Laurelville Sermon Session #1- Mark Webb

Laurelville Family Conference
Mark Webb
Grace Bible Church, Olive Branch Mississippi
Session #1: “Paul the Apostle”, Galatians 1-2

Mark began by giving church and family background and the joy of learning how to make “Pepsi bombs” from Mike.

Mark announces what his plan is for three separate sermons. He will give to us three “looks” at the Apostle Paul:
I. Paul the Apostle (chapters 1 and 2)
II. Paul the Theologian
III. Paul the Pastor

Tonight we looked at “Paul the Apostle”. Mark spoke about the importance of the letter to the Galatians in the Protestant Reformation and especially Martin Luther. The book of Galatians tells us what the Gospel is not. The book of Romans tells us what the Gospel is. Romans and Galatians are the “ham and eggs” of Scripture. He gave some background information regarding who Paul’s recipients were. Paul wrote to the churches in the region of Galatia (Asia Minor). Mark poses the question, “Did Paul write to the churches in Northern Galatia or Southern Galatia?” Theologians are in disagreement as to which section Paul wrote to. Historical records indicate that Paul did missionary work in Southern Galatia. Therefore, Mark confirmed that he held to the “Southern Galatia” theory.

Paul was amazed that these Galatians had so quickly moved from the Gospel (1:1). Paul writes this letter to counter a “false gospel” that had been introduced into the churches in Galatia. Mark points out that this false gospel stemmed from a sect of the Pharisees- the same group in the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15). This sect was identified as the “Judaizers”. The Judaizers taught that obedience to Mosaic law brought the blessings of the Gospel (salvation). This is the identity of Paul’s opposition, and their tactic is to destroy the Apostle Paul. “You can attack the message by attacking the man. And that is what the Judaizers do- attack Paul”. For this reason, Paul defends himself in the first two chapters of this letter.

In 1:6-9 Paul affirms that there is only one Gospel and nobody, including an angel or Paul himself, is authorized to teach any other Gospel than the one that the Galatians had already received. Paul is following in the steps of Jesus. On one hand, Jesus was gentle with the sheep who were being led astray. On the other hand, Jesus was harsh with the false teachers who were leading them astray. In verse one Paul indicates that he is an “Apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father)”. Paul is making it clear that he is a hand-picked “sent one” by Jesus Himself. Paul is affirming himself as an authorized one who gives the true and only Gospel. Paul’s opponents were affirming that Paul was an “apostle”, but not an Apostle. He was not like Peter and John- “not up to the standards of the big boys in Jerusalem”. They accused Paul of not preaching the “full gospel”. To this accusation Paul replies that he was made an Apostle by Jesus Christ Himself, not by man in 1:1.
Why is it important for Paul to do this? “If this is not true of Paul, then why are we reading and studying Paul’s letter? If he is not an Apostle, then we have no reason to believe that this letter is an inspired book.”

The first time we see Paul is in Acts 7 and the stoning of Stephen. This was a long time of Christ’s resurrection and Pentecost. He was not an eyewitness of Jesus’ ministry. He met the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus, but 500 people saw the risen Christ as well. So does this qualify them as Apostles? Paul claims he was taught the Gospel directly by Jesus Himself. He affirmed this in verses 11-12, “for I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ”. He was given a thorn in the flesh because of the “abundance of revelation that he had been given”. So Paul argues that He was taught the Gospel by direct revelation.

Paul gives proof his claim by pointing to the history of his own life. In verse 15-16, Paul said that when God called Paul, he did not confer with other men. Rather, he went to the deserts of Arabia. “This was Paul’s seminary. Rather than conferring with man, Paul conferred with Christ in Arabia”.

In verse 18, Paul is saying that three years after this he went up to Jerusalem and stayed with Peter. And in 2:1, Paul went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas fourteen years after this. “This was his first visit with the big ones- Peter, John, James and the others. He says look fellows, this is the Gospel that I am preaching. What are you preaching?” 2:9 indicates that Peter, John, and James agreed that Paul preached the right Gospel by the giving of the “right hand of fellowship”. “The only division here was one of labor”. The “big” Apostles agreed that Paul be sent to the Gentiles to preach the Gospel (Acts 15:8 ff.).

Acts 15:8 ff. manifests the sovereignty of God as we see the Apostles choosing to minister to the Gentiles. God did this by hand picking the Apostle Paul. The verses in Acts indicate that the “big Apostles” agreed with Paul that the Gentiles did not need to obey the Mosaic law to be saved. Thus, Mark effectively showed us that all the other true Apostles were in agreement with Paul against the opposition he faced in the churches of Galatia. In short, the other Apostles agreed with Paul’s understanding of the Gospel- salvation not by works, but by grace.
In 2:11 ff. Paul recounts his public opposition of Peter who was “living” contrary to the Gospel by ceasing to eat with Gentiles when certain men from James came. Paul opposed him by explaining that the law has nothing to do with salvation in Christ. Simply put, Peter was being a hypocrite. “Once union with Christ takes place, His history becomes our history- his death and resurrection becomes ours.” We have died to the law through our union with Christ. It makes no difference whether we are Jew or Gentile. The law has nothing to do with salvation.
Mark gave an insightful illustration of being grafted into a tree to explain our union with Christ (get CD of sermon to hear illustration).

Mark closed his message by explaining his overall message… “the error that Paul faced is still present today- the idea of co-mingling law and grace, faith and works- the idea of a blended Gospel. Man’s heart is so wicked that we just can’t have it God’s way”. Mark was saying God’s way is only by grace. The Judaizers wanted the ability to brag about what they did in the flesh. The true Apostles message must be believed, thus Paul’s “testimony” is special because the church’s very origin stems from the Apostles teaching- “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone” (Ephesians 2:20). Mark emphasizes that this is important because it upholds sola Scriptura. In this sense, the Apostles still speak today, and they tell us what the Gospel is (through the written revelation of Scripture). And the Gospel is “Christ, all about Christ, and nothing but Christ!”
He, of course, closed in prayer. It was a joy to finally here Mark preach.