Introduction: (7) In v.7 Paul asks those in the Galatian church an illustrative question. Who hindered you? You were running well. Running a race is a common illustration for Paul. 2 Tim. 4:7, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:” 1 Cor. 9:24, “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.” In this specific instance Paul’s use of running well is in regards to following the truth. He associates the hindrance to their running with not obeying the truth. You Galatians were running well (obeying the truth), who hindered you (caused you to chase after the false). Paul works through this with them, and ends with the ideal situation. A Little Leaven. (8-10) The Use of Liberty. (11-13) Fulfilling the Law. (14-15) A Little Leaven, v.8-10. Initially, Paul firmly states where this issue DID NOT originate. (8) The Holy Spirit is the person of the Godhead Who calls us to salvation. The persuasion was that of adding works to grace. Think of what that doctrine is saying at it’s root. God’s grace alone is insufficient. Certainly that is false. Paul couldn’t be clearer in his meaning — this is not something you’ve learned through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. (cf.1:6) The Holy Spirit calls us by grace into grace. It is grace and grace alone that justifies and sanctifies us. Thus, this teaching came through a wolf in sheep’s clothing rather than from our Good Shepherd. If this message does not originate with God, we must conclude it comes from the Devil. “He knows that no matter how hard we work, we will never be able to work our way to heaven...whenever we are persuaded to trust ourselves rather than to trust in Jesus, the persuasion is not divine, but demonic.” (Ryken) Next, Paul elaborates on just what this issue is doing to the church. (9) He is making a point from baking. For bread to rise, only a small amount of yeast is added to the dough. In the bakery, this is a great thing! All of that sticky, clumpy dough rises and is baked into warm, soft, airy bread! In just the same way, only a little bit of law-keeping can ruin the whole Christian (or in Galatia — entire congregation). To be guilty in one part of the law, is to be guilty of it all. Christ has fulfilled the law for us already. Why take even a small portion of it back upon ourselves? That little leaven, leaveneth the whole lump! “…false teaching, like yeast, grows and affects everything it touches.” (Boice) Matthew 16:6, “Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” Finally, Paul makes a statement of confidence in the Lord. (10) True believers will not be overtaken by legalistic teaching. The power of the Word and the ministry of the Holy Spirit would win out in the end! The Good Shepherd would find and restore His wandering sheep. Those who deceive by false teaching will be judged. Legalism itself would bring temporal judgment. Further, God would judge them — it is a serious thing to teach error and wreck a gathering of the church. Spurgeon had a grasp on Paul’s level of confidence when he said, “Depend upon it, every man who troubles a church with false doctrine is amenable to the High Court above. Sooner or later he may expect even a temporal judgment here below.” **The Use of Liberty, v.11-13.** First, Paul addresses a rumor that he too preaches circumcision. (11) Why would he be persecuted by the Judaizers if this were true? If he were guilty of such, the offence of the cross is removed. To preach circumcision is to abandon the preaching of the cross. “The cross is an offense to man. It offends him…because it tells him that there is nothing he can do to earn salvation. It gives no place to the flesh and its efforts. It spells an end to human works.” (MacDonald) “The cross’s offense was and is its demonstration that no other remedy—nothing that sinful people could contribute—can reconcile us to God. It shatters human pride and self-reliance.” (Sproul) If Paul were to introduce works by preaching circumcision, then he would be setting aside the whole meaning of the cross. Paul is not preaching circumcision, in fact, he preferred that the Judaizers would be “cut off” from the church. (12) The greek term used would be similar to our term “castrate”. Paul is mincing one thing with the other here to make a bold point. Think through all of the “cut” references in just these few verses. v.7 - who hindered? (Cut in on you, like runners) v.8-10 - where did this idea of cutting your flesh in a justifying or sanctifying way originate? v.11 - I don’t preach that you should cut yourselves. v.12 - If we are going to cut in or cut on — let’s cut out these teaching such foolishness! So Paul says, don’t just cut some, cut all of it off. Under the Old Covenant this would disqualify the Judaizers from participating in Israel’s worship (Deut. 23:1). Do you see Paul’s strong point? If the false teachers remain firm in their error, then they are and will be excluded from true worship of Christ and God. They will be excluded from the community where salvation is experienced. You can say Paul is speaking too strong here: But, 1-He is inspired by the Holy Spirit. And, 2-Jesus had equally strong words of warning for those who dared to lead others into error. Luke 17:1-2, “Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! 2 It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.” In v.13 Paul explains the positive and the negative ends of Christian liberty. (13) All in the church historically agree on the first phrase: Christians have been called into Liberty. Distinguishing between the next two phrases is where we split. This is not an “either/or” situation it is “both/and”. Within your Christian Liberty to which you’ve been called: Do not use it as an opportunity for the flesh. Use it use to serve one another in love. “Negatively, freedom in Christ is not license. Positively, it is service both to God and man.” (Boice) “Christian liberty is freedom from sin, not license to sin.” (Sproul) “Liberty must always be defended from its two great enemies—legalism and license.” (Ryken) “Rather than liberty being used for selfishness, the true objective of their newfound freedom is love.” (Anders) We can be selfishly liberal or legalistic. Your tendency my be lawful for you, but is it expedient? God has set us free, AND has given us the Holy Spirit. So we manage the balance through a Spirit filled life! (16, 18, 25) A.T. Pierson: “True freedom is found only in obedience to proper restraint. A river finds liberty to flow, only between banks: without these it would only spread out into a slimy, stagnant pool…The same law which fences us in, fences others out; the restraints which regulate our liberty also insure and protect it. It is not control, but the right kind of control, and a cheerful obedience which make the free man.” Fulfilling the Law, v.14-15. Christ has fulfilled the law for us. He did not abolish it, nor does Paul’s letter to the Galatians nullify it. “Certain provisions of the law such as its dietary requirements are no longer applicable to believers under the new covenant, but the Ten Commandments remain as declarations of God’s will for Christian behavior and reflect God’s eternal moral law. Jesus Himself cited Lev. 19:18, which Paul quotes here, as the second great commandment on which all the Law and Prophets depend (Matt. 22:37–39).” (See v.14) What the law demanded we could not attain, Christ attained for us. What the law demanded but could never produce — is the very thing that results from the exercise of Christian liberty. We are freed from bondage to the law, we must strive to avoid the bondage of license, so we find ourselves bound to one another in love. All the law is fulfilled in this — this “marriage like” relationship of the church to one another. Additionally, that love overflowing in the world around us and reaching the lost! “Each of us should become a Christ to the other. And as we are Christs to one another, the result is that Christ fills us all and we become a truly Christian community.” (Luther) In v.15 we get a warning. (15) This issue in the church at Galatia was causing them to “bite and devour” one another. They were, “voluntarily conspir[ing] together for mutual destruction.” (Calvin) Paul’s warning is graphic but clear. Keep this up and you are going to cannibalize yourselves. You are all members of the same body, you cannot continue to bite and devour each other. “The pursuit of justification through commandment-keeping was producing competition, conflict, conceit, and envy in the Galatians’ relationships with one another—a direct contradiction of the love of neighbor that fulfills the whole law.” (Sproul, abbr.) Conclusion: Church, who hindered you? (Or what?) A little leaven, the use of liberty, fulfilling the law? You were running well, have you begun to be legalistic? Maybe your tendency is more the lazy end of things spiritually. Or loose, or liberal, or . The Christian life is a race, but more of a marathon than a sprint. When things go wrong, we still have time to correct them and keep running. Don’t let a hindrance stop you from obeying the truth. Let go of legalism and all of the rest and live in the liberty to which you’ve been called!