Galatians 1:11-12 | Paul's Gospel vs. Man's Gospel | Adding to the Gospel

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We're going to be in Galatians 1, 11 and 12,

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Galatians 1, verses 11 and 12. Let's pray. Father, you are glorious.

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We are here today as your people gathered in fellowship with one another, but of foremost importance we are gathered here to worship you.

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God, I've studied your work this past week. I pray that you will use the knowledge that I have retained.

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I pray that you will allow me to be a mouthpiece for you, a vessel that speaks forth the magnificent works of your hand.

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I am humbled every time as I study that you reveal your glories to me.

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I pray that I articulate them well. I pray your blessings upon these people,

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Lord, who gather today, enrich their life with truth. I pray that this past week that they have experienced your presence in word and prayer.

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I pray that today is an overflow of what we experienced all week.

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Thank you for your word. Thank you for Paul, for writing the book of Galatians, that we may learn.

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Help me in the name of Christ, I pray. Amen. So, so far in the text,

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Paul has been against the heresy of circumcision, as we have seen.

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He opens up by defending his apostleship, not from man, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the

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Father, who raised him from the dead. In defense of his, of the gospel,

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I mean in defense of himself, he gives mention of the gospel. So as Paul is defending his apostleship, he defends it by mentioning the gospel.

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If you are taking notes, you can write down 1st Corinthians 15, 1 through 4.

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Now I will remind you, brothers, of the gospel that I preached, which you have received, with which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word that I preached to you, unless you have believed in vain.

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For I deliver you, as of foremost importance, what I have also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the

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Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the

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Scriptures. I want to point out verse 4, that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the

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Scriptures. And that's what Paul points out as he defends his apostleship.

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Notice, he says, Paul an apostle, not from man, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the

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Father, who raised him from the dead. Paul is always at war, combat, strife, ready for the showdown, if you will, when it comes to the defense of his apostleship.

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We are familiar with these words, second -class citizen. As a matter of fact,

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I've been called that. Paul would have been well familiar with these words, second -class apostle, because he was not counted amongst the twelve.

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He was not numbered amongst the twelve, so he was in constant warfare defending his apostleship.

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Paul's defense for himself is in fact a defense for the true gospel. If Paul is not an apostle, listen to this, if Paul is not an apostle, then

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Paul cannot speak authoritatively. And if Paul isn't speaking authoritatively, then

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Paul didn't hear the gospel directly from Jesus. So to attack

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Paul's apostleship is to attack the gospel itself. That's why

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Paul is stressing this issue of him being an apostle. The gospel of grace and peace.

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Jesus giving himself for our sins to deliver us from this present evil age. If you remember the first message we went through, the gospel is grace to you and peace from God.

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You have been saved by grace. You're justified by faith. We have peace with God.

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Grace and peace is the Christian greeting. And that Jesus died and he gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age.

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And us, 2 ,000 years removed, looking back, we know that even the fight that Paul was in at that time over his apostleship and the gospel, it was all for the glory of God.

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Quote, to him be the glory forever and ever, amen. End quote.

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So the theme that we have stumbled upon in this book is Paul's argument for his apostleship and for the true gospel.

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So as we go through this book, that's going to be the thing that Paul is arguing for his apostleship and for the true gospel because if Paul is not an apostle, then he's not an apostle.

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And the gospel that Paul preaches is not the gospel. The Bible lets us know, this is our truth to meditate on right here, is that the gospel comes not from man, but from Jesus Christ.

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The gospel comes not from man, but from Jesus Christ. Now in Galatians 1, 11 and 12,

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For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel.

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For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

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We have three outlines I want to propose to you. Three outlines.

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One, the gospel Paul preached versus man's gospel.

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Two, not revealed by man. And three, revealed by Christ.

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The gospel Paul preached versus man's gospel, not revealed by man, revealed by Christ.

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We see, as we look back into the older parts of what we went through, that Paul is astonished at the actions of the churches in Galatia.

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They are quickly turning their backs on God to a different gospel, a distorted version of the gospel.

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The same gospel in one way, it's just been twisted. Paul didn't say they came preaching a gospel that was, he said it was a different gospel, another gospel, but he didn't say it was all together.

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Like they were saying a lot of the same things. There is a lot of truth in some lives.

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Man's gospel is a glass of pure water mixed with one drop of poison, if you remember

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I said that. Man's gospel is deadly, lethal, fatal to your soul.

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If it's preached, you are as good as dead. Look back at verses 8 and 9.

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But even if we, or an angel from heaven, so Paul is saying, if him and the man there with him, or even

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Michael, or Gabriel, or even one of the seraphims were to come down to earth and preach a gospel, he says, let them be accursed, cut off, severed from the body.

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He says, even if, he says, as we have said before, so I say again, if anyone, if anyone is preaching a gospel contrary to the one you have received, let him be accursed.

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And the gospel that they received was grace to you and peace. You're saved by grace through faith, not of works.

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You are justified, you have peace with God through faith. That's the gospel that they have received.

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Paul is saying if anyone preaches anything, they're damned, they're cursed, they're cut off from Christ.

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If you're preaching this, you are as good as dead. All other gospels are to be judged by the gospel

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Paul preached. The gospel that Paul received is the yardstick that all other gospels are measured by.

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You take any gospel that man preaches, whether you're part of the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Mormons, it doesn't matter whatever set people are claiming that they have good news, you measure that gospel by what

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Paul said. He lays out the gospel for us.

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That's the measuring rod. Why, you ask?

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Because it's not from man. The gospel he preached is not from man. It's from Jesus Christ.

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Man could not have made this gospel up. The gospel Paul preached, it's not something that man would have arrived within themselves.

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The gospel that man preaches, that you must do something to make yourself right with God, that sounds like something

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I would have made up when I was lost. It seems right to go to work to earn a check and at the end of the week get the check.

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It does not seem right to not work and my boss paid me. That doesn't seem right.

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It seems right to go to work 40 hours a week and receive a check. That's man's gospel.

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You do this and God will give you this. The gospel of Jesus Christ, even though you are dead in your trespasses and sin,

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God made you alive and he raised you up with Christ Jesus. That's the gospel

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Paul preached. Verse 11, for I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel.

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Go back to verse 10. Verse 10, for am

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I now seeking the approval of man or of God? Or am

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I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man,

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I would not be a servant of Christ. The gospel that Paul preached has

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God's approval, not man's. It's not pleasing to man because it's preached by servants of Christ.

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It's not pleasing to man because it's preached by servants of Christ.

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People who are sold out to Christ, that Christ is everything and if Christ is your everything, you're not pleasing to man.

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We know that in our society. Times have not changed in that way. It's preached by people that are not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God over salvation.

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For the message of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved, it is the power of God.

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God said let light shine out of darkness and it has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of the face of Jesus Christ.

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Man's gospel does not have Christ become in sin, who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

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Have you ever heard a man's gospel preached that? Has a Jehovah's Witness ever knocked on your door and said those words?

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No Mormon will utter that. It's not happening. When his Pentecostals say nothing of the sort,

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Muslims, they do not voice this. It's a false gospel.

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It's a false gospel. You have anything to it. It's false.

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It's poison. If you drink it, you're dead. Man's gospel isn't trusting in the finished work of Christ.

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It's looking to God and saying Jesus isn't enough. I need to make a sacrifice.

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That's what it's saying. If you had baptism to it, that's what you're saying.

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It's not enough. Quote, he must be circumcised according to the custom of Moses to be saved.

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End quote. Paul does not seek to please man and he has the marks to prove it.

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2nd Timothy 1 8 to 10. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our

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Lord nor of me his prisoner but share in the sufferings of the gospel by the power of God who saved us and called us to a holy calling not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace which he has given us in Christ Jesus before the ages begin and which we have now been manifested in the appearing of our

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Savior Jesus Christ who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to life through the gospel.

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That God has stepped into time, that the infinite became finite, that the

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Creator entered into creation and when he does that he abolishes death.

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He has brought life and immortality to life. That's not preached about.

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It's preached by servants of Christ who are not popular to men.

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Servants of Christ. Let me ask you this.

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Have you received the gospel of grace and peace?

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Or have you received the twisted version of it by removing the blood of Christ from the mercy seat and adding your own blood?

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So much false conversion in Christianity.

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They remove the blood. They take Windex and they take paper towels.

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They go into the mercy seat. They remove the blood of Christ by applying their own works, their own sacrifice.

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Verse 12 section 8. For I did not receive it from any man nor was

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I taught it. Paul speaking of his apostleship says, not from man nor through man.

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Paul speaking of the gospel says, for I did not receive it from any man nor was

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I taught it. So for his defense of his apostleship, not from man nor through man.

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His defense for the gospel. For I did not receive it from any man nor was

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I taught it. And y 'all remember as we went through the first part of Galatians, Paul defending his apostleship and we see why now because of the gospel.

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So he's pointing, he's pointing back and he's pointing forward. Every argument, he's either pointing forward or he's pointing back.

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In Acts 22, Paul names the man. He taught him according to the strict manner of the law,

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Gamaliel. In the Christian tradition, Gamaliel is recognized as a

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Pharisee, a doctor of Jewish law. In Acts 23 6,

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Paul confesses that he is a Pharisee. Quote, I am a

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Pharisee, son of a Pharisee. End quote. Paul is in high standing before coming to Christ.

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If anyone had any reason to teach the law, it was

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Paul. If anyone had any reason to teach law, do this and you will be saved.

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Sacrifice this and you will be saved. Circumcise yourself and you will be saved. It was

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Paul. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the

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Spirit of God and the glory in Christ Jesus, who put no confidence in the flesh, though I myself have every reason for confidence in the flesh also.

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If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more.

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Paul says, I have more reason than you. I have more.

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Circumcised on the eighth day, a people of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, Hebrew of Hebrews.

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As to the law, a Pharisee. As to zeal, a persecutor of the church.

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As to righteousness under the law, blameless. Paul looks at the law, looks at himself and says, blameless.

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But whatever I gained, whatever gain I had, I count it as lost for the sake of knowing

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Christ. Indeed, I count everything lost because of the surpassing work of knowing

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Christ Jesus as my Lord. For his sake, I suffer the loss of all things.

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I count him as rubbish in order that I may know him, that I may gain Christ and be found in him.

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Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which that comes through faith in Jesus Christ.

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The righteousness from God that depends on faith. Philippians 3, verse 3 -9.

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He says, I don't want the righteousness that comes through the law. I don't want that.

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It's poison. It brings death. The righteousness that comes from Christ and faith.

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This change, this change that happened to Paul, think about it, this change that happened to Paul is not from man.

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How can you go from being a Pharisee of the Pharisees, a

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Hebrew of the Hebrews, a persecutor of the church, looking at the law and looking at yourself and saying, blameless, and then looking to Christ and knowing that you fall short and that you need his righteousness.

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Because the righteousness that you once held to brings death. This change that happened to Paul cannot be from man.

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This change that has happened in my life, the man that stands before me, this change cannot have been brought by man.

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It could not have happened. It's not in me. I would not have chosen. I was dead in my trespasses and sin.

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I loved to sin. Loved it. Celebrated it.

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I was dead in it. He made me alive. Christ Jesus has lifted me up into the heavenly places.

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Was it man's gospel that brought the change in me? Are you here today changed, filled with the

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Spirit, empowered by Christ because of a man's gospel? No.

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The gospel of Jesus Christ. You are dead in your sins. Dead.

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The only thing a dead body can do is sin. What about your soul?

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Your spirit? Your spirit was dead. It's like rotting flesh.

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You need Christ. You need it. Christ. Christ made you alive. Man's gospel can't do that.

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Man's gospel will have you spiritually dead, knocking on doors, telling people about a false gospel.

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That's what a man's gospel will do. It will have you checking off your works as you get done.

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Yeah, I did this, I did this, I'm good. You're not good. You're not good.

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There's nothing in you. Has the light of God permeated the darkness that is in you?

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I know you'll probably hear this a lot. Light permeates darkness. If there's a dark room and light comes in, there's no more darkness.

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You cannot permeate. Darkness can't permeate light. God is the light.

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Has his light permeated you? Has it removed the darkness? Are you still trying to set up furniture in your spiritual walk that will cause a shadow for you to live in?

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He permeates darkness. He is the light of the world.

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All things in heaven and earth are created through him. Paul was taught by the best of the best under the

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Jewish law, but when it came to the gospel, the good news,

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Paul says it wasn't through man. It wasn't through man.

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Gamaliel did not teach him this. Not even the other apostles who were numbered among the twelve.

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They didn't gather together around Paul and disciple Paul. The twelve disciples, his apostles, did not disciple

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Paul. Quote, Paul says, I did not receive it from any man nor was

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I taught it. Is it true or is it isn't? If that isn't true, all the thirteen books that he wrote are untrue.

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Verse 12, section B, revealed by Christ. But I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

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Paul, speaking of his apostleship, says, through Jesus Christ and God the

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Father who raised him from the dead. Paul, speaking of the gospel, says, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

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Do you see the mirror that's being pointed from his apostleship to the gospel?

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To deny the apostleship is to break the mirror of the gospel. That's why he's up in arms.

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That's why he's ready for war. That's why he's ready to just throw it down and fight for it.

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He's ready to fight for everything when it concerns his apostleship because to deny such is to deny the gospel.

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He's up in arms. In one way,

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Paul's apostleship is special in that it was taught by Jesus post -resurrection, post -ascension.

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But in the same way, it's the same as the twelve, because he was taught by Jesus and they were taught by Jesus.

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We went through this. Jesus on earth disciples the apostles for three years.

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He walks with them. He hangs out with them. They're able to see him. They see him hanging out with people.

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They hear his teachings. They're able to touch him. Paul, on the road of the masses, which we'll discover next week, had a revelation of Jesus Christ.

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Jesus himself comes to Paul. He studies for a period of three years and matches up to the team.

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Everything that the physical apostles or the physical Jesus experienced,

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Paul experiences post -resurrection, post -ascension, just him in Christ. Just him in Christ.

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Jesus didn't reveal one gospel to the twelve and then turn around and reveal another gospel to Paul.

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It has to be the same gospel. Galatians 2, 1 and 2 says this,

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Paul's speaking, then after 14 years, so after 14 years of this experience that he had when

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God knocked him off his high horse, 14 years, after 14 years, this is what he does, then after 14 years

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I went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas taking Titus along with me.

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I went up because of a revelation and sat before them, though privately before those who seemed influential, the gospel that I proclaimed among the

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Gentiles in order to make sure I was not running in vain. So Paul takes the gospel that Jesus gave him, he takes it to Jerusalem, he sets it before Peter, before James, he says this is what

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I've been preaching, and this is what they say. Galatians 2, 7 and 8. Paul's still speaking, on the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel, same gospel, had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised.

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For he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised also through me for mine to the

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Gentiles. Same gospel for mine, speaking of Paul's apostolic ministry.

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And then he reads, and Peter, Peter confirms that when Paul writes it's scripture, when

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Paul writes it's scripture, he has confirmation from other apostles. It's the same gospel.

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Paul did not receive something different. The measuring rod that we measure all gospel by, the one that Paul preaches, the same gospel, same measuring rod we measure because Peter preached it also.

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It's the same gospel. Paul was taught by Christ just like the others.

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I will close with this. The word

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Judaize. Has anyone ever heard the word Judaize? I know we spoke about Judaizers. The word

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Judaize. The word Judaize is where we get the name Judaizers from. This is what it means.

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The word Judaize means to live like Jesus. To live like Jesus.

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So when the Judaizers come in to the Galatian church, to other churches, the whole purpose was to cause people to live like Jesus.

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The Judaizers. Listen, listen, pay attention.

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Again we're going to go back to the first message we preached. If the gospel that Paul preached is true, the gospel that he preaches is true, and it is, then that means that Jesus came to put an end to the

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Jewish sacrificial system, and he did. The gospel he preaches is true.

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He came to put an end to the Jewish sacrificial system. Chapter 1 verses 3 through 5.

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Grace to you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from this present evil age according to the will of our

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God and Father. To him be glory forever and ever.

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The haunting, the haunting that was over all humanity, the curse that fell over humanity, was the twisted version that was being teached of the law.

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It was the twisted version that was being teached. Do this and you will be saved.

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God has always had the remnant, those that were seeking him by faith.

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Those in the Old Testament that are saved are not, it's nothing new. They were looking forward to a promise, the promise of the

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Messiah that was coming. We're looking back at the promise that has been revealed, the promise that came,

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Jesus Christ. The prophets prophesied about the sufferings of the coming

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Christ, and it was so that even angels were trying to, they longed to look in to see what all of this was about.

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David did not obey the law and gain righteousness. He saw his self in sin.

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He knew it was. He said, cleanse me, give me a pure heart, wash me whiter than snow. He knew he had a cry out to God.

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He could not go and sacrifice an animal and make it right with God. He knew it, that somewhere along the line, a perversion took place.

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When you open the New Testament and you read of what's going on in the Gospels, you see nothing of the sort of that taking place in the

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Old Testament. Somewhere between 400 years of silence in the

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Old Testament and the New Testament, something developed. We'll talk about that more as well.

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I really don't want to get into it too much, but what developed was shaky ground.

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It was building a house on sand. They were taking the

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Sabbath and had it to where you couldn't even help your brother if he fell into a hole. Help your brother, and we obeyed

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God by obeying our brothers. If the

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Gospel that Paul preaches is true, if it's true, and it is, and Jesus came to do away with that system, it's done.

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It's gone. When the temple was destroyed, the system was destroyed.

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So we, 2 ,000 years later, are living in the life that God has stepped into time, and He has abolished death, the law.

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He has abolished that do this and you'll live system. I'm not saying that God's law is abolished.

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We keep His law by loving one another. We love one another.

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We keep His law, but the system of do this and you will be saved, it's gone.

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It's gone. The temple has fallen. The curse is gone. Christ became the curse for us by dying on the tree.

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Pray with me. Father, we love you and we thank you. We thank you that your grace is sufficient, that your love is amazing.

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We thank you for the time that we had to worship you and song and prayer and through the exposition of your word.

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Father, we pray that you will continue to be with us as we partake in the Lord's suffering. God, we ask for your blessings.

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I ask that you will leave here today with us and that as you're a tabernacle in us and as we're living our lives,

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Lord, that you will give a constant reminder that we are your temple and that in the

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Old Testament when people would violate your temple, when they would do something destructive in your temple, that you would put them to death and that as we see, we have a constant reminder and even knowing that we are not put to death, that your grace is amazing and even in our sin, we look at you and we lift holy hands and we thank you for being our

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God and for sending Christ to abolish death. Thank you for the forgiveness of our sins.