get it?" They asked Jesus Christ the same question. They asked Paul the same question. Evidently, the Judaizers were saying, "He doesn't have any real authority like we do. We're part of the original gang, the covenant people of the Jewish race in Jerusalem."

So they made a big deal out of it. Paul said, "Bigger than getting ordained by man, I've been commissioned and ordained by God." By the way, we have an ordination service here at this church. We take young men in the ministry, we train them up, we license them, and eventually we ordain them. But we never see ordination as we are the ones commissioning them or we are the ones ordaining them. We are simply recognizing that God has ordained that individual. It's more of a ratification. We can't call or equip anybody in ministry. We can come alongside and augment what God has given in terms of a gift, but we can never provide what God hasn't naturally and supernaturally provided. But when he does naturally and supernaturally provide in a person's life, we can look at a person, recognize it, and say, "Yeah, we ratify that. We'll give you an ordination certificate, which is saying we agree that God has his hand on your life." But that's all we can do. It has to come from God. And with Paul, it did. It came directly as a direct revelation through Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead. I better put my foot on the gas.

And all the brethren who are with me. We don't know who those brethren are. Could have been Luke, could have been Tychicus, could have been a number of people. To the churches, plural, of Galatia. Remember, Paul started preaching the gospel and churches were formed in Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe. Great work of God had been established on Paul's first missionary journey.

Grace to you. Paul begins his letters typically like this. Grace to you and peace from God. I love that Paul begins all of his letters with this little formula, "Grace and peace, grace and peace." It is singular. In antiquity, you would have greetings like, "Grace to you" or "Peace to you," but he combines the typical Greek greeting, "Grace," Charis would be the term they would have used back then, and then the typical Jewish greeting even to this day, "Shalom," peace.

But the way Paul uses it is very expressive. In fact, I was just reading in Martin Luther's commentary before I came up on the platform. Paul said the whole gospel is summed up in that little introduction, "Grace and peace." And here's why. You'll never know the peace of God until you know the grace of God. When you do experience the grace of God, then you experience the peace of God. So it's appropriate. Grace and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever.

Just a word on the name of Jesus in verse 3. What are the three words that describe him in that verse? Lord, Jesus, Christ. Lord is not his first name. It's not like first name Lord, middle name Jesus, last name Christ. That's not how it worked. Lord was his title. His earthly name was Yeshua, Jesus. It was a very common, typical name. But the name given to him by God the Father, acknowledged by God the Father, is he is Lord.

Philippians will say, "Wherefore God has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, those in heaven, those on earth, those under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." That's important. God has given him a name which is above every name. Is that the name Jesus? No, that's his earthly name. A lot of guys were named Jesus. The name that God the Father gave to him that is different from every other name and higher than every other name is the title Lord. God the Father acknowledged, "This is the Lord of all." So Lord, he is the Lord. Jesus, Yeshua, Yehoshua, God is salvation, the name means. Christ, the Greek form of Messiah, the anointed one, the Messiah.

Who gave himself for our sins, that he might... now this is interesting. Because if you were to ask the average Christian, "Why did Jesus die on a cross?" To save me. Yes, that's true. But when he saved you, he had more in mind than just saving you from hell. What he has in mind, what he wants to do, is not just save you but to deliver you from this present evil age. That's separation. That's sanctification.

Now don't you find it interesting that 2,000 years ago, Paul looked at his world and said it was an evil age? It wasn't as bad as it is today. It's always been bad. I want you to know that. It's always been evil. He's not speaking about a certain period of time as much as just the world system, the world as opposed to Christ. He came to deliver us from this present evil age or from this world according to the will of God, our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

So that's the introduction. Now he turns the heat up. Now he puts the boxing gloves on. Now he puts the war paint on. No words of, "You guys are awesome and I heard about this about you and I'm praying for you here and there." He just cuts right to the chase in verse 6. He says, "I marvel. I'm shocked. I'm blown away," we would say. "I marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel."

That word, by the way, turning away, means to turn back, to turn away from, or to put in reverse. You are reversing the work of God's grace in your life. You're going backwards, not forwards. You're going back to bondage. You're going back to legalism instead of standing in freedom. You're turning back and I'm blown away. I'm shocked. I marvel that it happened so soon. It hadn't been many years and already the gospel is being perverted.

Guest (Male): When you give to this ministry, you help reach thousands of people every day with God's life-changing truth, encouraging them to know him, trust him, and walk in his freedom. And this month, we want to thank you with a special resource package. You'll receive Skip's book, Biography of God, which helps you explore God's names, his power, the mystery of the Trinity, and the hope that comes from removing the false limitations we sometimes place on him. Plus, you'll get Skip's six-message CD series, Expound Galatians, where Skip unpacks the book of Galatians and the freedom believers have through grace, not works. Your gift today helps bring the life-changing message of Jesus to people around the world through Connect with Skip. Request your resources when you give $50 or more at connectwithskip.com/offer or by calling 800-922-1888. Now, here's more from Pastor Skip.

Skip Heitzig: Now it's been 2,000 years. Don't you think the gospel's had its challenges in that time? Don't you think this is always a warning for us? If it happened so soon back then, think of today. "I marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel, which is not another," because there's only one gospel.

But there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. To these Judaizers, to these false teachers, to these people who evidently came from Jerusalem and were following Paul in his ministry and trying to undo what he had done, he has some pretty strict words. To them, faith was not enough. It was a good start. It's kind of like, "Well, I'm so glad you accepted Jesus. Now what you need to add to Jesus, add to faith, is this, this, this, and that." And Paul bristles at this.

What's going on here? Well, cut them a little slack. Cut these Judaizers a little slack. Cut the Jewish people a little slack. The first Christians were all Jews. All they knew was temple worship. All they knew was ritual, rights, ceremony, circumcision, etc., etc. Wearing the skullcap, the phylacteries on the heads and the hair on the sides, etc. All that stuff. Keeping kosher, that's all they knew. Moreover, they knew the covenants that God had made with the Jewish people. It wasn't easy transitioning to just believing in the one God sent and that that's enough. They couldn't wrap their Jewish minds around that.

Even Peter had problems with this. Peter's on a rooftop in Joppa and he sees a vision around midday, right around lunchtime, right when he's getting hungry. And he sees a sheet being let down from heaven with all sorts of unkosher animals on them. And God speaks to him and says, "Peter, rise, kill and eat." And Peter says, "No way. Not so, Lord." Which is a perfect contradiction. Not so, Lord? Master? You don't say not so, but he did. "Not so, Lord, I've never had anything common or unclean." God said, "Don't call common what I've cleansed." He didn't know what that meant. Happened once, happened twice, happened three times. He's going, "I don't know what that means." I wouldn't either.

Until he gets a knock at the door, he's invited to somebody's house named Cornelius, a Gentile. And he goes to Cornelius's house and he says to Cornelius, "Look, Cornelius, you know that it's unlawful for a Jew, me, to even hang out with you, a Gentile. I can't even come in your house. You know my law. You live around these parts. But God has shown me that I can't call common or unclean those people, those that he has cleansed." God was giving him a crash course in grace. It was difficult though for Peter to get through that at first.

Then they had the confrontation, as I mentioned, Acts 15. The Jerusalem Council happened. Peter testified there and Paul and Barnabas testified there as well. But it is still an issue. And it's still an issue to this day. What's the issue? The issue is how do I get right with God? How am I righteous before God? How do I get to heaven? How am I saved? To most people, you are saved by doing something. Not by believing something, but by doing something. It's called righteousness by rule-keeping.

And why is that dangerous? Because if you keep all the rules or you think you keep all the rules, then you walk away from your rule-keeping session and go, "I'm saved because I kept the rules." When you are righteous because you do something, that's called self-righteousness. Your righteous not as a gift, but you earned it, baby. "I got saved the old-fashioned way. I earned it." Remember that commercial? A little bit different than that. If you remember that commercial, you're old. Just saying. We make money the old-fashioned way. They earned it. So that was the old-fashioned way and that was an issue and it is still an issue to this day.

What happened when Jesus died on the cross in the temple? What was torn in two? The veil. That was a very picturesque way of God saying, "I am removing the barrier. You can all come close, all draw near, all have intimacy with God, all have fellowship with God to prove that my son's sacrifice is enough." Get a load of this, he ripped it. It was God's gracious way of doing that. "You all come, I'll take anyone who will believe because of what he has done on that cross. That transaction is enough for me to graciously, freely receive you."

You know what they did with the veil? History tells us they sewed it back up. You repair something that gets broken. But that's picturesque as well. That's what we do. Mankind has this insatiable appetite to make difficult what God made simple. To complicate what God made so simple. "Hey, I made it easy. You just come as you are and believe." No, no, no, no, no. I've got to stitch up the veil and keep the rules and wear the skullcap and be kosher and keep Pesach and say Hebrew words and do all these things because I'll feel good.

Okay, can do it if it just makes you feel good and you want to get close to your roots, but if you do it because you think you're a better Christian than somebody else, you're self-righteous and you're sewing up the veil. And Paul says, "I am blown away that it didn't take long for that to happen to a different gospel, which is not another." There's not good news when you say you've got to do this, this, and that to be saved. There's no good news there. The good news is you believe in him.

So he puts on the boxing gloves and then in verse 8, "Watch this, but even if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed." If you were going to bed tonight and you fell asleep and in the middle of the night you were awakened by a shining being at the foot of your bed, who introduced himself as one of God's angels chosen to speak to you, to give the message to the world, and you are the chosen vessel to bring that message and you have to... and then here's five rules I'm giving you to tell people that you must do that.

Because you've seen an angelic appearance, you would get all excited perhaps. What you should do is say to that angelic being, "You're accursed." If it's a different gospel than what the New Testament says is the gospel, you're accursed. By the way, do you know how strong of a word that is? It's the word anathema in Greek. Anathema means devoted to destruction, cursed below the lowest hell. It is Paul saying if anybody brings a different gospel, let him be damned. That's how strong of language anathema is, accursed is. This is how passionate Paul is about the gospel and anybody adding anything to it.

"If we or an angel from heaven..." Have there been supposed angels from heaven who have appeared to people in the past? Well, let's see. 1823, an angel Moroni supposedly appeared to Joseph Smith, telling him where the secret tablets were buried, the reformed Egyptian hieroglyphics, to bring what he called another gospel and it does compete with this gospel. In the year 610 AD, supposedly Gabriel appeared to Muhammad and gave the beginning of the Quran to him by revelation. Among the first words supposedly the angel said to Muhammad is "God does not beget nor is he begotten." That's a way of slamming the virgin birth or the unique sonship of Jesus Christ. "God does not beget nor is he begotten."

And if you go to Jerusalem, when you come with us, and you look at the Golden Dome of the Rock and you say what is that Arabic script that is written all around the Dome of the Rock so everybody in Jerusalem can see it? It's a slam on Jesus Christ. "God does not beget nor is he begotten." An angel though, it's angelic appearance. "If we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed."

So just listen. You have a gauge. It's called the Bible. If I get an appearance from an angel, it's cool. Lay it on me, angel. What do you got to say? And what he or she has to say is what I judge that experience by. "Oh, but I had tingles and I saw a bright light and..." Okay, what'd he say? What was the message? Well... okay, now take the message and compare it to this. If it's in sync with this, awesome, you're good to go. It's a confirmation of this. If it's something other than this, it's not a confirmation, it's a competition to this. It's another gospel and let him be accursed. So you have a gauge. You have the word of God.

Guest (Male): Thanks for joining us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we go, remember your generosity helps share God's word around the world, bringing truth and hope to people who need Jesus. And this month, we'd love to thank you for your support by sending you a special resource bundle. Skip's book, Biography of God, along with his six-message CD series, Expound Galatians. Together, these resources help you explore who God really is and how to live in the spiritual freedom he offers. Give today at connectwithskip.com/offer or call 800-922-1888. See you next time on Connect with Skip.

Skip Heitzig: Make a connection. Make a connection at the foot of the crossing. Cast your burdens on his words. Make a connection. A connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.