Beware of Dogs

Galatians and the Danger of Turning Back to False Religion

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. Look at verse 8. He says,. But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods.

But now that you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years.

Paul says, I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain. So Paul's reminding the people before you got saved, you were worshiping things. You were worshiping gods that were really not gods at all.

What does he mean? They were caught up in false religion. And by the way, just because something isn't called a religion, it can still be a religion if people are devoted to ideas. Right. I could give plenty of examples.

We don't need to go through all of it. But these people were caught up in false religion. And Paul sees that they're headed again in that direction. They're headed back into the direction of false religion.

And you say, well, with the Old Testament law, that wasn't false religion. Well, the way the scribes and Pharisees had twisted it, it became that. You know, it's sort of like Roman Catholicism today. There's so much truth in the Roman system.

I mean, there really is. I believe they have the right God and the right Jesus. And they have so much truth. But it's blended with paganism. So it's been corrupted. Well, that's kind of the way the Old Testament faith was.

It was all true, but it was corrupted with man's tradition. So he sees them going back under the law. You're headed towards false religion. He says in verse nine, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements?

Does anyone have any other translation, beggarly elements?

Okay.

Well, I know some of you do. You're just not speaking up. That's fine. One translation says this. Weak and worthless spiritual principles. Some believe this could be a reference to, say, the heavenly bodies.

You know, there's people that worship the sun, moon, and stars, right? They look to the stars for guidance. Or some believe this could have been a reference to angels, that they were worshiping angels.

Some people make connections between stars and angels. Whatever the case, let me give you an illustration. Because there's no Judaizers today. There's nobody saying that I know of, at least not many, saying you need to be circumcised to be saved.

So as Dennis was saying in Sunday school, a lot of this stuff just doesn't seem relevant today. Like these same things are not happening.

Well, they are.

There's just different details, right? So let me give an illustration of what this might look like. A church member, a Christian, headed towards false religion because they were deceived by this false idea.

Well, let's say somebody came to Christ. They had a testimony of what God did in their heart.

They got baptized.

They joined the church. They started serving. And God clearly seemed to be working in their life. Then all of a sudden, they meet a friend. All of a sudden, they read a book. All of a sudden, they start watching this guy on television.

And just to get specific, let's say they got involved in horoscopes or astrology. And after a while, instead of reading the word of God and trusting in God, now they're starting to make decisions in their life based on how the stars are aligned.

And then you hear they're celebrating the winter solstice and they're celebrating these days. And they think that all this is going to bring them luck or good fortune. Well, I can tell you if that ever happened in a Bible-believing church, the pastor would be a little concerned, to say the least.

But that kind of gives you an idea of maybe how Paul felt towards the Galatians. I mean, they had received the true gospel of grace. They had accepted the new covenant. But then next thing Paul knows, he hears that they're going in a different direction.

Now they are observing, it appears, Jewish feast days. They're observing new moons and Sabbaths. And Paul's response, I'm afraid for you. I think what he's saying is, I'm starting to wonder if you guys are even saved.

Wow.

Well, why? Because those things are not part of the new covenant. Now, is it the end of the world if somebody celebrated a Jewish feast? No, it's just odd that they would do that. Because, again, it's not part of the new covenant.

Paul did not teach them to do this. So why were they doing it? So it's not even so much the celebration of the feast itself. It's the motivation behind it. It's the motivation. Paul knew where all this was coming from.

Where was it coming from? The Judaizers, the false teachers. They were adding those things, adding works to the gospel. Acts 15 verse 1. They were telling the people that you cannot be saved unless you are circumcised.

So that's a clear example of adding something to the gospel. Paul says in Galatians 1, that's a different gospel. If anyone preaches a different gospel, let him be accursed. So the truth was circumcision didn't, here's the thing.

It didn't even really make a difference whether you're circumcised or uncircumcised. At this point in history, it doesn't even matter. What mattered, though, was the motivation. Why were they doing this?

You know, you always have to consider not just what people say and do. You have to consider why they do it.

Right?

Why do people do the things they do? Because doctrine affects your practice. So if you're adopting some strange practice, it's probably because you've been deceived by a false, strange doctrine. So Paul, as a Christian leader, see the Galatians were oblivious to this.

They thought that what they're doing is right. Paul got it, though. Paul saw it. Let me just use another example. Let's say in a church today, there's somebody that hadn't gone to church for a month or so.

And the pastor reaches out to them and says, hey, you know, how you doing? We miss you. How's everything going? And they respond, well, everything's fine, but I've decided not to go to church on Sunday anymore.

Oh, okay.

Why is that? Well, because the Sabbath is Saturday, and I need to be keeping the Sabbath. So I joined this church that meets on Saturday where we observe the Sabbath day. Well, what's wrong with that?

Some people, well, what difference does it make, Saturday or Sunday? Here's the thing. What's behind it? Where's it coming from? Why are they doing that? Does a person's salvation depend on what day they go to church?

Well, no. No, but what's behind it? Any pastor worth his salt would know where that comes from.

Right?

Some people in this church, you know where that comes from. Others of you might not. But a pastor who knows what's what knows where that comes from. First of all, he knows you're not rightly dividing the word of God, because New Testament Christians don't celebrate the Old Testament Jewish Sabbath.

That's number one. But a Bible-believing pastor would know that that church that meets on Saturday, maybe there's some nice folks there, and maybe they're doing some good, or so it seems. But that church teaches false doctrine.

That church was founded by a false prophet or a false prophetess. That organization denies the existence of basic Christian doctrines like hell. They're legalists. They want to bring people back under the Jewish law.

They have a weird belief about Jesus entering into the heavenly sanctuary in 1844. And now Jesus is going to base his judgment on this investigation of what people have been up to. If that's not a false gospel, it comes awfully close.

All right?

So, a pastor would know what was behind all that, just like Paul knows what's behind the celebrating of new moons and Sabbaths. So, he gets it, what's going on. He knows a false gospel is being preached.

And the Galatians, many of them, they don't seem to understand. That's why they need a shepherd. That's why they need a shepherd, a shepherd who cares about the flock. So, now Paul is trying to reason with them.

Look at verse 11. Verse 11, again, he says, I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain. One commentator says this, his fears were that they had no genuine Christian principle. That they could be led astray by anybody.

That's the way it looked. So, his fears were that they had no genuine Christian principle. They had been so easily perverted and turned back to the servitude of ceremonies and rites that he was apprehensive that there could be no real Christian principle in the case.

What pastor, and I'm still quoting from the commentator here, okay. What pastor has not often had such fears of his people. When he sees them turn to the weak and beggarly elements of the world. Or when having run well, he sees them become the slaves of fashion.

Or some habit inconsistent with the simplicity of the gospel. So, what you need to understand is that this is not about judging people. That's not what this is about. This is about looking out for people.

This is about caring for the flock. Any parent knows what this is like. If you start seeing troubling behavior from your child, you want to do something. You want to help because you love them. You know, you're on their side, right.

A parent is on their child's side. The apostle Paul was on their side with the Galatians. And I just want to tell you this morning, I am on your side. I don't care what happens. If you trust in Christ, hey, I am on your side.

So, Paul wants what is best for them. But, you know, thinking about children, you see something troubling. You want to help. And even when you discipline them, it's for their own good. They don't always see it that way, right.

And that's the problem when this kind of stuff happens in a church. People who are deceived, they don't necessarily see it that way. If somebody is listening to a false teacher, you know, they start developing a bond between them and the guy on television or the guy on the radio.

And then when a church leader comes and says, well, yeah, but here's what he teaches. I don't think it's a good idea for you to be listening to that person. That offends people, right. So, and if that's ever happened to you, I know how that feels.

So, the people in Galatia, they didn't always take it that well. And that's why Paul says, have I become your enemy? Because I tell you the truth. He's trying to appeal to them that I care about you. All right, let's turn to Philippians chapter 3.

Paul’s Appeal to the Galatians as a Shepherd

What was Paul's solution? Well, now he's changing his approach and he reminds them how they first heard the gospel from him. He's making an appeal based on his love. He says in verse 12, brethren, I urge you to become like me.

So, Paul, no doubt, shared his testimony with them. They had become close. They knew about him. He knew about them. So, he's trying to make that connection and convince them, I'm on your side. I'm looking out for you.

What was Paul's testimony? Before he became a Christian, you know, Paul wasn't born a Christian.

You know that, right.

He wasn't born from the womb singing, to God be the glory. I don't think that song was around back then. Before he was saved, he was a strict religious Jew who did his best to obey the law of Moses. Listen, if anyone could have been saved by keeping the Mosaic law, it was Saul of Tarsus.

That was his name before he was known as the Apostle Paul. So, here in Philippians chapter 3, now he's basically writing the same type of thing to a different church. What does that tell you? The Judaizers, they made the rounds.

Okay.

Philippians chapter 3 verse 2, Paul says what? Beware of dogs. You know, the Judaizers would have been calling the Gentiles dogs. Hey, these Gentile Christians, unless they get circumcised, as far as we're concerned, they're a bunch of dogs.

Paul says, no, you're the dog. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Coronet Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscoronetchurch .com.

We'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.