THE ONE TRUE GOSPEL
Meditations in the Epistle to the Galatians
Galatians 6:11-13
FAILURE OF OUTWARD RELIGION

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THE PHRASE that caught my attention, and which sums up Paul's thoughts in these three verses are "good impression outwardly". These people who had come into disturb the faith of the Galatians were concerned to conform to the outward expectations of the time in religious matters. The outward expectations were formed by the cultural heritage handed down by the Jews, and consisted in the way the Jewish faith expressed itself in New Testament times, which was far removed from the purity of faith given to Abraham and Moses. Jesus was always criticising the form of religion that had grown up amongst the Jews in his time through the teaching of the Scribes and Pharisees. Though many had received the Gospel they still could not let go of the Jewish religion they had been nurtured in, and their faith was mixed up with Gospel and Jewish religion, which as Paul has pointed out in this letter in fact destroys the Gospel. They had been seeking to press their ideas on the Galatians, and had so succeeded that Paul had been driven to write this letter to overcome this evil influence which threatened the eternal welfare of the converts in Galatia.

Like the Jewish faith in the time of Jesus which had down the years corrupted the pure faith that they had been given by God in the early days, the church down the ages of history has done the same. The purity of the faith taught by the Holy Spirit through the teaching of Jesus and the apostles soon began to be corrupted. The church soon was fighting heresies that grew up, and by the middle ages the church had become in faith and practice far from the true Gospel. The Reformation brought the Gospel back but from that time the church in its life has been plagued by different teachings which have been less than the Gospel or which added to it, so that the church today has much of what is destructive of the Gospel in its life, practice and teaching. Thus the three verses we are considering are very relevant today, and the things Paul speaks of concerning outward religion are still relevant.

In these three verses before us Paul gives some characteristics of this outward religion and this is what is going to occupy our attention in this sermon. It is always good to see clearly the error we need to flee from, and then we will not be seduced by it. Though the form of this error expressed itself differently in New Testament times, it is present in the church today, and the essentials of it are always the same and can be recognized.

GOOD IMPRESSION OUTWARDLY

The trouble with all the additions and changes which creep into the church which oppose the Gospel is that they are usually prominent outwardly in the life of the church, and have become in many, if not most, peoples minds the essence of what the church is and stands for. Thus to criticise or reject this outward practice and thought brings an hostile response. None of us like to find ourselves in opposition to the accepted way, nor do we want to face the criticism of the establishment and be marginalised. It is much easier to go with the stream.

Sometimes the established way is very angry against those who would question some of its ways or beliefs, and becomes quite aggressive to any opposition. This was certainly true of the Jewish religion, and so when Jews became Christians it was very hard to stand out against the opposition of their fellow Jews. There is a further problem also. If we have been brought up in a religious culture that has dominated our lives from childhood, it becomes so part of us that it is very difficult to sever ourselves from it. There is a cultural block which just seems impossible to remove.

Both these factors existed in the New Testament times and those who were coming in and disturbing the Gospel freedom in Galatia were no doubt troubled by both these problems. Fear of the Jewish establishment on the one hand, and their cultural prejudices on the other. This made them believe that the Gospel had to be part of the old religion and somehow the two must be synchronised. These false teachers wanted the Church in Galatia to conform so they may glory in their conformity to ancient practices, and be approved by the old Jewish ways.

The trouble is that invariably, if not exclusively, such practice is marked simply by outward religion, where the heart and the spirit is missing and neglected. It has more concern in doing what is right in society and in the fellowship of the visible church, than being right in the sight of God. Religion becomes a matter of doing and conforming to the outward requirements and practices, and when these are fulfilled then nothing more is required, and approval with God is said to be found in the conforming to these outward forms. Thus there is no searching of the heart, or real purifying of the heart. Nor is there any real love for God, or concern to know what is truly being right before him.

As Paul saw so clearly, to simply be concerned to give a good impression outwardly is to have no real saving faith whatsoever. It does not make us right with God, which is the glory of the Gospel, even though those who advocate conformity to the approved mode may very well have as there goal to achieve a more effective religion. It is for this reason we must be heeding of Paul's word and looking out that we glory in the Gospel alone.

DUTY PROMINENT

Another word in verse 12 also needs to be noticed. It is very characteristic of outward religion, and it is the word 'compel'. These false teachers were not only advocating the necessity of being circumcised, but were compelling the Galatians to be circumcised. The idea was that unless you conformed and obeyed the rules, you failed to be a true Christian and so failed to be in the favour of God.

There are two evil things here. The first is that outward religion places on people a great deal of burden, which is unnecessary, but without any grace or strength to perform it. Grace and blessing depends on the person being able to conform. From the duty of circumcision, there would necessarily follow other duties which went along with the Jewish culture. All of them would add greater burdens. The further anyone gets into this way the greater do the burdens increase. The problem is that blessing depends on performance of duty, but there is no security of knowing whether ones obedience to the forms has been enough. The really earnest soul, therefore, is driven to more duty to quieten a troubled conscience, with an every increasing sense of failure bearing down.

The other evil is that religion is turned into works, whereas true religion is based on faith. This is what Paul has been contending against throughout this letter, showing the evil of our religion being based on our works and doings. The way of works can never save. It places obligations upon us that we can't meet, and causes the Gospel promises and assurance to be removed from us.

The idea of compulsion is repugnant. There is no real love in this religion. God becomes a tyrant rather than a loving Father. God has on his face a stern look of correction and rebuke, and not a loving and welcoming smile. Blessing from God is never certain and also rare, because it depends on the duty being performed. When duty is performed a pride and false security is built up which is sinful and foolish. No wonder Paul speaks so strongly.

THE OFFENCE OF THE CROSS

It is so surprising that the idea of Jesus being our substitute and accepting the punishment for our sins and dying on the cross in our place, which brings free forgiveness and the blessing of fellowship with God, causes such animosity in the minds of religious people and the world. Yet it is so, and people are persecuted and even killed because of the Gospel and their faith in Jesus crucified for them.

However this fact is the reason that those who advocate outward religion are so keen that these duties like circumcision be adhered to. They fear the persecution that comes upon those who are truly faithful to the Gospel. Paul refers to this at the end of verse 12. These false teachers who had come to Galatia wanted the blessings that the Gospel gave, but did not want to suffer for the Gospel, and so they were ready to amalgamate their former Jewish culture with their new beliefs, in case they got tarred with the same brush as the Christians who had thrown off the Jewish yoke, and so suffer censor from the Jews or worse suffer persecution.

The trouble is that when you have this problem, human ingenuity is such that an amalgamation can be made to look very right, and the mind can be made to approve and feel that the amalgamation is better than the real thing.

There is something in the cross of Jesus that is totally offensive to fallen human nature. This is the reason for its offence. The cross of Jesus destroys all pride. The cross of Jesus tells us that we are sinners who are helpless to save ourselves from out sins. It tells us that there is nothing that we can do, either to atone for past sins, or to make ourselves worthy before God in the future. This cuts right across all our natural beliefs and aspirations. We do not like to feel that we are helpless, and it seems axiomatic to us that we must earn favour. Further the cross is so humbling because it strips from us any claim that we can contribute to our acceptance with God. Indeed the cross tells us that to place beside the work of Jesus any of our own flimsy works, is to dishonour the name and merits of Jesus, and to sever ourselves from the benefits of them. Our labours can in no way fulfil God's law, so we must come empty handed pleading for mercy, and trusting wholly in the cross. This is so humbling that many cannot accept it even if it means the loss of all good.

Thus the world persecutes those who adhere to the cross of Jesus, and rejection, criticism and persecution from others must be expected by those who believe on Jesus only for their forgiveness and life. Also believers need to be very careful they do not let the fear of the world or the fear of organised religion cause them to in any way adulterate the cross by human and religious duties.

A WAY THAT FAILS

The last thought which Paul brings to us concerning the folly of religious duties being added to the merits of Christ is given in verse 13. He tells the Galatians that these false teachers want them to conform to the law of Moses, specially in being circumcised, because they wanted to glory in their flesh; that is they want to be able to say to the religious culture of the Jews, look there is no abandonment of the Jewish faith, but only the addition of belief in Christ. How dishonouring to Christ this is. How dare we ever imagine that anything we do can compare to Christ's work for us, or add anything to it.

This way of calling the Galatians to conform to the law shows its weakness and failure because Paul tells us that the advocates of the law themselves found it impossible to keep the law. So they were binding on others what they had proved to be useless and a failure.

The way of law or the way of works is always a way of loss and failure. It binds the adherent to every last detail of the law and perfection of God. Fallen humanity has been trying to get over this down the centuries, and the way that has been adopted is to lower the standard of God to a point conceived as being within the grasp of our weak efforts. It has placed outward religious duties in the place of holiness or to be accepted as holiness, because we find it fairly easy to perform such duties, and it is comfortable to feel that when they are done we have satisfied God.

But this is all a sham. It hides the truth and leaves the soul in danger of death and hell. It has one great failing that the heart and inner disposition is conveniently overlooked. The sermon on the mount where Jesus lays emphasis on the need for pure thoughts and feeling, must have been a sore exposure to the religion of the Jews of his day. Outward religion leaves the real person with no change whatsoever, with no new principle of life within. It is totally unable to save.

CONCLUSION

Let us shun outward religion which denies the cross and leaves the hearts untouched. We have tasted that the Lord is good. He has cleansed our souls by new birth. He has by his merits provided us with righteousness that meets all God's demands. We have in the Gospel peace with God. We have a hope which cannot fade because it is founded on the perfect and finished work of Jesus. Here is salvation and security. Never let us jeopardise it by any addition of outward forms.