Coming to the Still Waters

Foreverwiser, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons The picture above is a church named after Peter and Paul.  Actually there are many of these all over the world.  It is a testament to these two men's love of proclaiming the gospel.  It is also a testament that the correction in today's passage didn't end their relationship.  This church is in Bramble, Minnesota. This is a catch-up blog post so I am including material from 2 sermons in the book of Galatians and they will both be posted below. In way of review, Paul's soap box is "Christ alone!" He wants to bring assurance to the new Christians in the new churches of the region of Galatia of their salvation in the simple gospel found in Galatians 1:3-5.  The problem is that there are those who are trying to add to the gospel message to be Jesus + and Paul will have none of this. Paul has met with the apostles privately and shared the gospel message he is sha

  Paul Harvey, an Army veteran of WWII and ABC radio commentary, would start off his program with " Hello Americans " and would end with " Good Day ."  His most popular version of his radio program was the Saturday edition titled " The Rest Of The Story. "  You received the front half of the story and then after the commercial break you would receive the back half of the story.  I relate this to our passage as Paul is giving us the rest of the story around his conversion to Christianity to help the Christians of the Galatia churches to see and understand the simple and genuine gospel presented to them. Paul is making the gospel the focal point of every section.  In the first section it is the explanation of what the gospel is and in a way, what the gospel is not.  In the next section he stresses the importance of holding to the gospel as presented to them.  In this section, Paul will relate the gospel to his very life and also share with his readers the re

  Paul has something he is very passionate about.  He is on his soap box about the clarity of the gospel as Jesus and nothing more.  I remember the story about R.C. Sproul and the discussions about justification by faith alone that took place in late nineties in Florida.  His friend John MacArthur, who was also at the private summit, said of him, "At one point he became so passionate in making his argument that he literally climbed on the table, making the plea on his hands and knees from the tabletop until each person on the other side of the table had made direct eye contact with him. There wasn't a hint of malice in the gesture, and everyone in the room understood that. The passion that motivated R. C. was his love of the gospel and his zeal for making sure that the message is proclaimed without compromise or confusion." Paul speaks so strongly about those who would add to the gospel therefore making what Christ's sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection  from t

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_galloping_horse_and_rider._Wellcome_V0048753.jpg I have the privilege to " gallop " through the book of Galatians, which is a letter to the churches in the region of Galatia (Asia Minor), with the church were I am serving as an interim pastor.  Each book of the Bible I preach I like to start with the 3 a's: author, audience, and autographed.  The letter points to Paul as the author and the churches of Galatia as the audience.  Historical events point to an autographed date of 48 to 52 A.D., not long after the life, death and resurrection of Jesus in the early 30's A.D. This letter from Paul is very different from his other letters.  It gets right to the point.  It shares more details about what happened to him after he met the Lord on the Damascus Road.  Galatians outlines nicely into 3 sections over the 6 chapters.  Chapters 1 & 2 are about the man, Paul and it is personal .  Chapters 3 & 4 are about the message, the