We now pass into the letter to
the Galatians, where we actually have the phrase which is
basic to this consideration - "the gospel which I
preach". The phrase is found in the second chapter
and the second verse, and in another form in chapter one,
verse eleven - "the gospel which was preached by
me". We have noted how many times this word 'gospel'
occurs in the letters of Paul. The word is sprinkled
through his letters, indicating by the frequency of its
occurrence that that, after all, is what he is really
writing about. The same thing is true in this brief
letter to the Galatians. In the noun form - that is,
where the whole body of Christian truth is called 'the
gospel' - it occurs in this letter eight times; and then
in the verb form - which cannot be translated into
English correctly, that is, 'to gospel' or 'to good
news', translated for our convenience into English as
'preach', 'preach the gospel', 'bring good tidings', and
so on, but just one word in the original - in the verb
form it is found in this letter six times: so that we
have here fourteen occurrences in a very brief letter.
Now, if we could
reconstruct the situation presented by this letter, or
come upon it in actual reality, what should we find?
Supposing that the situation represented here existed in
some place today, and we visited that place where this
thing was going on, what should we come upon? Well, we
should find a tremendous controversy in progress, with
three parties involved. On the one hand, we should find a
group of men who are extremely and bitterly anti-Paul. On
the other hand, we should find Paul roused and stirred to
the very depths of his being, as we never find him in any
other place in his writings or in his journeys. And, in
between these two parties, there would be the Christians
who are the immediate occasion of this tremendous battle
that is going on. Very much bigger issues than the local
and the occasional are involved, because it is a matter
of the far-reaching and abiding nature of the gospel. Now
Paul, in the battle, is committing himself to a
re-statement of 'the gospel which he preached', over
against these who were seeking to undermine, neutralise
and destroy his ministry altogether. What was it all
about?
Well, first of all,
take the anti-Paul party. What is their trouble? What is
it that they are seeking to establish? In brief, in a
word, their object is to establish the old, Jewish,
religious tradition. They are standing vehemently for the
permanence of that system. They are arguing that it came
directly from God, and what comes directly from God
cannot be changed or set aside. This thing has the
support of antiquity. It is the thing which has obtained
and has existed for many centuries, and therefore it
carries the value of being something that is not, like
Paul's teaching, something quite new. It is established
in the ages of the past. They would go further, and say
that Jesus did not abrogate the law of Moses: He said
nothing about the law of Moses being set aside. Well,
there is all this argument, and much else besides. Their
position is that Judaism, the Law of Moses, is binding
upon Christians. 'Be Christians, if you like, but you
must add to your Christian faith the Law of Moses, and
you must come under the government of all the Thou Shalts
and Thou Shalt Nots of that tradition and that system;
you must conform to the teachings and the practices of
the Jewish system, of the tradition of Moses.' That is
their position in brief.
On the other hand,
there is Paul. He is no stranger to Moses, no stranger to
the Jewish system. Born, bred, brought up, trained and
very thoroughly taught in it all, nevertheless here he is
found directly and positively opposed to their position.
He argues that the Law was given by God indeed, but it
was only given by God to show up man's weakness. The real
value and effect of the Law is to show what man is like -
that he just cannot keep it. How hopeless man is in the
presence of God's demands! How helpless he is before this
whole system of commandments - Thou Shalt and Thou Shalt
Not! And though Christ did not abrogate the Law, set it
aside, and say, 'That is all finished', Christ in Himself
was the only One, the only One amongst all human beings
that ever walked this earth, who could keep it; and He
did keep it. He satisfied God in every detail of the
Divine Law; and, having satisfied God and fulfilled the
Law, He introduced and constituted another basis of
relationship with God, and, thus the Law is in that way
set aside. Another foundation of life with God is brought
in by Jesus Christ.
That is Paul's argument
in brief. Of course, there are many details in it, but
Paul comes to the opposite conclusion to that which these
Judaizers had reached. The Mosaic law is no longer
binding upon Christians in the way in which it was
binding upon the Jews. The argument of Paul is that in
Christ we are freed from the Law. The great word in this
letter is liberty in relation to the Law.
From the strong terms
used in this letter we can gather how intense are the
feelings of those concerned. Of course, these Judaizers
are very, very strong. They have pursued Paul wherever he
has gone. They have sought by every means, by personal
attack and by argument and persuasion, to undo his work
and to lead away his converts from him and bring them
back to Moses. Paul is found here, as I have said, in a
state of perfect vehemence. This Paul, so capable of
forbearance and longsuffering and patience, as we saw in
our last chapter in the case of the Corinthians, where
every kind of provocation to anger was met by him - the
wonderful, wonderful patience and forbearance of Paul
with those people - yet here the man seems to have become
stripped of all such forbearance: here he is literally
hurling anathemas at these men. Twice over, with a double
emphasis, he says, "Let him be anathema... so say I
now again, Let him be anathema" - accursed.
Now, when Paul gets
like that, there must be something involved. For a man
like Paul to be worked up in that way, you must conclude
that there is something serious on hand. And indeed there
is, and this very heat of the Apostle indicates how
serious was the difference between these two positions.
The
Answer to the Situation
Now, in the letter we
may feel that there is much mysterious material. For
instance, in drawing upon Old Testament types, Paul uses
as an allegory the incident of Hagar and Ishmael. We know
the details; we are not going into that at all. There
seems to be a lot of mysterious material that Paul is
using for his argument. But when we have read it all
through and considered it and felt the impact of it, what
does it all amount to? When we have studied this and been
impressed with its seriousness, what is it that we are
left with? Is it just a conclusion about legalism - that
the Law no longer holds us in bondage, and we are freed
from it? Is it that a dispensation of liberty in that
respect has been introduced, and that its principles are
no longer binding upon us? Is that just the position? Is
it that Christianity is something without obligations as
to truth and as to practice? Is it that grace will
override all our breaking of laws and violating of
principles? - a false interpretation of grace indeed! -
but is it that? What is it?
You see, it is possible
to grasp very truly the value of a letter like this, but
for it to remain, after all, just a theological matter, a
mere matter of doctrine. Yes, the letter to the Galatians
teaches that we are no longer under the Law of Moses, and
that we are free as children of God. Very nice, very
beautiful! But where is that going to lead you? What does
it amount to? All that is negative.
I wonder - and this is
the whole point just now - I wonder how many of us are
really living in the enjoyment of the secret and heart of
the gospel, as it is presented in this letter. Paul is
saying much here about the gospel or the good tidings.
What really is the gospel, or the good tidings, as found
here in this letter and in this particular connection?
After all, it is not just that Christians want to be 'libertised' - freed from all restraints, from all bondage
and all obligations, just to do as they like, follow
their own inclinations. That is not it at all. You and I
want to know something more positive than that. We cannot
be satisfied with mere negatives.
Christ
Within
What does the gospel
amount to here? Paul says, 'This is the gospel'. It is
summarised in one fragment of this letter, a very
well-known passage of Scripture, at which we all rejoice
- Galatians 2:20: "I have been crucified with
Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ
liveth in me". This is the gospel, the good tidings,
of the indwelling Christ. This is the heart of the
whole matter, this is the answer to the whole argument,
this settles all the questions, this deals with all the
difficulties - the gospel, the good news, of the
indwelling Christ.
And, when you think of
it, this is the most vital and fundamental factor in
Christianity. No wonder Paul saw that, if this was
sacrificed, Christianity went for nothing: the Judaizers
had carried everything away; Christianity had become of
no meaning at all. He was fighting, therefore, for
Christianity on one point only - but one which included
the whole. The whole was wrapped up and bound up with
this: "Christ liveth in me". If that is
true, you do not need to argue about anything at all; all
the argument is settled.
"Christ liveth in
me". Christ! What is Christ? Who is Christ?
What does Christ mean? What does He embody? Why,
everything that satisfies God is found in Christ! In His
Son Jesus Christ, God has His full, final, complete
answer. Christ can stand up to every demand of God, and
has done so. Christ can bring the full and complete
favour of God wherever He is. Oh, we could stay long with
that - what Christ is, how great Christ is, how wonderful
Christ is! And "Christ liveth in me"! Christ,
that Christ of the eternal glory, that Christ of the
self-emptying, humiliation, that Christ of the triumphant
life, that Christ of the mighty Cross, of the
resurrection, of the return to glory, and of the
enthronement now, is in you and in me! What more can we
want - what more could we have - what greater thing than
that?
The
Power of Christ Within
Now Christ is an
actual, living Person: not an abstract idea, an
historical figure, but an actual, living Person.
"Christ liveth in me". I do not wear a
crucifix of a dead Christ on the outside. I have a living
Christ within, the good news of a living Christ inside.
You can read that, or hear it said, and you can nod your
head and say, 'Yes, Amen': you agree with that! But I
have known people to hear that for years, and agree with
it as heartily as you do - and then one day to wake up to
it. 'You know, after all I have heard about that, I have
only just come to realise that it is true that Christ
really lives in me!' It is something more than the
doctrine of Christ within - it is the experience.
Paul focuses his whole
history as a Christian and as a servant of God upon that
one thing. 'God has shined in my heart' (2 Cor. 4:6). 'It
pleased God, who separated me from my birth, to reveal
His Son in me' (Gal. 1:15,16). 'The gospel which I
preached was not of man', "but... through revelation
of Jesus Christ" (Gal. 1:11,12). How did it come?
Not only objectively and outwardly, but inwardly. 'God
has shined within'. "Christ liveth in me". The
most startling thing that ever happened to a man in the
course of human history was that which happened to Saul
of Tarsus on that noonday when he realised that Jesus of
Nazareth, who he thought was done with, dead and buried,
was alive, alive, actually alive. Remember how
very alive He was. And Paul says: 'That One liveth - and
not only in the glory - He liveth in me, in me!' A
living Person, a living actual power within, yes, a real
power inside, is Christ.
The
Intelligence of Christ Within
Furthermore, He is a
real Intelligence, who possesses the full knowledge of
all that God wants, and, possessing that, dwelling within
me, is the repository and vehicle of God's full will for
my life. Full intelligence by Christ within! All the
knowledge that Christ possesses is within, and if that is
true, if Christ is within - the Apostle, of course, is
speaking here not only about Christ within, but much
about the Holy Spirit, to which we will come presently -
if the indwelling Christ has His way, then that which He
is becomes actual in the life of the child of God: the
fact that He is a living Person, the fact that He is a
mighty power, the fact that He is a full, Divine
Intelligence.
Christ
Within the Knowledge of the Will of God
We would like to have
all understanding in our mind, all knowledge and
intelligence in our reason. We have not got it, but we
have another kind of intelligence. The true child of God
has another kind of intelligence, altogether different
from that which is of the reason. We do not know how to
explain and interpret it, but somehow we know. We can
only say, 'We know'. We know what the Lord does not want
where we are concerned. We find it impossible to be
comfortable along any line that the Lord does not want,
and we come to that position so often. We put it in
different ways, but we have to say, 'I know the Lord does
not want me to do that, to go that way; it is as deep in
me as anything. To do it would be to violate something
that relates to my very life with God.'
That is on the negative
side. And on the positive, if the Lord really wants
something, we know it; in spite of everything, we know
it. If only we will wait for that, it will be so sure.
The trouble is that we cannot wait for the Lord; we get
into such tangles over these problems of guidance. But
when the Lord's time comes, there is no question about it
at all: we know. How do we know? It is spiritual
knowledge, it is spiritual intelligence. It is Christ
dwelling within, in possession of all the mind of God.
Now, here are these
poor Galatian Christians, torn between the Judaizers and
Paul. They do not know what to make of this. These, on
the one side, are so strong about their line of things;
and on the other hand, here is Paul, saying that they are
all wrong! What are they to do? The answer comes: 'If
Christ is in you, you will know - you will know what you
ought to do'. And that is the only real way of knowing
what you ought to do - what is right, and what is wrong.
Christ in you. But you will know.
Christ
Within the Power of Endurance
Now you say, 'I have
not realised that, I do not feel that, I do not see that;
I have not got all that intelligence, I do not sense all
that power'. You see, as Paul is always trying to point
out, there is such a great difference between the human
kind of knowledge and spiritual knowledge. We have
knowledge of this kind, not by information, but by
experience.
Some of us have been on
the Christian way for many years. If it had been left to
us, should we be still going on with the Lord? If we had
had to carry on, struggle through, fight it out, on our
own resources, should we still be here? I think I can say
for you as for myself, Certainly not! We would not be
here today; we should not be rejoicing in the Lord, going
on with the Lord. If Satan could have had his way, we
should not be here, for both in ourselves and in Satan we
have found every conceivable thing inimical to Christ, to
make it impossible for us to go on with the Lord.
Everything in our own selves is against us spiritually.
Everything in Satan is up against us, and everything that
he can use is thrown into the battle for our undoing.
But we are here, and
that is the proof that Christ in us is a living power,
and it is found - though not yet in fulness - in
experience, in fact, and not just in our sensing it. We
would like to have the sensations of this great power, to
feel it; but no, there is often the hiding of His power,
and it only comes out in facts - often in quite long-term
facts.
The
Disposition of Christ Within
Power, intelligence,
knowledge: and then disposition. This is one of the
realities of the Christian life. When Christ is within,
we have a different disposition altogether. We are
disposed to new things, disposed in new ways. Yes, our
disposition has changed. The things which we once found
to be our life no longer draw us to them. We are not
disposed to them any longer. This is the world's problem
with the Christian: 'Why do you not do this, that and the
other?' And the only answer we can give, but which never
satisfies them, is, 'I have lost all disposition for that
sort of thing: I am no longer disposed that way: I have a
disposition in another direction altogether.' It is like
that: another disposition - Christ within. That is
Christianity!
You see, Moses says,
'You have got to do this, and you have got to do that,
and you must not do this, and you must not do that'; and
my disposition is altogether against Moses. Moses says,
'You must do this' - I do not want to do it; it may be
quite right, it may have come from God, but I just do not
find it in my nature, in my disposition, to do it. Moses
said, 'I must not do this', and my disposition says, 'I
want to do that - that is just the very thing that I do
want to do!' Somehow or other, in myself I am just across
God in every way.
What is the solution to
the Law? Christ in you. If Christ is in you, then you
will be disposed to do what God wants you to do, and you
will fulfil the Law. If Christ is in you, you will have
no disposition for doing what God does not want you to
do, and you will again fulfil the Law. But, you see, you
fulfil it on another basis altogether. You fulfil it, not
because Moses said it, but because Christ is in you; not
because you must, but because Christ gives you another
disposition. This is the gospel, the good news, of the
indwelling Christ.
The
Work of the Holy Spirit Within
Now, when you turn to
the teaching about the Holy Spirit in this letter, you
find that it comes to the same thing. Christ in you is
the Holy Spirit's standard and He is working in you on
the basis of the indwelling Christ to bring you into line
with Christ, to build you up according to the Christ who
is in you. The Holy Spirit is the energy of Christ
within, the energy to make us Christ-like, to enable us
to be like Christ, and therefore to be fulfillers of
everything that is right in the sight of God, and
shunners of everything that is not right in the sight of
God. There is an energy by the Holy Spirit to do this.
The Apostle speaks
about the fruit of the Spirit. "The fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control"
(Gal. 5:22,23). The Spirit, you see, is inside, and He is
the Spirit of Christ within to cause that the fruits of
Christ shall be borne in us, or, shall we say, the fruit
of Christ which shows itself in all these many ways. The
fruit of Christ is "love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness,
self-control", the fruit of the mighty energy of the
Spirit of Christ within.
And what about law?
Yes, the Spirit works according to law. Before he is
through, the Apostle says that tremendous thing, that
terrible thing: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked:
for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For
he that soweth unto his own flesh shall of the flesh reap
corruption; but he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of
the Spirit reap eternal life" (Gal. 6:7,8). The law
of the Spirit, you see, is this. Sow, and you reap; what
you sow, you reap. Sow to the Spirit, and you reap life
everlasting. If you sow to the Spirit - that is only
saying, in figurative language, If you conform to the
Spirit's energy, the Spirit's law, the Spirit's
government, or to Christ in you - you will reap Christ,
you will reap life. There is a law here, and 'free from
the Law' does not mean that we are set free from any
necessity for recognising that God has constituted His
universe, our bodies and souls, upon principles; but it
does mean this, that Christ in us makes it possible for
us to obey the principles, whereas otherwise we should be
violating them all the time.
"The gospel which
I preach", says Paul: 'after all, it amounts to this
- after all your arguments about legalism and Judaizers
and the rest, it amounts to this: - "Christ liveth
in me".' That is good news, that is hope -
everything is possible!