SEALED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

Eph. 1:13 ... "In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation -- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise."

      The letter to the Ephesians was addressed to "the saints ... who are faithful in Christ Jesus" (v.1).  In Acts 19 we read the account of the conversion of the Ephesians and the beginning of the church in that foremost city of Asia. In the second chapter of the letter the apostle looks back upon that wonderful time when those who had been "separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise" (v.12)  had put their faith in Christ and obeyed the gospel. Then those who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ" (v.13). Before Paul came to them and preached Christ, they had been sinners "having no hope and without God in the world" (v.12), but afterward they were "fellow citizens with the saints" and were "of God's household" (v.19).

      When the Ephesians were converted, they received a wonderful gift from God in addition to the remission of their sins. It is the same gift He bestows upon anyone at any time who likewise obeys the gospel. It is the gift promised in Acts 2:38, where the apostle Peter, who was binding upon earth what had already been bound in heaven (Mat. 16:19), commanded, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." When anyone responds in faith to obey this command, God sends the Holy Spirit to dwell within the temple of that person's body (II Cor. 6:16) to help him with his weaknesses (Rom. 8:26). The struggle to live for Christ is so challenging that we need the help of the Spirit to enable us to persevere in faith and obedience to the end.

      But more is involved in the Spirit's ministry in the Christian's life than perseverance, as the lead text above reveals. The verse says that the convert to Christ is "sealed with the Holy Spirit." The knowledge of what this means should bring joy, encouragement, and consolation of the highest degree to every Christian. In ancient times a seal had three purposes: to show possession, to preserve, and to certify purity. To some extent seals are still put to these uses every day. The idea is that God sends the Spirit to dwell within each Christian to perform these three functions in a spiritual sense. First, the Spirit seals the person in order to show that he is now the possession of God. It is proclaimed in Rom. 14:8 that "if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's." Second, the Spirit seals the person to preserve him from the corrosive influence of evil about him. The disciple is promised in Gal. 5:16, "Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh." And third, the Spirit seals the person to certify his purity as a child of God. This is the idea expressed in I Jno. 4:13, "By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit." That is, God sends the Holy Spirit to dwell within the Christian to manifest that God claims him as His true disciple and allows him to "dwell" in  His presence.

      The Lord loves and cares for His own. After drawing an individual unto Him through the appeal of His gospel, He does not leave him helpless and alone in a frightfully dangerous world of evil. To the contrary! By commissioning His Spirit to him, God puts His seal of ownership upon that person's life. Then He seals that person against the attacks of evil so long as he is careful to "walk by the Spirit." And finally, through the work of the Spirit God authenticates the person as one of His children.

RESTORING ONE WHO HAS FAILED

Gal. 6:1 ... "Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted."

      As long as we live in this world we are subject to temptation, because Satan inhabits the world with us and has the goal to corrupt morally each of us.  The warning of I Pet. 5:8 is serious, "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."  Although  we must always be alert to detect his presence, withstand his tactics, and resist his advance steadfastly in faith, we must confess we are not always successful.  Every one of us will at some time fail and be "caught in a trespass." The devil sets a trap for us that we do not see, and before we realize it, we have sinned. Or, we may sense the existence of the trap, but the bait is so alluring that we let down our guard and rush to seize it. Whatever the circumstances of our fall, it will happen that sooner or later every Christian will be found guilty of a trespass. Like the lead text above, I Jno. 1:8, which is directed to Christians, states that "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us."

      What should be done when a brother or sister in Christ is involved in sin? The response, all too common, is to censure them and avoid them scornfully. Usually, the criticism is administered behind the person's back rather than, as Mat. 18:15 requires, in their presence in an initial private meeting. Our usual approach only aggravates the situation, making it more difficult for the guilty one to confront his sin and repent of it. Christians must discipline themselves to avoid this approach and follow the one taught here in Gal. 6:1.

      Those "who are spiritual," that is, Christians who "still walk by the Spirit" and "do not carry out the desire of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16), are to come to the rescue of the one who has fallen into the hands of the devil. It is their spiritual duty to "restore such a one" to his former condition of purity and innocence. The word translated "restore" was then used in two ways: (1) in carpentry to repair something which was broken and (2) in medicine to nurture a sick person back to health.  Either meaning may apply in the present context. The errant Christian had his spiritual defense broken when he fell to the temptation and now needs the help of faithful brethren to repair the breach and restore his integrity.  The errant Christian has also fallen spiritually ill with the invasion into his life of the virus of sin.  He needs the healing ministry of concerned, sympathetic brethren with their wisdom, counsel, and prayer. When this approach is taken by the other members of the Christian fellowship, the prospects of restoring the fallen brother or sister are at their brightest.

      It is very important, however, that those who minister to one who has sinned, do so "in a spirit of gentleness." It is so easy for those who have survived Satan's recent attacks to be somewhat insensitive to the condition of the erring brother. It will do more harm than good to "rub it in." Once the person has confessed his fault, there is no further need to discuss the details and torment the individual with greater feelings of remorse. The arrogant attitude that conveys the message, loudly though perhaps unspoken, "You sinned, but I resisted!," must be carefully avoided. None of us are immune to temptation, and there is the admonition at the end of v.1 to be "looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted." The "spirit of gentleness" will keep reminding us that "there but for the grace of God am I." Today you may be spiritual and able to rescue a fellow Christian "caught in a trespass." But tomorrow you might very well be the one who has committed the transgression and need the firm, but gentle assistance of others whose spiritual defenses have not been violated. This kind of reciprocal assistance in dealing with sin enables us to "bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ," (Gal. 6:2).

FAITH WORKING THROUGH LOVE

Gal. 5:6 ... "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love."

      When God selected Abraham as the progenitor of His own nation and the ancestor of the Messiah, He made a covenant with him. The terms of this covenant for Abraham and his descendants were that they must worship and obey Him only. On His part God would protect and nourish them into a mighty nation, give them a land for their own possession and eventually bring forth from among them the Messiah. The token, or seal, of this covenant was circumcision. God ordained in Genesis 17: "This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised ... and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you ... but an uncircumcised male ... shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant," (vs. 10, 11, 14).

      This covenant was in effect throughout most of the Old Testament period, being incorporated into the Mosaic Law, until Christ was crucified. Then, according to Col. 2:14, it was "taken out of the way" and "nailed to the cross." A faction of the early church, however, was so strongly oriented to the Mosaic Law that it argued one could become a Christian only by submission to the Law with circumcision for its seal. Representatives of this faction had penetrated into the churches of Galatia and were subverting their liberty from the Law with this doctrine. One great purpose of this letter to the Galatians was to refute this doctrine and offset this subversion. This is the background for the exhortation in 5:1, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery." Paul then declared that seeking justification through the Law negated the effect of Christ's ministry upon them and resulted in their being "fallen from grace" (v.4). Then, in the lead text above, he stated that circumcision is irrelevant to one's relation with Christ; that is, one could accept or reject this physical rite with no change in his relationship to Christ.

      Then the inspired apostle revealed what IS absolutely relevant to this special relationship. In fact, far more than being merely "relevant," it is the essential foundation thereof. This indispensable factor is "faith working through love." In reading this proclamation we must be careful to include all that is stated, for many have wanted to restrict it. Notice that it does not say our relation to Christ is based on faith alone. Rather, it is established on faith that is working, "working through love." Nowhere does the New Testament teach that faith by itself unites a soul to the Lord. Paul here harmonizes with James, who states: "You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone." And no wonder, for both men were instruments through whom the same Spirit spoke. But notice furthermore that even a working faith alone also does not establish our relationship with Christ. It is only when the faith which works is motivated and controlled "by love." Paul is consistent, because in I Cor. 13:2 he wrote: "If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing."

      Man cannot decide for himself what is required to become a Christian. Many have presumed to do so, resulting in dozens of conflicting formulas. An apostle, writing by the direct supervision of the Holy Spirit, has revealed God's decision, which is the only one that is valid. A person must respond in faith to God's will; that faith must compel him to perform the deeds divine revelation has specified; and that faith with its resulting deeds must be motivated and guided by love.

WHEN THE FULLNESS OF TIME CAME

Gal. 4:4-5 ... "When the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons." 

      The purpose of Jesus in coming to earth was to redeem fallen man. In the beginning God created man in His Own image (Gen. 1:27), but after the passing of several millennia man was so changed by sin that he retained little resemblance to his Creator. When Adam ate of the forbidden fruit, sin invaded the world and soon permeated all of human experience. We are told in Romans 5 that "through one man sin entered into the world" (v.12) and that "through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners" (v.19). As the centuries passed and sin gained an ever stronger grip on the human soul, man came more desperately to need someone to save him from his wretched condition. Paul spoke for every sinner when he cried in Rom. 7:24, "Who will set me free from the body of this death?" The answer, of course, was (and still is) Jesus Christ.  Even as men daily sold themselves further into debt to sin, God was planning the means for their salvation. Man had nothing valuable enough to purchase the liberty of his own soul, but God did -- the life of His only Son.

      The text above refers to God's plan and reveals that it was developed, not in a day, but over a long span of time. It says, "When the fullness of the time came." This indicates a prolonged process of development and actually expresses the Biblical view of history from the Creation up to the birth of Christ. In general, the things that were happening in the world over the course of millennia past had a common thread running through them. As nations and empires rose and fell, as ethnic groups migrated from place to place, as one civilization replaced another at a higher level of culture, as technologies gradually improved, the hand of God was busy, unseen by human vision and unimagined by the most gifted thinkers, God as the Supreme Engineer was crafting the state of the world to the right condition to receive His Son as its Redeemer.

      It has been observed that three great achievements among men in the few centuries just previous to Jesus' coming had especially prepared conditions for Christ and His mission. First, Jews had scattered over most of the civilized world with the Mosaic Law and the concept of one true God. In most cities a synagogue of Jews had laid a foundation of faith in God upon which Christian evangelists would later build. Second, the Romans had conquered most of the known world and established the Pax Romana, the Roman Peace. Highways and sea lanes were cleared of bandits, cutthroats, and thugs, so that when Christian ministers took the gospel to foreign lands, they were able to travel safely without hindrance. Also, Roman civil engineers had constructed marvelous viae, the ancient super highways. Paul and others used them to travel quickly and directly from one great city to another. Third, in the aftermath of the conquests of Alexander the Great, the Greek language had been introduced as the lingua franca in most areas. Language scholars claim that this language was perhaps the most precise for conveying intellectual concepts that men have ever spoken. It is little wonder that just when it was time for the gospel to be reduced to Scripture as the New Testament, it was this language that was available for its inscription. It is not coincidental that these three great human achievements were at the zenith of their development when God entered into human flesh as a little Baby in the Judean village of Bethlehem. The invisible hand of God was shaping the design of these things so that they could be used in an optimum way to present Christ and His gospel of redemption to the world. The result, which today is still astounding and almost incredible, is that it could be said that within a generation "the gospel ... was proclaimed in all creation under heaven" Col. 1:23. All who were willing then had the opportunity to be redeemed and have had it from that time to this.

      

HOW TO ENTER INTO CHRIST

Gal. 3:27 ... "For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."

      What does it mean to be "in Christ"? The best answer to a Biblical question is a Biblical answer, and the answer to this question is given in II Cor. 5:17, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." To be "in Christ," therefore, means to have passed from one stage of life into another. The transition involves both death and birth. The phrase, "old things passed away" indicates a death in relation to the life of sin, ungodliness, and selfishness in which one formerly lived. The phrase "new creature" points to birth into a new life in which "new things have come." In Christ one has a new Lord, Jesus Christ, rather than himself as before. In Christ one has a new nature, the spiritual, instead of the carnal nature he once knew. In Christ one has a new family, the church of Christ, in place of the company of sinners he once related to. And in Christ one has a new hope, eternal life in heaven, rather than the fear of hell that used to haunt him in moments of sober reflection.

      What does it mean to "put on Christ"? The verb translated by "put on" in some versions is one that was used in reference to dressing oneself. Obviously, Christ is not a garment which can somehow be "put on." So Paul, the writer, is using a metaphor here to convey a spiritual idea. We cannot "put on Christ" literally, but we can clothe ourselves in His righteousness. To clothe oneself in righteousness is an explicit Biblical expression. In describing a vision of the bride of Christ (i.e., the church) in Rev. 19:8, John wrote, "It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints." When a person "clothes himself with Christ," he is putting on the righteousness of Christ, who confers it upon him at the time when he enters "into Christ." In fact, no one can generate his own righteousness. If anyone ever becomes righteous, it is only with righteousness obtained from Jesus. Paul hoped for himself (and everyone else as well) that he "may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law (of Moses), but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith," (Php. 3:9). 

How and when does one "enter into Christ" and put on the righteousness of Christ? The lead text above also answers this Biblical question. The inspired writer says it is by baptism. "All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." This answer is consistent with other New Testament passages on the subject. For example, we read in Rom. 6:3-4, "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life." Here again there is the idea of transition from a former life of sin (note Rom. 6:1-2) to a new life of righteousness (see Rom. 6:19). Repeated also is the transition process of death and birth, death to sin and birth to a new life. Once more occurs the phrase "into Christ," conveying all the meaning explained above. And, as in Gal. 3:27, baptism is the event where and when all those wonderful changes, from the worst condition of existence to the best, take place. Of course, this is not to say that baptism alone effects these changes, any more than to say that faith alone, or repentance alone, or confession alone, produces them. In fact, faith in Jesus, repentance of sin, and confession that Christ is God's Son, must precede and lead up to baptism. But the Scriptures are very clear that baptism is the place and the time at which God remits the sinner's sin, creates him as a new person in Christ, and clothes him with the righteousness of Christ.

HARMONY IN DIVERSITY

Gal. 2:9 ... "Recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised."

      By the middle of the first century, Christianity had grown out of its cradle in the land of Judaism and spread into far distant Gentile countries. Paul had been the foremost evangelist in preaching the gospel in such places as Cyprus, Asia Minor, Macedonia, and Achaia. Although communities of Jews with their synagogues existed in most of these places, the vast majority of the people were Gentiles who embraced the religion of idolatry. Paul and his assistants would go first to these Jews, preach in their synagogues, and try to convert them to Christ. The majority of them, however, rejected the apostle and expelled from their midst anyone who had obeyed the doctrine he taught. Then Paul would appeal to the Gentiles, and their response was usually overwhelming.  In many large cities congregations were established which grew to considerable size in a rather short time. With each passing year the Gentile segment of Christianity grew larger, until at some point it became obvious that Jewish Christians had become the minority in the church.

      It is little wonder, then, that jealousy set in among the Jews toward the Gentiles, and a spirit of rivalry began to threaten the unity of the church. Paul became an object of hostility among the Jewish brethren, some of whom began to make charges against him. The problem became so acute that finally a great convention of apostles, elders, and other influential people in the church was held in Jerusalem to address it. Paul and Barnabas came from Antioch to attend and to present the case of the Gentile brethren. (This convention is reported both here by Paul in Galatians 2 and by Luke in Acts 15.) These two missionaries explained the nature of their work and outlined the doctrine they were preaching, especially emphasizing the multiplication of congregations and the large number of converts. When James, the Lord's half-brother, Cephas (Peter), and John, who appeared to be the three "pillars" of the Jewish side of the church, heard all this, they were entirely satisfied that God had indeed manifested His grace unto Paul and Barnabas and that the marvelous success of the Gentile side of the church was due to the very power of God.

      At this point Paul reports that these influential men, two of whom had been personally with Jesus thoughout His ministry, "gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship." Here is a great and important lesson for Christians today. The church is made up of people who differ according to their racial, lingual, economic, and cultural backgrounds. The tendency is strong for these differences to exert themselves in the church, influencing it to divide along these lines. The history of Christianity bears witness to the fact that this has happened many times over. Even within a local congregation, where the membership is virtually homogeneous, differences in personality or ambition can lead to the fracturing of the church body. This sort of division in the church is antagonistic to God and ought not to happen. In the chosen text above we see the way to prevent this disaster. The exponents of each faction should come together with open minds and in the spirit of love and lay out their concerns to each other. Then they should put the whole matter before God in prayer, (see Acts 15:28a), and wait for Him to guide them into the right course of action. Finally, each Christian must extend to the other "the right hand of fellowship" and refuse to let the passions of jealousy, envy, and vain competition rule their spirits. This was the course that solved the problem in the early church when it threatened to divide into Jewish and Gentile branches, and it is the course that will establish unity and peace among Christians today, if we will give it the opportunity.

THE ORIGIN OF THE GOSPEL

Gal. 1:11-12 ... "I would have you know ... that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ."

      For the past couple of centuries the Bible has been under attack by people who consider themselves to be "enlightened." The traditional view is that God selected men to inscribe His word with pen and ink and then required them to put down exactly what He wants us to know. These documents were written during the period from perhaps 1500 BC to about 100 AD. They were at first mostly separate, but as the centuries passed, they were gradually assembled into a single body. By about 180 BC the Old Testament scrolls (books to us) had assumed their present unity. We count them as 39 books, but by joining certain ones together the ancient Jews counted them as 22. The New Testament books had been collected and united as a single volume by about 360 AD, and perhaps much earlier. Speaking of the formation of the Old Testament, the apostle Peter wrote, "No prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God" (II Pet. 1:21). The apostle Paul in       II Tim. 3:16 proclaimed  that "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness."

      Beginning some two hundred or more years ago, however, various scholars began to dispute the claims of Peter and Paul that the Bible is inspired of God. They advanced arguments that the Bible is really just another book produced by men, in many cases not even the men whose names are attached to the various books that compose the Bible. For example, rather than being written by the prophet Daniel in the sixth century BC, they claimed it was actually written in the second century BC by nationalistic Maccabbean Jews who incorporated myths or even allegorized factual events. These liberal scholars claim that much material in the Psalms was borrowed from the literature of the Egyptians, Syrians, or Phoenicians.  They declare that in the New Testament, Christians of the two generations following the apostles wrote the books that bear the names of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and other leaders in the church of the first century. They argue that most of the sayings of Jesus and His miracles were invented to give stature to the man whose name their religion carried. Although they attribute a few epistles to Paul, most say they were written by a later Christian who used his name.

      The Letter to the Galatians, however, is generally conceded by even liberal scholars to be a genuine document written by Paul. And in this very letter that apostle emphasizes that the doctrine he preached was not of human origin. He assures his readers that it came to him only by revelation from God. And in II Tim. 3:16 he firmly states that "all Scripture is inspired by God." If the liberal theologians are correct, then Paul was either misguided, or he was deliberately lying to deceive. If Paul was a man of integrity and intellect, which all evidence serves to indicate, then the liberal theologians are wrong. Paul knew whether he received the gospel by revelation; modern theologians do not. Saul of Tarsus the persecutor would not have become Paul the apostle had not God intervened in his life. The only reason this writer can see why people would discredit Paul, his writings, and the rest of the Bible is to free themselves from the responsibility to submit their lives to the teaching contained therein. As Jesus said in Jno. 3:20, "Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed."