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The Amish Voice 3
A well-known preacher of the United States was asked to say a
few words to a gathering in an open air meeting. At the close of
his address an atheist stepped up to him and challenged him to a
debate, assuring him that he would bear all the expense of rent-
ing the hall and advertising.
“I accept on one condition: When you bring with you fifty
people who
have been helped by your philosophy, I am ready. I will bring you
hundreds who will testify to the transformation this Gospel has
wrought in their lives.”
Needless to say the challenger departed somewhat chagrined
(
Gospel Herald.
Walter B. Knight.
3,000 Illustrations for Chris-
tian Service
. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman’s Publishing Company,
1971, p.317.)
Only the true gospel can produce the ‘fruit’ of changed lives.
No false religion or false god can bring about the love, peace,
security, and salvation that the gospel can and does produce.
3. HE DEFENDED THE GOSPEL BEFORE FALSE BELIEV-
ERS (vv.3-5).
A brief look at what lies behind these verses will greatly help the
reader. Paul was preaching the gospel of grace alone and this aroused
some of the Jewish believers. Remember that most of the believers at
Jerusalem were Jews. They had been circumcised when they were
eight days old and had been steeped in the law of Moses since child-
hood. When they accepted Christ, some just refused to forsake their
Judaistic religion. They saw Christianity only as an extension of Juda-
ism. In their minds Christ had
only added
new teachings to their exist-
ing law and religion. Therefore, if a person wished to accept Christ,
he had to become a Jew first...
to undergo the ritual of circumcision
to commit himself to the law of Moses
to observe all the ceremonies and rituals of Jewish religion
Once a person had done these things, that is, become a Jew, then
and only then could he receive Christ and be baptized. Only then
could he be accepted into the church.
Paul, of course, had gone against these beliefs and practices. He
had...
allowed people to receive Christ by grace through faith alone
without undergoing the ritual of circumcision.
allowed people to follow and focus upon Christ instead of
upon the law of Moses.
This shocked those who were still loyal to their Judaistic religion,
and they began to form an alliance and oppose Paul vehemently. They
felt he was out to destroy their religion and its form and rituals.
Therefore, they set out to discredit and destroy him...
by questioning his salvation and call.
by denying that his apostleship and ministry were of God.
by planting their own teachers in the churches where Paul had
ministered and by indoctrinating the churches with their own
false teaching.
by sending their own emissaries to follow and hound Paul by
stirring up the people against him—stirring them to question
his message and call.
These men were called Judaizers, men who mixed ritual and law
with the gospel of Christ. Paul’s argument was that this teaching was
the very opposite of the true gospel. A man is not saved by fleshly
signs, by ritual, nor by his own ability to keep the laws, regulations,
and rules. A man just cannot earn, win, or do anything to save him-
self.
Salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ alone (Ga.2:16). A man can only
accept salvation, and then in thankfulness for God’s gift, he must de-
pend upon the power of the Holy Spirit to live for God.
Now to the point of the present verses. When Paul went to Jerusa-
lem, he took Barnabas and Titus, two co-workers, with him. Barnabas
was a Jew who had been converted in Jerusalem. He was well known
by most believers, for he was one of the very first missionaries, and
he had experienced great movements of God wherever he had carried
the gospel.
Titus, however, was a different matter. He was a heathen (Gentile)
convert. He was not a Jew, which meant he had never undergone the
ritual of circumcision, nor had he committed himself to keep the law
of Moses and the rituals of religion. Titus was a perfect example of
salvation by grace alone, for he had been saved and called by Christ
to preach without ever having been circumcised and without submit-
ting to the law of Moses. Apparently, it was Paul’s intention to pre-
sent him as a prime example of God’s saving people by grace through
faith alone—without any religion, ritual, or rule whatsoever.
However, when the Judaizers heard about Titus, they planted sev-
eral of their followers in the church who reacted and demanded that
Titus undergo the ritual of circumcision and make the law of Moses
the focus of his life. Note that they entered the church hypocritically;
they were not true believers. Paul calls them
brothers
, but
false broth-
ers
.
Note that Paul refused to be subject to the false teachers. He would
not tell Titus he had to undergo a ritual and focus upon the law in
order to be saved. Paul fought to preserve the pure gospel in all its
truth.
“This only would I learn of you, Received ye the
Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now
made perfect by the flesh?” (Ga.3:2-3).
ILLUSTRATION:
Throughout the ages, men have attempted to
improve
the gospel.
Some call it old-fashioned. Others want to repackage it in order
to make it
more relevant for today
. And there are some who want
to change it by replacing it with something else all-together.
In composing a “new gospel,” these people convince them-
selves that they are right on key. But to a trained ear, the obvious
is apparent: this vain rendition is as flat as a pancake!
QUESTIONS:
1. What things do some Christians add to the gospel?
2. When there are doctrinal disagreements in a body of believ-
ers, what can be learned from Paul’s example?
3. If you were asked to defend the gospel, what would you
say? Do you feel confident in your answer? What can you
do to get a better grasp of the gospel?