THE ONE TRUE GOSPEL
Meditations in the Epistle to the Galatians
BLESSINGS TO THE ISRAEL OF GOD

"Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God."
Galatians 6:16

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THE BLESSINGS of the Gospel are received only by those who follow the rule of the Gospel. These people are the only true Israel of God, that is the chosen saved ones of God. Let us consider both the blessings Paul mentions here and the nature of the true Israel.

THE TRUE ISRAEL

It is supposed by most Christians that the Jewish nation are still the Israel of God, God's chosen people. While the true Israel of God is open to all Jews, and many become members of the true Israel, the nation is no more the Israel of God, in the sense that they are God's chosen people.

In fact the Jewish nation as such were never the true Israel of God. Paul tells us in Romans 9 and verse 6 "For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel." This tells us that it was always the case that the true Israel were always only those who followed and believed the rule which Paul speaks of here which he has summarised in the two previous verses we have considered. The true Israel are those who follow the faith of Abraham, that is the ones who receive the righteousness which is by faith.

It was necessary for the Jewish nation in the Old Testament to be preserved by special favour of God, because God's purpose of salvation was tied to their survival. It was through the Jewish people that the Messiah, the Christ, would come. Until the Christ was born and had done his work of redemption, the Jewish nation had to be protected, and specially the line of David through whom Jesus would be born. However after that time Jesus makes it quite plain in the Gospels that all the privileges of the Old Testament were taken away at the time of the Gospels, and Jesus says they were to be given to others more worthy. One example of this is in the parable of the tenants in Mark 12:1-12 where the tenants are plainly the Jewish nation. In verse 9 the parable reads "He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others."

The true Israel, the true elect of God, has always been, even in Old Testament times, those people who believed God, and it was counted to them for righteousness. From Abraham onwards the true Israel were those in the nation of Israel, and few Gentiles also, who believed in the promise of salvation through the Messiah, and who walked in faith in the promise of salvation and lived for the Lord. The rest of the nation of Israel had outwardly the name of chosen ones but were in fact not the Israel of God.

In the New Testament and onwards the true Israel of God has always been those who believed and obeyed the Gospel that Paul and the Gospels taught, whether they were Jew or Gentile. Even though the Jewish nation was rejected, the Jewish people were not rejected and had the same invitation to believe as the Gentiles. All who believe this rule of the Gospel which Paul proclaims are people of God and the true Israel of God.

THE BLESSINGS ENJOYED BY THE TRUE ISRAEL

The blessings of the Gospel are only enjoyed by the true Israel. These blessings are not essentially temporal but spiritual, though these spiritual blessings enhance our temporal life. They are summed up here by Paul as mercy and peace.

1. Mercy

One of the experiences of the true Israel, the true believer, is that they know how much they need the mercy of God. Toplady starts one of his great hymns with the words "A debtor to mercy alone, of covenant mercy I sing". We have been brought to see how much we have fallen short of the glory of God. We have felt what great sinners we are, not just in the sins we commit but in the sinfulness of our flesh. Together with this we have seen something of the holiness of God, which enhances the sense of debt we owe to God, and the justness of God to condemn us and cast us into hell on account of our sin.

This is truth which the normal human being never understands or experiences. It is because of this that they see no need of God's mercy, or how much they need it. In fact they are surprised that the true Israel feel their need of mercy, because they can't see anything but their respectable and good exterior. This sense of sin is a divine work of grace in the heart. It is the beginning of grace so that we might escape the wrath of God to come. It is the prelude for the receiving of mercy. This experience is so graciously told by Isaiah in chapter 6 of his book, when he tells us he saw the Lord in all his majesty and holiness, and realised for the first time, that although he had sought to be godly and live approved before God, in reality he was not fit for the presence of God and ripe for judgement. He sees the Lord, high and lifted up. Such glory and holiness exposes how much he falls short of that holiness. He is convicted of his unworthiness before God.

The glorious thing about this experience is that God gives it to those on whom he purposes to bestow mercy. God's mercy is so rich and strong. It is not just a declaration of goodwill, but it is an action of total love whereby he has worked in Christ a righteousness for the sinner, by which we are accounted just in his sight, and so fit for his presence and his favour. Mercy is the action of God to save and to keep us saved. God knows only too well, what we begin to realise when we are convicted of sin, that we are unable of ourselves to do anything that is righteous in God's eyes. Thus mercy is God's perfect work to provide righteousness for us so that we are just in his sight perfectly and forever.

Mercy also goes further. It provides a new birth, a new creation, which is divine holy life which makes us fit for heaven and God. It is a new life where there is no defilement and no sin. This is a death of our old selves and a resurrection to heavenly life in God's heavenly kingdom. Mercy is a pure and perfect gracious work of God which raises us from the pit of sin to the glory of heaven, and once bestowed will never be withdrawn. Such is the wonder of God's mercy.

The result of this mercy is that we live in fellowship with God and show in our lives this same divine life of mercy to others. Jesus expressed it in the Beatitudes when he said "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy". This does not mean that we earn God's mercy by being merciful, but that the blessing of receiving the mercy of God produces a merciful spirit towards others.

It should be a visible characteristic of the church of God that the believers are merciful to others. We may well question the reality of the salvation of those who are judgemental, condemning and rejecting, which is so often seen within the fellowship of the church. How can anyone who has received God's mercy not be merciful to others in their sin and failure. Jesus speaks of this in his parable of the servant who was forgiven an enormous debt by his master, and then went out and persecuted a fellow servant for a paltry debt. Jesus makes it very plain that such behaviour is not compatible with those who have received his mercy.

What a blessing mercy is. How assuring and comforting it is. What security for time and eternity. What warmth of divine love does it shed abroad in our hearts. How beautiful and attractive the church would appear if this mercy was seen exemplified in the lives of church members.

2. Peace

Peace goes with mercy and they are inseparable. Peace follows mercy but cannot be divided from it. If we have received mercy then we know peace. Peace is a great and glorious blessing of the gospel. It is the joy of all the true Israel of God.

The first and most important peace that we are blessed with is the reversal of the enmity which started with Adam, where from being at peace with God, Adam plunged humanity into conflict with God. Mercy bestows justification. By faith in the work of Jesus for us we are justified by God freely on account of the righteousness Jesus has provided and bestowed upon us. Thus the reason for enmity with God is removed, and so being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

This peace with God holds in it all the spiritual blessings of the Gospel, which could occupy us over several sermons. Suffice it here to outline some of them, so that the blessing of peace with God may be enhanced in our understanding and experience. Because we are at peace with God we stand in the grace of God, which means that all God's infinite power and goodness is exercised on our behalf. Because we are at peace with God the Spirit of God dwells within us, and like Adam walked with God in paradise before he sinned, so we have fellowship with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus peace with God brings us into that access with God through entrance into the holiest of all, into the very presence of the King of kings. Peace with God has turned the frown of God into a smile, and we now know him as Father, and feel and cry in our approach to God 'Father, dear Father'. This peace with God brings us into the love of God, so infinite and full that it is the experience of all the fulness of God. Peace with God makes us members of the kingdom of heaven. Heaven is our home and in this life we wait for that glory when we shall be totally redeemed in heaven and dwell with the Lord forever. Peace with God is all the benefits and security of the Gospel.

There follows from peace with God, that blessed peace within, where the turmoil which sin has brought into human consciousness is lift. We have peace of conscience. Our sense of guilt is removed and we find rest for our souls. This is the first thing that Jesus meant in Matthew 11:28 and 29 where he says he will give rest to the soul who comes to him, and that those who allow him to direct their lives he will give rest for their souls. It is the experience Bunyan graphically symbolises in Pilgrim's Progress, where when Christian sees the cross on the hill, the burden he is carrying on his back, which represents his sins, falls off, rolls down the hill, and is seen no more. This peace within is so full, because the truth is that we are assured by God, because of the perfect work of Christ, that he will remember our sins no more.

Then there is the peace that comes from knowing we are in the care and protection of God, because he has a purpose for all his redeemed which he will perfect when he brings us to glory. We do not have to worry for the future for we are in the hands of our heavenly Father, in whose powerful hands is all that happens in the world.

Then lastly there is the amazing peace which comes in the true believer in relationships with other people. The Gospel brings peace. Paul speaks of this in Ephesians 4 where he tells us Christ brings Jew and Gentile together, so making one people and peace between them. Mercy and peace received from God brings the soul to love others and accept them, and the hate of going to war with them. Mercy and peace brings the soul to accept people and not condemn but be forgiving, so there is not hatred and rejection.

CONCLUSION

How great is the blessing of believing the Gospel, that is following the rule Paul preached. What greater blessings could there be than God's mercy and peace. How we need to thank him for them. How we need to appreciate them by constant meditation in God's Word until they fill our hearts and minds. Thus will we go forward in life rejoicing and in praising God for his goodness.