And who was he yelling at? “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees,” verse 2 - the spiritual leaders and preachers, whose job it was to learn the gospel and preach it accurately, “BUT you were not willing,” verse 37. Instead, verse 4, “They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.”

The same thing was happening in Paul’s day. People “who were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel,” Galatians 2:14, were trying to “make us slaves (1:14),” by trying to force new Christians “to follow Jewish customs (2:14).” It was exactly the same problem Jesus confronted the Pharisees and preachers of his day with. Instead of lifting burdens off people, these so-called preachers “who seemed to be leaders,” Galatians 2:2, were loading all kinds of religious rituals and customs ON people, burdens that had nothing to do with the gospel.

Adding burdens, therefore, is a telling sign of a false preacher at work, because the gospel isn’t about making life more burdensome, it’s about freeing us from our burdens. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,” Jesus cried, “and I will give you rest….for my yoke is easy and my burden is light,” Matthew 11:28, 30. And as Paul wrote in Galatians 5:1, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

But slavery to what, exactly? Well, in context, verse 4, it’s slavery to the idea that we have to justify ourselves before God – by how good we are or by how much effort we put into our Christianity (3:3). But, Paul cries, “if righteousness could be gained through the law” – or by any effort on our part – then “Christ died for nothing!” Galatians 2:21. Christ didn’t die to put the burden of our salvation – or righteousness, or justification – on our backs. He died to take all those burdens on himself, because God wants our salvation to be entirely his doing. That way it’s guaranteed to be successful!

To those who were confusing and perverting that message, Paul had this to say: “The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be,” Galatians 5:10. And what penalty did he, like Jesus, have in mind for such people? “Let them rot in hell.”

That wasn’t just Paul’s reaction, however, it was God’s too, because Paul was quoting God. “How beautiful” was a quote straight out of Isaiah 52:7, when God himself spoke of the day when people really grasp what the gospel is all about because there are preachers who grasp it too, and they’re belting out the good news for all its worth. So it was God who was the first to say, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation,” because he obviously loves watching a good news preacher in action too.

That’s why he sent Jesus, to bring good news. When the angel announced Jesus’ birth to the startled shepherds he said, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people,” Luke 2:10-11. And when Jesus started preaching, he “travelled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God,.” Luke 8:1. How beautiful to God were the travelling feet of Jesus too, then, because wherever Jesus went he brought good news to people.

It’s good news that God wants preached. Anything that isn’t good news isn’t the gospel. Imagine how God reacts, then, to a preacher who threatens people with eternal torment in the fires of hell if they don’t become Christians, or tells people that God’s only saving some people and the rest go to hell. That isn’t good news, it’s terrible news. How UGLY a preacher must be to God who preaches such awful stuff to people, and then claims it’s the gospel.

It isn’t the gospel and it never was, because the word for gospel in the New Testament Greek means “good tidings.” It’s a good news message about the kingdom of God and how, by God’s grace, Jesus began that kingdom on this Earth and makes it possible for us humans to enter that kingdom now, just as God intended before he even created us. “In love God predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will,” Ephesians 1:4-5. And if that’s what God’s pleasure is, then imagine how pleased he is with those who preach that message too.

God, therefore, has certainly done his part to enable us humans to “confess with our mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead,” verse 9, so that he can then “richly bless ALL who call on him,” verse 12.

But the key to that actually happening is good preaching, because, as Paul asks in verse 14, “How can people call on the one they have not believed in?” In other words, what’s the likelihood of people turning to Jesus if they’ve never been given a reason for turning to him? “And,” Paul continues, “how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?” because if people haven’t heard anything about Jesus worth listening to, why on earth would they even want to believe in him?

So how do people get to hear about Christ in a way that rings true to them – and in a way that they want to hear more? Well, Paul asks in verse 14, “How can they hear without someone preaching to them?” What they need is a good preacher. Someone who can explain to them, in words they can easily grasp, who Jesus is, why God sent him, and what he’s doing now. Because that’s the way God set things up. He isn’t reaching people by talking to them personally – like a voice in their heads – he’s reaching people through good preaching.

He makes sure that such preachers exist too, because, as Paul asks yet again, “How can they preach unless they are sent?” verse 15. But God has always sent good preachers, from the Judges and Prophets in the Old Testament, to the apostles and preachers in the New Testament. And the proof they are preachers sent by God is that they “bring good news!” verse 15. If there’s any bad news in their message, it’s a clue right there that they haven’t been sent by God.

God set things up so that it’s good preaching about the good news that people respond to. That’s why good preaching is so important.

Paul’s answer is simple: “faith comes from hearing the message,” verse 17. Ah, so faith, or belief, isn’t something WE have to we come up with, it’s something that’s stirred IN us by hearing “the word of Christ” (same verse). That’s how belief is triggered. The message does it.

What message, though? In context, it’s that “righteousness comes from God,” verse 3. All that we need for our salvation is God’s doing. Through Jesus Christ HE’s taken care of our salvation every step of the way (verses 11 and 13). And when we hear that message – properly and accurately explained (verses 14-15), belief is not far behind.

And the reason belief is not far behind is because God put it in us to believe, verse 8 - “The word is near you; it is IN your mouth and IN your heart.” It’s not difficult for us, therefore, to accept and believe that God has everything worked out for us. It’s what, deep down, we hoped and suspected about God – that he loves us, he forgives us, he’s merciful toward us, and he never gives up on us. So when we hear in the gospel message that God REALLY IS totally forgiving and merciful toward us, as we see in the sacrifice of his Son, we instinctively latch on to it as true.

Paul knew by experience how this worked. “By setting forth the truth plainly,” he writes in 2 Corinthians 4:2, ”we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” Paul knew that if he preached the right gospel it would ring true in a person’s conscience, at which point belief would be awakened and brought to life.

Belief, therefore, is not something we have to come up with to be saved. It is something God put in us, ready to burst forth in our mouths and hearts on hearing the right gospel. If, therefore, a person doesn’t believe, the first question to ask is: “Has he, or she, heard the right gospel yet?’- because hearing the right gospel is what triggers belief.

But how is that possible? Because the wrong gospel appeals to the most fundamental weakness we’ve got – pride. But pride in what exactly? It’s pride in the idea that we can be “justified by observing the law,” Galatians 2:16 – meaning, “we can do this salvation thing ourselves.” We can make ourselves righteous. All we do is keep the commandments and God has to reward us. And in Galatians we find this “do-it-yourself” gospel of salvation having a huge impact, because even the likes of Peter and Barnabas fell for it, verses 12-13.

Paul didn’t, though. He knew exactly what was going on. So, verse 14, ”When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel,” he stood up to Peter and the rest of them and told them twice in verse 16 that no one is justified by observing the law. As Christians we totally depend on Jesus Christ for our righteousness and salvation, and he mentioned that twice in verse 16, too.

This incident proved very useful, however, because it made Paul draw a clear line in the sand between the right gospel and the wrong one, and it’s there in black and white in Galatians for any Christian in any age wondering what the difference is. The difference is clear: Any hint that we have a part in our salvation, or that we can make ourselves righteous, is just plain wrong.

It’s worse than wrong because “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse,” Galatians 3:10. It’s a curse depending on the law. Why a curse? Because relying on the law means having to obey “everything” it says (same verse). You can’t fail once. One sin and it’s game over. But there’s an even worse curse than that, verse 21, because even if we did somehow manage to obey everything the law says perfectly, the law still cannot “impart life,” verse 21.

Nothing we do has the power to save us. Only Jesus has the power to impart eternal life. And that, to Paul, was the right gospel.

They were running well but people were trying to cut in on them, slow them down, knock them off track, and if possible stop them “obeying the truth” all together. What truth? That Christ had died to free them from ever again having to make themselves into righteous, loving people by human effort or obedience to the Law.

But some people didn’t like this truth at all. Why not? Because they wanted “to make a good impression outwardly,” Galatians 6:12. They much preferred the old way of doing things, of making oneself into an upstanding person by self-discipline, strength of will and obeying all the Old Testament laws perfectly, including circumcision, because it made them look good. It was impressive. And if they could persuade others to follow them, they could boast about that too, that the old way was right.

But, Paul writes, “The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ,” verse 12. The cross wasn’t popular because it didn’t allow for any human boasting or pride. It was offensive (5:11) because it took away the chance to show off how obedient and strong you were. It was humbling having to accept that it’s only “by the Spirit” that we “will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” People didn’t like being told that. They got angry. They liked being able to boast about how righteous they were.

Paul was the absolute opposite. “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world,” Galatians 6:14. It was only by Christ’s death that he’d managed to throw off the shackles of his sinful nature. So, having already experienced what Christ’s death had done for him, he wasn’t going to let anyone knock him off track. He was a “new creation,” verse 15, with Christ now living his nature in him, and nothing would persuade Paul to go back to depending on himself.

There are persuasive voices out there, though, who would rather “righteousness be gained through the law,” Galatians 2:21. And why is that? Because the cross doesn’t give them anything to boast about, where keeping the law does. What knocks people off track, then, is pride…(continued in Part 7).

But what does Paul mean by “righteousness” in this verse? In context, verse 6, he’s talking about “faith expressing itself through love.” The miracle we’re trusting the Spirit to produce in us, and the “righteousness for which we hope,” is love.

And to Paul that’s “the only thing that counts,” (verse 6 still), because, verse 14, “The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’” This was the great hope and ultimate goal the Galatian Christians were trying to achieve too, but they thought they could love by their own efforts, and by keeping the law.

“But the scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe,” Galatians 3:22. There is no way we can achieve the righteousness God has in mind for us, or love our neighbours as ourselves, because we’re all prisoners of sinful human nature. But the gospel talks about the solution: What we can’t do, the Spirit does for us – by working the miracles of love and righteousness in us. And how do we receive this Spirit? By believing the gospel, that Christ took our sinful nature to the cross and crucified it, so that what was promised, the Spirit, would be given to us instead.

Paul summarized how this works in Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Christ crucified our nature on the cross, so that the old life we lived, totally at the mercy of our sinful nature, is over. We are out of that prison. Christ, through the Spirit, now lives his life in us, so that we have his nature in us now. And all he asks of us is to believe this is what’s happening to us every day, because this is what he gave himself willingly for.

The Galatians did believe it too, that Christ was doing what he died for, working the miracles of love and righteousness in them by his Spirit. But something knocked them off that track. Which was?…(continued in Part 6)

Answer? God gave his Spirit when they believed what they heard. So what was it they’d heard? Verse 14, that Christ “redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” What they’d heard from Paul was the promise God made to Abraham, that one day, because of Jesus Christ’s death, the Spirit would be given to us. And what would the Spirit do? Deal with our nature, Galatians 5:16: ”Live by the Spirit,” Paul wrote, “and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”

This was the miracle the Galatians had experienced. It was the incredible change in their nature, from the typical self-centred mess of verses 19-21 to the fruits of the Spirit in verse 22. The change was so noticeable that of course they knew when the miracles of the Spirit had begun.

Had all their strict obedience to the law created this remarkable change in them? No. Nor had it changed the Israelites, either. It had proved a key point, though, that “the law was powerless…in that it was weakened by the sinful nature,” Romans 8:3. Our nature, with all its self-centred desires and passions, is so powerful that even the law can’t change it. And that’s the lesson of the Old Testament, that there’s nothing we can do about our sinful nature. We can try our best to be good people by willpower, self-discipline and strict religious rituals, but none of it works in changing our sinful nature.

But what the law (and all human effort and ritual) was powerless to do, “God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering, verse 3. Jesus’ sacrifice broke the back of our nature, by taking our nature upon himself and nailing it the cross, and in so doing “condemned sin in sinful man.” And he did that “in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according the sinful nature but according to the Spirit,” verse 4.

No longer would we be driven by our nature, or be dependent on what’s in our nature to attain our goal of obeying God’s law. Christ died so we could depend entirely on the Spirit instead…(continued in Part 5)

Christ redeemed us from “trying to attain our goal by human effort,” verse 3, because we can’t attain our goal by human effort. It’s a huge, humbling, and even rather embarrassing lesson, that every human eventually comes to learn, that God didn’t create us with the ability to make it on our own. The only way a human being, relying on his own strength, can make life work out perfectly, both now and forever, is to obey every law governing his success absolutely perfectly. But the story of Israel proves we can’t do it. Even if God was with us like he was with them, blessing us at every turn and offering us paradise on Earth if we obey him, we still couldn’t do it. That’s why the story of Israel was written. They didn’t have it in them to do what was needed, and nor do we.

It’s a terrible curse hanging over our heads, then, if we’re depending on our own strength alone. Just like the Israelites we may have good intentions, but the flesh is weak. So Christ came to remove that curse. How? By becoming that curse for us (verse 13). He took the “depending on our own strength” curse and nailed it to the cross. No longer, then, would we ever have to think our eternity depends on anything we do, like obeying the 10 commandments or acting all religious.

Instead, verse 11, the righteous would live by faith. Faith in what, though? Back to verse 14, it’s faith in the “promise of the Spirit.” It would dawn on us that thousands of years ago, God made a promise to Abraham, that one day the help we’d need to enter eternity with God would be given to us. The Spirit would work the miracles in our lives that we couldn’t work in our lives ourselves. And that’s what Christ’s death released to us. He took that old self of ours, totally dependent on human strength, nailed it to the cross, and opened up the promise he made to Abraham of the Spirit doing for us what we couldn’t do ourselves.

We could then begin a new life of dependence on the Spirit, which is exactly what the Galatians did – to begin with. But then they started listening to another gospel instead…(continued in Part 4)

And the question was this: When God gives you the Spirit and works miracles among you, is it because you keep the law, or is it because you have faith in the gospel message?

They’re really in trouble here, because they know the answer. They know miracles have been happening, and they know when the miracles started happening, too. The miracles began when they, the people, heard the gospel and they believed it.

So, how are they going to answer Paul’s question? The evidence is obvious. None of these miracles were happening when they kept the law. For all their diligent keeping of the 10 commandments, strict keeping of the Sabbath, being circumcised, tithing and properly performing all their sacrifices and rituals, at no time during any of them did they experience the remarkable miracles that had been happening since “Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified” to them, verse 1.

It was hearing the gospel about Jesus that got the miracles started. It was hearing and believing that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us,” verse 13. But that meant accepting there’s a curse, first of all, that only Christ’s death can release us from. What curse? The curse of trying to win God’s favour, get God’s blessings and earn one’s way into eternity by one’s own diligent obedience and determination. And why was that a curse? Because “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do EVERYTHING written in the Book of the Law,” verse 10.

The curse of the law is having to do it all perfectly. One mistake and that’s it, a blood sacrifice has to be made, or you die. That’s why the sacrificial system was set up in Old Testament Israel, so at least they could keep on living while still being sinners, but the only sacrifice that removed the curse once and for all was Christ’s (Hebrews 9 and 10). And when the Galatians believed that, that Christ’s death released them from the curse of having to rely on themselves and their own resolve and obedience, it was then that they began to understand another remarkable truth in Galatians 3:14…(continued in Part 3)