GALATIANS: Verse by Verse Study - Pastor Ayo Ajani

It is a Bible study, and, um, what we're trying to do is to, um, so I realize what happens to a lot of believers. What has happened in the body of Christ for the most part is, um, we know a lot of cute, beautiful phrases from God's word. Um, very cute. I mean, somebody takes up a scripture and does, and, you know, stretches something out of it, says something nice, and sometimes they are not even doctrinally accurate. And, um, it's difficult for the believer, the individual Christian, by himself, to even tell what the truth is anymore. And the reason is very simple. Let me help you with this. The reason is very simple. Um, what, what you have not read is very easy to be deceived with. What you have not read for yourself, it's very easy for you to be deceived with it.

Now, and why it's important is that what you believe ultimately determines the outcome of your life. The fact that you believe the Bible and you believe what the preacher is saying does not mean that you have believed the will of God. Let me say that again. The fact that you believe the Bible or you believe what the preacher is saying does not mean you have believed the will of God. I've said this several times that this is the word of God. But everything, not everything written, as it is written, there is the will of God. I hope you know.

Let me say what I said again. This is the word of God. From Genesis to Revelation is the word of God. But not everything written here, as it is written, is a revelation of God's will and God's position on every matter. And that's why any Tom, Dick, Harry, and Potter can pick up any portion of the Bible and teach whatever they want to teach. I hope you know. There's almost nothing you can't teach with the Bible. You can teach anything you want to teach with the scriptures. Okay?

Um, if you want to teach how to be wicked, is there are very wicked people in the Bible. Have you not read about them? Very wicked. Even their names come with wickedness. If you want to teach polygamy, is there. There's almost nothing you want to teach that you can't find one scripture to support it. But does it mean that that is God's position and that's God's will? No. Glory to God. And that's why it's important that we do these kind of teachings where we're not, I mean, there's subject teachings. All right? There's doctrine teachings. I mean, where you're studying a doctrine, subject study, where you're studying a subject, which is much of what we do today in the body of Christ. Faith, prayer, this, that, and that, that, and that. But I believe that one of the most important, um, forms of study is book by book, verse by verse, so that you get a full grasp of the length and the breadth of what God's word is trying to say to you. All right? And so if you take a sub, the subject of faith, you can run through that subject from Genesis to Revelation in your mind, and you have a full picture of God's will on the matter, not just on one side, what this person said or what that person said.

So tonight, uh, my goal this year is to try to take us through Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, at least if we can, if we can do those four this year. I believe that, um, we should be a bit solid, if there's any word like that. Glory to God. Hallelujah.

Well, let's give context to the book of Galatians because context matters. If you do not know the context of what you're reading, you cannot interpret it fully. Now, let me quickly say this to us. Um, it is verse-by-verse study. It just makes sense that you have a writing pad. You're not folding your hands and looking at me. You have something to jot with. Am I right? It just makes sense. All right. So, I'm closing my eyes. Just ask for your neighbor for paper quickly and a pen. I didn't see you. Nobody saw you. It's the moment of salvation. Close your eyes. Glory to God. Are we ready?

So, context. Say with me, context. Context. And the reason is this. If you don't have the context of what you're studying, and this is a basic interpretation rule in scriptures. All right? If you don't have the context of what you're studying, chances are that, um, your conclusions on the subject will be wrong. All right? So you need to know who is he talking to. You need to know when did he say what he said because there are dispensations and generations. All right? Same thing can be said in one dispensation and does not have the exact same meaning in another dispensation. All right? So, context matters. The historical context, the time context, the geographical context, and the person context. Please write them down. The historical context, number one. Historical context. Number two is what? Time context. There's a bit of difference between historical and time because when I say historical, I'm talking about the things that happened within that period that influenced everything, all right, that is being written. Cuz what, what is written in scriptures is probably just one-tenth of the events that happened in that period. Are you getting what I'm saying here? And so sometimes, if we're able to pick out, you know, the things that happened in that period, we get a fuller understanding of what's going on there. All right? The historical context, the time context. All right? And then what's the next one there? Geographical context. Who was he speaking to exactly? All right. And then the next one there is what? The person context. I mean, uh, uh, geographical context in terms of the area and all the rest. The person, sometimes it's referring to an individual person. And you'll find out that as we begin to study the scriptures, all of these things will play a role. All right? In our understanding of the scriptures.

Now, so we know that Paul is writing to the Galatians here, and there is not one single church called the Galatian church. All right? So, more, more often than not, we think that there's one church that was called the Galatian church. Many times in scriptures, um, when, for example, when he says the Colossian church, it did not refer to just the church in Coloss alone. All right? There were usually a group of churches in the environment. Are you getting what I'm saying here? All right? There were group, usually a group of churches in that environment that were grouped together, and the geography, I mean, they would look for the name of the biggest city in that environment, the main, um, commercial hub. Paul planted churches along the commercial hub. As you study through the book of Acts, you realize that the first set of, um, um, gospel expeditions that happened was based on persecution. So the church was persecuted, they spread abroad, and everywhere they went, they preached. But Paul came in, and Paul changed how, um, missions was done a bit. So he didn't plan churches just based on, I mean, that from Acts chapter two to chapter, um, twelve, you see that model there. Stephen, Philip, and all the rest. But by the time we come to Paul in Acts chapter thirteen, we see a switch that Paul was intentional to plant churches along commercial routes. The idea was, if I could plant a church along a major city within a major city, the people who came there to do all their business will contact the gospel and take it to the smaller cities. Are you following what I'm saying here?

And so, usually when he says Galatians or things like that, it's not always, in some cases, it refers to an individual church, but it's not always referring to just one church. All right? Now, the Galatian church, church, churches, let's put it that way, was about at least four churches, and you see the planting of those churches in Acts chapter thirteen, verse one, down to chapter fourteen, twenty-eight. Please take note of all of these things, and I'm giving us all these notes so you can go back and study it for yourself. All right. In Acts thirteen, one to chapter fourteen, twenty-eight, you see the first missionary journey of Paul when the Holy Spirit said, "Separate unto me Paul and Barnabas for the work where I have called them." That's Acts chapter thirteen. And then they planted churches in Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. Four different locations. Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. So when Paul speaks of the Galatian church, these were the churches he was writing to.

Now, why is this information important? Because there is what you call the assumption of scriptures. Let me explain it this way. Pastors, um, it's time. Now, I hope you know that between Pastor Tossi and I, oh no, don't sit down. It's time. [Cheering] Do you get what I'm now? The pastors will understand what I'm saying here. Now, the pastors will understand what I'm saying here. But that statement, I hope you know that if I wrote "it's time" here, you can interpret it and say the Greek meaning of "time" is this. But for the rest of us who understand something that you were not there when it happened, the moment I say "it's time," there's, do you understand what I'm saying here? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Emmanuel, it's time. I'm just kidding.

Now, here's what I'm saying to you. So, when you read the scriptures, many of times there's what you call the assumption of the writer. He's not writing for you. He's writing to his people. So he makes certain statements and he assumes that on the basis of what I have said, they under, on the basis of the shared knowledge that we have, the shared experience that we have, they will understand what I'm saying here. Please, but you are coming from a, I mean, hundreds and thousands of years far removed. You don't have that shared knowledge. You don't have that shared experience. So if you don't go back to understand, for example, let me jump the gun very quickly. Paul says, um, in Galatians one, we'll come to, and that's jumping the gun. Um, Paul begins to say, and he says, "If, I mean, if any man preaches to you another gospel, if any angel preaches to you another gospel, let him be accosted." Now, it's easy for you to interpret that because the Greek word for angel means angelos, which means messenger. So you say, if you're very, I mean, at the, you know, entry level, you say angels referring to beings that have wings. Then if you're a very theological person, I mean, you've been around the body of Christ a bit, you say angel represents the pastor of the church. Now, but that word that he uses there was almost the same word that was used when he was stoned at Lystra. And the Bible says that the people called them gods at Lystra. So when he used that word, there's a shared experience that even if another god shows up in the same way and manner you called us gods and you thought that these guys are not normal, these guys are supernormal, even if another person who is supernormal shows up. Now, do you see the difference between my interpretation, our interpretation, and the understanding they would have had because they have a shared knowledge, they have a shared experience that we don't have? And that's the essence of study because it's practically impossible for you to receive and to be blessed at the level God wants you to be blessed if you don't do the deep study. It's practically impossible. There are lots of things that you miss out on the surface. Brilliant, beautiful stuffs. And what we are left with many of times is, you know, these, um, sometimes exegesis, not eisegesis, which means people start extrapolating and stretching scriptures to mean something that the writer did not exactly say. Are you following what I'm saying here?

And I can tell you that most of the amazing, beautiful teachings that we have today in the body of Christ are more of eisegesis than exegesis. And that's why we can have a lot of excitement but very little strength. That's the sincere truth. Now, does eisegesis have its place in teaching? Oh, absolutely. Yes. Absolutely. I believe in it. There, there are theologians and preachers who don't think that it has its place. But I believe in it. I believe that the word of God, you can, you can take practical applications and all the rest from the word of God. But exegesis without eisegesis will raise very excited but shallow Christians. Very excited but shallow Christians. They will have a lot of Christian, cute phrases that they use, but when life hits, there's no substance because they don't have understanding and they don't have roots. Glory to God.

So Paul was writing to the Galatian church, and it was across four cities. What are those four cities? Let's run through them. Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and where? Derbe. These were the cities. You see all of these cities in Acts chapter thirteen from verse one down to chapter fourteen, verse twenty-eight. Now, this was Paul's most passionate epistle. There was no other epistle that Paul abused people like this. There was no other epistle that seemed so personal to Paul like this. And I'll tell you why in just a bit. All right. And it's interesting to note that God never hides the personality of the people that he uses. All right? You'll find out that, I mean, for you, you'd expect that God will paint a perfect picture of perfect people because you have to separate personality from revelation. For example, that he said, "Oh, you foolish Galatians," does not mean you go around calling people foolish. If you understand the reason why Paul felt that way about the people, if you understand why, I hope you know that the exact same thing Paul wrote in Galatians is what he wrote in Romans. It was just to two different audiences. That the same defense that Paul was trying to give for the gospel was the same. He was defending the gospel to the Jews, and he wrote an entire book called Romans, the, the book of Romans and all the rest. And then he took the Galatians and all the rest took the book of Galatians, and he wrote to Gentiles. That's why his subjects were almost the same. Abraham, he spoke about Abraham in Galatians. He spoke a lot about Abraham because that's the basis and the foundation for the gospel. Now, but you observe that he didn't speak to the Jews the exact way that he spoke to the Galatians, even though they were dealing with similar problems. He didn't speak to them. That's the first thing. So you realize that, um, it was his most emotional, um, epistle. There are three of those epistles like that where Paul was defending the gospel. One of them, many times people don't know he was defending, but he was. Hebrews. All right? Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews. Romans and Hebrews to the Jews, and Galatians to the Gentiles. Now, he had to break Romans and Hebrews into two. Romans, the doctrinal aspect. Hebrews, to deconstruct the Jewish, um, um, religion, the Judaism, and all of the rest. He had to break it down, and he had to write those two books there.

Now, Paul, you find him so passionate about this, um, this epistle of Galatians because I personally believe that was his first missionary journey. This was like his baby. All right? He had just been sent out, and he's planting these churches. And then by his second, third missionary journey, he's hearing things that he never knew could ever happen to them. He's wondering, "What happened to you guys? I thought that I preached the gospel to you. People believed what I said. How come you are so soon removed from the things that I've said?" And what had happened was that the moment Paul left, there was a company of people called the Judaizers. Please write them down. Write that name down. It's very important in your study. The Judaizers. Now, this was a group of very intelligent, very schooled, uh, what you can call scholars. They were, uh, many of them were from the sect of the Pharisees. Some of the Sadducees as well were amongst them, the Judaizers. And they took it upon themselves to ensure that, now, these Judaizers were believers. They were Christians. They had gotten saved, but they could not believe, and they could not imagine that a man will be saved and will not have to do anything for his salvation. Now, don't blame them. If you were born in Judaism, you will understand their problem. Again, how many of you have seen people who, how many of you are firstborns here? Can I see your hands? Any firstborn here? Quite a number of them. We need to do firstborn deliverance service. All right. I'm just kidding. You don't need deliverance. So, it's what you believe that you'll become. All right? Okay. So, uh, [laughter] firstborns. How many of you are lastborns? Can I see lastborns? No wonder now. I understand. It makes sense. How many of you are middleborns? Aha. It makes a lot of sense. You know, middleborns, [laughter] there's actually a study. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm a middleborn. All right. But here's where I'm going to. How many of you firstborns saw, I mean, you, you were treated in a certain way by your parents. They expected a level of maturity and discipline from you, and then you see the way they are treating the lastborn, and you cannot believe for the life of you. Pastors has raised his hand. Cannot believe for the life of you. I mean, my father flogged she gabanza. I'm telling you the truth. I was, I wasn't even the firstborn, but he flogged nonsense and all the rest. And I would see my father with my kid sister, and I, I could not believe what he had become. I thought he had backslidden. He had become soft and all the rest. I mean, you, you, you get to grandchildren, that's even worse. Grandparents have a way of spoiling grandchildren. And you're wondering what happened to the fierce daddy, the fierce mommy. I'll tell you that's what happened to the Judaizers as well. They couldn't believe that God hadn't taken them through all of the things he took them through for thousands of years. Do you understand what I'm saying here? You don't get what I'm saying? I'm saying that imagine someone who had gotten saved at sixty years of age. I mean, he was about fifty-something when Jesus died and he rose and all the rest. And for fifty years of his life, he had been pulling cow and goats. I don't know if you get what I'm saying here. That, that everything you did in your life, you did with the fear and the trembling of the Mosaic law. You told a lie, you like, ah, pigeon, total dove. Everything you had a way. You had to urinate. You had, there were over five hundred laws to fulfill in one day. You know people talk about the ten laws of Moses. No, no, no. There were over five hundred laws that within one day. So you had what you call moral laws and religious laws. By the time you lump up the moral laws and the religious laws, you had well over five hundred. That even the way you pray, there's a direction you have to face, everything. So somebody just comes out one day and says, [laughter] I don't blame them. You would have done worse. I'm telling you. Aha. [laughter] Ta will flood them. So imagine somebody just comes out one day and then he just says, "Listen, guys, that Jesus that you know, please put it in context. Put it in context. It's different if it's somebody that you don't know. That Jesus that you know, he's now dead. His blood is now the atonement for your sins. And you don't have to do anything. Just put your trust and your faith in Jesus. He's over."

So guess what they did? They said, "We believe you. However, we agree that Jesus has done what he did, but you can tell us that all of these things are now over. So, they extracted certain parts," and I'll show you the parts they extracted in a bit. It wasn't everything. They were smart guys. They extracted certain parts of the law and they began to teach it to people. So they started their own missionary journeys. So everywhere, and I personally believe that they were sincere guys. They were very sincere people. Everywhere Paul preached, they will go after Paul has gone. Now, pastor has a good action. He said to help Paul. But I'll show you very soon. They were not helping Paul. In fact, the first thing they will do for Paul is that they will try to discredit his apostleship. And the basis for that discrediting will be, he was not there when Jesus was around. That's why you find out that Paul in many of his epistles, he tried many times to establish himself. And say, "Listen, let me talk as a man now. Listen, I'm a Jew of a Jew." He did it to the Philippians, he did with the Corinthians, he did it with the Galatians. Why? Because the first thing they did is, if you can discredit the messenger, you have discredited the message. Now you know why I'm sharing all of this with you. So by the time you start reading some things, certain statements, you know why he said what he said. It's not that we're trying to fill up the scriptures. There were certain things they were dealing with. So first is they discredited the messenger. And second was that they discredited the message. Now, what were they saying? Paul, in fact, he became even very petty at some point. They said he is really a small guy, cuz Paul was, in fact, his name, Paul, Saul, means little. All right, which means when they gave birth to him, they knew that he'll be little. So he, he just looked little from, are you getting what I'm saying here? He became that petty that they called him little. Are you getting what I'm saying here? And Paul would have to prove himself. So they discredited the message, the messenger, and then they went ahead to discredit the message. What's the message? That salvation and justification comes by just one thing. Putting your faith in what Jesus has done. That's all. Is somebody getting what I'm saying here?

Now, there were two attacks on that message. And please write it down. There were two major attacks on that message. Anybody getting anything already? We are building up to something tonight. There were two major attacks on that message. Paul came around and said, "Listen, all you have to do is to believe that Jesus died for you. He shed his blood. All of these things you're doing in the tabernacle, you don't have to do anymore. You don't have to kill any goat. You don't have to ring any bell. You don't have to burn any incense and all the rest. You don't have to do it anymore. All you have to do is believe that Jesus took your place and you are now saved." Now, I, I don't, I don't know if you understand the far-reaching impact in the minds of these people. Every year, they had to, there was a day of atonement, young people keeper, every year. And then this man says that you do it once. Do you understand what I'm saying here? That this was thousands of years of tradition, and then the man comes and says, "Once and for all, by what Jesus has done, it's over. It's over." So you find them, and I believe that some of them were sincere about it, but many of them became vicious about it to destroy what Paul was doing. Now, there were two things they were trying to do, two attacks on the truth. You know why this is important? What you believe, I always say this, will determine your experience eventually. What you believe will determine your experience eventually. The first attack was to substitute good works for faith in Christ Jesus. The first attack was to substitute good works and religious observance for faith, or let's separate it. Good works for faith in Christ Jesus. And the reason I'm separating is because they are two different things. And many times, because people have not studied the subject well enough, they study a bit of it, they get excited about it, and they make statements that are not scriptural. Please listen to the attack. You see why I'm sharing this? So that when somebody quotes something to support anything he believes from the book of Galatians, you have an understanding where the book was written from, and you can interpret it through that lens. Is somebody getting what I'm saying?

Because I can take a verse out of the scriptures and tell you that, "Listen, Christ has saved us by faith. There is no need. There is nothing that we have to do." And we discredit the importance of good works. And I'll use the scriptures to show you. But it's not exactly right. Is somebody following what I'm saying? So the first attack, and please listen to this. You have to understand the message of the Judaizers was to attempt to substitute good works for faith in Christ. Number two was to invalidate the atoning work of the cross by encouraging a return to religious observance. All right? To invalidate the atoning work. And these are two different things. Many times when I hear teachers teach and preachers talk, they lump them up as though they exactly the same thing. So you hear people say, "Grace alone." And when they make that kind of statement, they are trying to say to you that there's nothing else, grace. And I understand what they are saying. Are they right with what they are saying? Absolutely right. But there are two things that were being attacked here. Number one is that they were trying to use good works. They were not saying good works are wrong, good works are bad. They are saying use good works to what? Replace your faith in Christ. The problem was this, is that your faith in Christ should produce good works, but it does not replace your faith in Christ. Now, if you don't understand this, you will find people even today in the body of Christ who teach as though if you say anything about good works, then you have entered legalism. Unbeknownst to them that one of the proofs of grace is good works. Is somebody still here today?

So there were two things that were being attacked. Number one is that they were telling them, "Substitute good works for faith in Christ." And then number two, this was a more vicious one. They were trying to invalidate the atoning work of the cross by urging an observance of, um, rel, a religious observance and the Levitical order. A return to the Levitical order. All right? And these were the things that they were trying to do there. And so Paul wrote the book of Galatians particularly to deal with the first one. And then he wrote the book of Romans and Galatians to deal with the first one. And then he wrote the book of Hebrews to deal with the second part. Do you understand now? So you see what Paul was doing. Now, never forget this. Every epistle in the Bible was an answer to a question. Once you have this, you know that Paul was not writing because he had revelation. He was writing because there was an issue that he needed to address or a question he needed to answer. So if you are going to unlock the epistle, you must be able to tell what question was he trying to answer. Because if I'm reading your letter and I'm not reading it in the light that you wrote it, I will come up with my own interpretation. Does somebody get what I'm saying here?

Now, to tell you how powerful this letter of the Galatians was, we're going to see it in a bit. Galatians is the only letter Paul did not greet them. It's the only letter. He didn't call them saints. Corinthians, he still called them saints. He was so angry that instead of calling them saints, he called them foolish. So I am trying to show you how serious this book is, or this book was to Paul, and it should be to us today. So you understand where he was coming from. Now, again, just for context, let's quickly run there. Why it is written. Let me just give you so you can write it down one by one and, um, you can go back and study this. Why was Galatians written? To oppose the influence of the Judaizing teachers. The Judaizers, the Judaizing teachers, to oppose their influence who were trying to undermine his authority. Number two, to refute the following errors. Please take these notes down. The second reason it was written was to refute certain errors. And what are these errors? Number one, obedience to the law mingled with faith is the basis for salvation. Which means for a man to be saved, he has to mingle his faith in Jesus with some form of obedience to the law. All right? And then number two, that the believer becomes perfect or mature, perfected in the sight of God by keeping the law. So the first reason he wrote it was to oppose the influence of the Judaizing teachers. Number two, to refute certain errors that we've listed there. And then the third reason why he wrote it was to restore the Galatians who had fallen from grace. Hallelujah. Are we still together today?

Now, so that by the time we start doing verse by verse, we have an understanding. Do you get what I'm saying here? We have an understanding why we're doing it. Now, what is the structure, the literary structure of the book of Galatians? Because every of Paul's epistles, he was a lawyer, had a literary structure. He didn't just write anyhow. And when a brilliant mind interacts with the Pauline epistles, you will enjoy it. I mean, sincerely speaking, you will enjoy the sheer brilliance, the literary, literary brilliance, the content brilliance, the structure brilliance, and all the rest. Now, so you look at the literary structure of the book of Galatians, it's six chapters, but he broke it into two chapters. All right? So you have three different aspects to the book of Galatians. And Galatians chapter one and chapter two speaks about the apostle of liberty. That's him now defending his apostleship. So it takes Galatians chapter one and chapter two to defend his apostleship. And then chapter three and chapter four to elucidate and to defend the doctrine of liberty, or you can call it the doctrine of grace, the doctrine of liberty. And then chapter five and chapter six, the life of liberty. Do you see that? Which means the doctrine eventually becomes a life. Am I right? The problem more often than not is that we have doctrines today that don't produce a life. And the proof that you have heard the right thing is that it will give, it will produce a certain life in you. That's the proof. You know, one time there was a certain guy who was, I mean, and all the rest, a senior minister who had radicalized certain people in the body of Christ, and they were saying a lot of things. And I remember speaking to one of the young people, I said, "Listen, if you continue this way, you have no, listen, you, you have no stake in what God is doing in this country." So apparently, he then went to tell this other minister, and I mean, I was really young at the time. I was a young guy at the time, but I had sense. So this minister, senior minister, calls me, and then, you know, I mean, trying to bully. So he was, and I remember my wife, remember, no, you. I said, "Listen," I said, "Sir, I apologize." I said, "But I stand my ground. There is no way the word of God preached with the intent of scriptures will produce this character." I stand my ground, sir. What are you? So I told him, I said, "You put out this so-so and so, and I don't want to, I, because I don't want to be explained. You put out this so-so and so on social media, and look at all the things that the people said, and look at how they." And all he said, "It's not my responsibility. These were the words. It's not my responsibility how people take what I have preached and what they do with it." I said, "While I agree, I completely agree that the seed in different soils will produce different kinds of fruits, um, will produce at different levels. But if it is producing what it should not produce, then the problem is with the seed." The parable of the sower states that production does not get to the level it should get to of the right thing. If we are seeing a pattern, are you following what I'm saying here? That is why the proof of doctrine is not what is taught on the pulpit. It is the product of the church. So the way I know what you are teaching in a church is not just by listening to your messages. No, a million times. No. No. It's not just by. Are you getting what I'm saying here? The way, listen, and let me tell you this here. The way to really judge a work is not by anything on the external. Take ten products of that work. Whatever you say about that, I mean, I mean, and I use that loosely. Whatever you say about it, whatever you see that is consistent there shows you what is being fed to those people. Is somebody getting what I'm saying here? Which means true biblical doctrine produces a certain life. You can't separate the life from the doctrine. You can't. All right.

So it says, "Not of men, neither by man." It says, "But by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead." So he's not talking about, you know, Jesus that walked the face of the earth and all the rest. I mean, his claim was not that, you know, "I was there when Jesus was physically alive." It says that is this Jesus that was raised from the dead that gave me my apostleship. Is somebody following what I'm saying here? Yes, sir.

So it was not just greeting, it was not just introduction. It was him proving and stamping his apostleship. Now look at what it says in the next verse. It says, "And all the brethren which are with me unto the churches of Galatia." Now, you remember why we said the churches of Galatia. Now, so it wasn't just one church, the churches of Galatia. It says, "Grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus." Can we read verse four together? Who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us. Hold on. Please underline that word, deliver. Remember what he's tackling. What is the issue? What is the question? You are not saved just by believing Jesus alone. You have to do certain things. Are you getting what I'm saying here? To get your salvation. And so Paul starts out this argument by saying that he gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world. Not that he will deliver us. The word "might" there, if you study it in the Greek, actually refers to a present continuous action. And the reason why is this, is when a person offered up the ram, he delivered him at that moment from the sins and the evil of the world. Are you following what I'm saying here? But did not have a continuous effect on his life. Now, so he uses that word and he says that he might deliver us. So what he did for us has effect in the past, in the present, and continuously for as long as it is as it is required. Is somebody getting what I'm saying?

So if the Judaizers come and say to you and they telling you, "Do this and do this and do this again," I need you to understand that the cross of Jesus Christ, what he did, is a once and for all intervention of God. It deals with the past. It deals with the present, and it deals with the future. You don't have to mix anything with this. Is somebody getting what I'm saying here? It says that he might deliver us from this present evil world. Now, that word "evil" is the word, um, poneros. And please write it down. Poneros. And the reason why it's important is that there are two words used for evil in scriptures. You have kaka, K-A-K-A, and poneros. Now, kaka means evil by nature. Evil. You know, this thing is evil. This person is evil. But poneros means evil and has a corrupting influence. So it's not just evil, but it has a corrupting influence. Now, everybody look at me here. It means that even if you don't do anything evil, just by being in the world, being born into the world, are you getting what I'm saying here? You are under the domain and the authority of evil. No man becomes a sinner because he sinned. Please stop writing here. And I know that there are many Bible scholars, mature believers here who understand this. But let's help everybody together here. Nobody became a sinner because he lied. Nobody became a sinner because he stole. It is called this present evil world. And the word for evil there, if he had used kaka, it means something that is evil by nature but does not have the ability to corrupt something else. It does not have the ability to make another evil. But he uses the word poneros, which means something that is evil by nature, and everything under its influence becomes as evil as it is. So everyone becomes a sinner because they are born into a sin world. They don't become sinners because they, they did anything. Are you following what I'm saying here?

Now, the act of sin is a product of the fact that you are a sinner. You sin because you're a sinner. You don't become a sinner because you sinned. Let me say it again. You sin because you're a sinner. You were born in sin and iniquity into this present evil world. You don't become a sinner because you sin. And this has implications on the other side as well. Which means, and what Paul was trying to argue here was this. You see, because once you understand and you see that word poneros, their minds opened up. They knew that Paul was saying that you don't become a sinner because of what you did, because we were born into a world. In the same way, you are not righteous because of what you did. It's because you are. That's why it's called born again. You are born out of a present evil world. Say with me, present. Which means it is continuous. It is with you. You can't get away from it. If the evil world is that present, then the world of light and life must be more present. So you are, are you getting what I'm saying here? He says he delivered us. Gave up himself to to deliver us for our sins, to deliver us from this present evil world. So the evil was not us. The evil was the world. And the fact that you are born into it, he says that everyone that comes in via this means is a sinner. Now he says, based on what Jesus has done, he creates another gateway. And all you have to do, in the same way you did nothing to be a sinner, all you have to do is to be born along this gateway, and everything that this world carries is now what? Attributed to your account. Now, let me say it to you this way. We did not become sinners by sinning. We sinned because we were sinners. If we are righteous today, then it must mean that there are works that righteousness will produce. Yes, sir. If the sin nature produced a certain kind of work, are you getting what I'm saying? Somebody put up something, and I, I don't remember who it is, but I, it wasn't my revelation or anything, but I personally think that it's one of the most powerful ways of explaining what happens at the new creation. In the new creation, he said something very powerful, and I probably will look for it. I mean, very, I mean, it's not somebody mainstream that you called, and everybody will know and all. I just saw it somewhere, and I thought to myself, I said, "This is powerful. If the body of Christ gets this, it will change our understanding of it." He was explaining, he said, "Remember Nebuchadnezzar about how that when God said to Nebuchadnezzar, he says that, 'Listen, um, you are proud and all the rest. I'm going to change your heart. I will give you the heart of an animal and all the rest.'" The moment God changed Nebuchadnezzar's heart, what happened to Nebuchadnezzar? He left his throne because that heart does not sit on thrones. That heart, are you following what I'm saying here? Is found in the jungles. He left. So God didn't say, "Go to the jungle." Mm-mm. All God did was give him the heart that lives in the jungle. Is somebody following what I'm saying here? The moment God changed his heart back, he opened his eyes and he said, "I can't be in this, in this jungle by myself." He went back to the palace. Which means when we say that the new creation is a heart transplant, what we are saying is this, is that if certain things seem normal to you, let's question what you heard. Because the true message produces a certain life. Is somebody still with me tonight?

Look at what he says. He says, "Who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world?" Everybody with a loud voice, read the next sentence. They want to go according to the will of God. Hold on. According to our efforts, sir. Come on, talk to me. According to our merits, sir. According to our, even our own desire. According to what? The will of God and of the Father. Never forget this. Redemption is completely a God action. It is God who designed it. It is God who desired it. It is God who designed it. If you understand this, then it changes everything. It is God who designed it. It is God who desired it. It is not us that desired it, and then, you know, we prayed to God, and then God came up with this program. It is God who designed it. It is God who desired it. It is God who made it available. Are you following what I'm saying here? It says, "According to the will of God and of our Father." Everybody read the next verse there. Verse five. Want to go. "To whom be glory forever and ever. Amen." Do you see the things that we should, we should have our doxology around? I don't know if you understand this here. Listen to me. One of the things you should go and do is study the scriptures and find the points where Paul begins to praise God. Go and find the portions of the scripture where Paul says he will say something, then he will say, "To God, incomparable God." Go and find all of those scriptures. You will find out that nine out of ten times, it had nothing to do with a personal need or situation in his life. It always had to do with the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Which means if you read the doxology, the theology around praise of Paul the Apostle in the New Testament, the bulk of it was related to every time he was talking about what Jesus did. Have you not found out that we have our praise most centered around material things? And listen, God even said this to me. He said, "Take the ten most popular songs of your generation. That is the theology of your generation." Because whatever we believe, we sing. You didn't hear what I said? If we truly believe something without effort, we will sing it. Take the ten songs of the generation. Just think about it. That shows you the theology of the generation. It shows you what people really believe. Are you getting what I'm saying? Because if you don't believe something, as you are singing it, you say, you, you will separate. But when you see a million believers singing something, it tells you that irrespective of what they say they are telling them, that's what they believe. Is somebody still here? Yes, sir. I can tell you for free. That's why his song went far. Because their theology was centered around Jesus, not around the economy of Australia. I'm going to blow, blow, blow, blow, blow. Let me tell you something. There's nothing wrong with those things, but that is not praise. Do you understand what I'm saying here? Listen, that's not praise. I'm going to go down. There are lots of things that we say, let me be very sincere with you. They are nice because there's, listen, they entertain. The word entertainment means to catch the attention and to sustain the attention. And so, inherent in, in and of itself, is not wrong. Are you getting what I'm saying here? But it's a major tool of the enemy. So there must be something inside what we have that catches people's attention and sustains their attention. But you sustain the attention for something. Is somebody getting what I'm saying?

So look at it. Where did Paul put his doxology? Go and check all the epistles of Paul. Where did he put his doxology? Every time he starts talking about the work of Jesus, it almost seems as though.

He will talk about it, and he says, "Let's praise God. Let's just praise God. Let's just give God glory for this thing because He understood the far-reaching impact of this thing. If a man understands it, then he knows his sickness is gone. If a man understands it, then he knows that his pain is gone. If a man understands it, then he knows that poverty is gone. Are you getting what I'm saying here?"

"So why then do I, why do I, why do I major on this minor? The lesser is included in the greater."

With a loud voice like Paul, lift your hand towards heaven and say with me, "To whom, to whom, be glory, be glory, forever. Forever and ever and ever. Amen. Amen. Come on, say it one more time."

"To whom? To whom be glory? Be glory. Forever. Forever and ever. Amen. Amen."

"Let's take it from verse four. I'm trying to show you what your private devotion should be like. These are the coitations of your heart in the secret place where nobody is. These are the kind of things you should be saying. Let me be very sincere with us as we go through this series. I mean, you'll see my heart that my heart eventually is just to help people be established on the word of God. But you will realize, let me be very sincere with you, that many of the things that we are playing around and that we have accepted as norm in the body of Christ, many of even the songs that we sing are completely unscriptural."

"I did not say that they are, they are completely unscriptural."

"And the fact that it is trending does not make it truth."

"Yes, sir. That's why many times I just start praying in tongues. I can't go wrong praying in the spirit. At least the Bible says that as they worshiped Him in the spirit, they heard them praising as they spoke in tongues, they heard them praising God in their own language. So let me be praising God. You continue your own."

"Verse four quickly. Look at verse four. Can I have it on my screen there? Do we have it there? All right. Let's personalize this. Say with me, 'Who gave Himself for my sins? For my sins. That He might deliver me from this present evil world.'"

"Do you see it now? He didn't say that He has delivered you. Now, would it be right if He said He has delivered you? Yes. Because many times Paul uses the past tense. But what He was dealing with, if you read Ephesians, He uses past tense. If you read Colossians, He uses past tense. It's only in Galatians and Romans that He uses present continuous a lot of times. And it's because of what He was addressing. Because what they were saying is that, 'Listen, you need to keep doing something.' And Paul is saying that, 'Listen, you don't need to keep doing something.'"

"He's keep doing something."

"Are you following what I'm saying here? Everybody say with me, 'Who gave Himself for.'"

"Okay, go to Romans chapter 4. Let me just show you this. I, I want to show you this same thing playing out in Romans chapter 4. You're being blessed tonight? 'Cause again, as you study the scriptures, you find out that the tenses matter as well. The tenses matter."

"Romans chapter Well, let's go to chapter 5 for the sake of time. Chapter 5. Chapter 5. Verse one. Everybody read Romans 5 verse one."

"Do you see that? Therefore, being what? Did He say, 'Therefore, having been justified by faith?' Now, remember the Romans and the Galatians had the same problem. So Paul had to use the present continuous tense to show that what Christ did is not in the past. It is what? Continuous."

"We don't have the time. But go and read Ephesians. He uses past tense more than He uses present continuous. And if you don't know this, you just think that He just chose whatever tense that He desired. No, it's because of who He was writing to and the reason He was writing it."

"Galatians chapter 1 verse 4 back there. Galatians 1:4. You're being blessed tonight?"

"Is the Bible opening up to you?"

"Better understanding of scriptures."

"Brilliant. Now, let's read this together. I want to go. 'Who gave Himself for my sins that He might deliver me from this present evil world according to the will of God and of my Father.' Next verse. 'To whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.'"

"Hallelujah. Is there anybody that He's delivered here? Is there anybody He's delivering here?"

"Is there anybody He shall hear deliver here? Come on, shout, 'To whom be glory.'"

"Forever. Forever and ever. Amen. Amen."

"Let's move on. Chapter, we're still in chapter one. And then verse verse what now? Six. It says, 'I marvel that you are so soon.' Just put it in context. Paul was parrying. He was very. It was. It was [laughter]."

"The Greek word 'marvel' here is a sarcastic word. It reminds me of me years past. You know how you abuse someone, but they're impressed with your abuse? Have you ever? You abuse someone and they are like, 'Yes, I'm, I'm an intelligent fool.' [laughter]."

"The Greek word actually was when you, the meaning of the word actually means, 'I hold you in so high esteem, but you fall my hand.' If you want to use local parlance, you don't use that word for someone that you didn't expect much from. And that word is used for a very honorable person. In Nigeria, it's 'sir,' you know, when people, with all due respect, 'sir.' So that's what He was saying, 'With all due respect.'"

"He, Galatians, you will find out that by chapter 2, chapter 3, Paul loses the respect. He throws. He says, 'Oh, you foolish Galatians.' He says, 'I marvel that you are so soon removed.'"

"Well, let me do a bit of Greek quality study there. Are you ready?"

"Let's, let's take a few things there. That word 'removed' is 'metati.' Meta, just put meta like Facebook, meta, tmi. Metati. Now, the meaning of the word, let me just read it to you directly from the Greek here. It means to alter your opinion. So Paul says, 'I marvel that you are so soon, you so soon alter your opinion, your thoughts about this matter.' It means to become of another mind."

"It says, 'I marvel.' Please put back my scripture. 'I marvel that you are so soon removed. So soon you, so soon alter your mind. So soon change your opinion on the matter.'"

"Now look at what it says, 'from Him that called you.' Powerful. We're getting into the juice of it now. How many of you have studied the word of God? You are studying and you just, you just closed the book. Go. Ah. Ah. Ah. What a masterpiece. Thank you, Holy Spirit."

"Look at what it says, 'I marvel that you are so soon removed, your altar, you change your opinion. From Him that called you.' The Greek word is 'calo.' Please put it down. K-A-L-E-O. And that word is important in the understanding, the balanced understanding of the subject of grace. Very important word in the balanced understanding of the subject of grace."

"Now look at it. 'I marvel that you so soon change your mind, that you so soon change your opinion.' Are you following this? 'From Him that called you.'"

"'Caliom' is the summons of a court. It means it's the summons of a court. Let me read you. I, I really want to stay with my note here. The summons of a court. The act of calling someone so that he may hear and do what is incumbent on him. So certain things are expected of you. Come and do it."

"Now, two places that word 'calo' was used now gives us a bit of understanding. You see, because one of the things you do in scripture, in studying the scriptures, is you compare scripture with scripture. So if He uses this word here, how did He use it here? How did He use it here? The implications here should apply here as well. Are you following what I'm saying?"

"Two places where 'calo' is used is when Jesus spoke about the ministry of the Holy Spirit. It says 'paracletos.' That word 'clus' is 'calo,' which means 'called alongside to be with you.' Are you following what I'm saying?"

"Then in Romans 11, when He says, 'the gifts and the callings,' the word there is, you get it from 'calo.' Are you following what I'm saying here? 'The gifts and the calling of God, they are without what?' Repentance."

"Odin, stand up. Come. I want to show you something very important here. You see, because this will help you with your understanding of the subject of grace. Do you agree with me that if the Bible says that the Holy Spirit is called alongside 'caliote' to Odin, what it means is that the Holy Spirit, irrespective of circumstance? Oh, you were the one I used in a bad for the same analogy in a different way. The Holy Spirit, irrespective of circumstance and situation, will always be with him. 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' But does that mean that the one He sent to cannot leave Him and forsake Him?"

"I don't know if you got what I said."

"'Calio' is the one who is called."

"Are you following what I'm saying here?"

"Your response to it is your decision. He has sent the. Now, 'the gifts and the callings' of God are without what? Repentance. Am I right?"

"Now, but because He has 'caloed' you with a gift and a calling, does it mean that the person will fulfill the ministry? No. Have you met people that have a genuine call and there's nothing in their lives to show their call? Till they meet Jesus and there's nothing in their lives to show the call. Have you met people like that?"

"Now, if you keep this at the back of your mind, put back my scripture. What did He say? 'How come you are so soon removed from Him that called you to grace?' Which means when He uses 'calo,' He's talking about the position of the caller, not the response of the hearer."

"So when people talk about the immutability of God's counsel and the fact that our salvation is eternal and forever secure, listen to me, start out from the sense and the light of the caller and the one who did it. Your response to it determines your experience of it."

"So when people say, 'Once saved, forever saved,' it's a fallacy."

"Please understand what I'm saying here."

"There is eternal salvation which is right from scriptures. But 'once saved, ever saved' is wrong."

"Yes, sir."

"You have to understand this. Eternal salvation is that He will never change His mind on what He has done. But you can change your mind."

"Yes, sir. He says, 'I marvel that you are so soon removed.' And the word is 'opinion,' which means a way of thinking, which means I entered this by thinking a certain way. If I change how I'm thinking, are you getting what I'm saying?"

"And it's anti even God's position. If He does not force you to be saved, they can't force you to remain."

"Because anything that takes away your free will from you is not grace."

"The true nature of grace is that I choose whether I want it or I don't want it."

"Please understand doctrine. Don't be bullied by people into believing things that are not in scripture. Because what we have moved today in the body of Christ are bullies, not teachers."

"So you are bullied into believing things that has no scriptural basis. I believe in the eternal integrity of the work of Christ, but I believe in the willpower of man."

"I believe in the choice of man, and that anything that takes away the power of choice is not God."

"It's not God."

"Are you still here?"

"Yes, sir. Even, even Genesis chapter 1 to chapter 3, if you can study it with a plain mind, it already shows you the Bible telling us the genealogy in Matthew, it says, 'And Adam, the son of God, made in the image and the likeness of God, but he chose a different way.' And the Bible says that he fell and was chased out of the garden. And we keep telling ourselves that what Christ came to do is to restore us back to the perfect state in the beginning. That perfect state, a man walked out of it. Do you understand what I'm saying here?"

"This, however, is the problem because people think people, and I hear this argument a lot where people say things like, 'Oh, you know, this just shows me that, um, um, it's not as though God will just change His mind and He will, He will stay and no more shout and everything.' It's called 'calo,' which means that if you go and come back, He's here. So our assurance is not about, you know, even if I sin, God will still hold me. There's nothing that will change. Our assurance is that irrespective of how far we go, if we come back to Him, are you following what I'm saying here? He will not hold it against us. But to say that what I do and what I believe has no impact is a lie."

"Thank you, very. It's a lie."

"Is somebody getting what I'm saying here?"

"Please, you have to understand the balance because you have people on, you know, in the body of Christ, you have right-wing and left-wing. There's Obama, there's Trump, there's Marco Rubio. Are you getting what I'm saying here?"

"Is somebody still here? Put back this scripture. Are we learning anything tonight?"

"I marvel that you are so soon removed from Him. So they removed."

"I would to God I could just quickly find you something. Galatians 5. Let me see if I can pull that up for you. Thank you, Holy Spirit. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, Paul was speaking and then he said, he says, 'You are fallen from grace.' Uh, yeah, verse four, it says, 'Christ has become of no effect unto you, whosoever.' Read it. Read verse four. Read verse four. Read verse four."

"What's the meaning of 'no effect?' Do you understand what I'm saying here?"

"Whosoever of you are justified by by the law, ye are what? Now, to put it in context, because those who don't study their Bible very well, when they say that they are following by the law, blah, blah, what they are thinking is, you know, I'm not, you don't fast for anointing, you don't sow for this, and I hear all of those things. And let me be very sincere with you, I have two responses. First is a deep-seated pain at the level of ignorance. I am pained to the depth of my heart that somebody can be this astute with ignorance. It's, it's painful. No, listen. Please, just. No, no. And I'm being sincere with you. I need you to understand my heart. It is painful under heaven. I, I mean, there are many times I have tears running down my eyes that, how on earth do you get here?"

"You see, because Galatians, I'm going to show you that He writes on the back of Acts chapter 15. I'll come to it now. Now, all that Paul is writing in the, in the book of Galatians is based on a council in Jerusalem that they had, and I'll read you what they did there. This is going to help you very soon. Thank you, Holy Spirit. I don't want to jump. Go back. Go back. Go back. Go back. Let's, let's go back there. Verse six. Verse six. I knew it. I knew, knew it. I was saying I'll do chapter one, chapter two. All right. I knew it. I mean, I, you know, I was telling myself, I said, 'Keep deceiving yourself.' And I kept confessing. I said, 'I believe I receive speed. I believe I receive speed.' All right. You, you people are laughing, but I'm doing serious. I mean, 'cause I looked at the month. I looked at everything and I was trying to structure. We do it in the month and all the rest. But, um, it is what it is. All right. Let's read this together. Verse six. 'I marvel that you are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Jesus Christ unto another gospel, another hero, which means another of a different kind.'"

"You'll see why that word is important in the next verse. Verse seven, which is not another 'alos.' There are two different words He uses in verse six and verse 7. 'Another,' 'another,' but it's not the same Greek word. 'Heteros' means another of a different kind. 'Alos' means another of the same kind. So let's read it again. Give me verse six, the last, um, verse there in verse six quickly. It says, 'into the grace of our Lord of Christ unto what? Another completely different gospel.' It looks close to it, but it's not. It says, verse seven quickly, 'which is not another, but there be some that trouble you.' Again, that word 'trouble' means to subvert with words. So you see that the play here is based on what they believe. What they believe. What you believe. What you believe. He says, 'And would pervert the gospel of Christ.' Next verse, He says, 'But though we are an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be what?'"

"Next verse. Now you understand 'angel' there now because I explained that earlier on. It says, 'As we said, so so say, as we said before, so say I am now again. If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be what? Accursed.'"

"Next verse. 'For do I now persuade men or or God? Do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be what? The servant of Christ.'"

"Now, what is the argument? You are saved by faith in Jesus Christ alone. Am I right?"

"That is the argument. You don't have to add anything. Now go to Acts chapter 15 because it's important. I want to show you, um, some of the conversations around this and how Paul came to write this letter to them. Acts chapter 15. You're still here?"

"Again, what God does is eternal. Nothing can be added to it. Nothing can be removed from it. But my response determines my experience of it. Are you following what I'm saying here?"

"Now in chapter 15 of Acts, the council in Jerusalem, it says, 'And certain men which came down.' Now, how many of you remember what I said to you? Where do you find the churches of Galatia? Chapter 13 and chapter 14. So after the ministry trip where He planted the churches, they had some issues that had come up around this matter of the law and grace. And then they gathered together in the council of Jerusalem to discuss what is the position the church should take. And I want you to listen to their position. Not the position of your favorite preacher, the position of scriptures. Look at it. Look at verse 15. Everybody read one to go. 'And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren and said, "Except you be circumcised after the man of Moses, you cannot be saved."'"

"Do you see the Judaizers now?"

"So you see their message now. Is their message clear?"

"So do you see what Paul is writing against in Galatians?"

"Brilliant. Let's move on. Verse two. 'When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small.' So you see what's going on. Had no small dissension and disputation with them. They determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain of them should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders and elders about this question. So do you see what's going on here? First things first is I want you to observe that the way they settled doctrinal dispute was not superiority of his delivery. So you do not say that what I believe is right because of the superior way and manner in which he was delivered. No, no. There was a group of persons, which means hear me, this thing that people say that, 'I know God has sent me with a unique message.' Be careful. Be careful. In fact, when you start hearing somebody talk like that, be careful. There is nobody that has a message that is the only one that has it."

"Any message that cannot be substantiated and validated by another. Are you following what I'm saying here?"

"We're going to see in the book of Galatians that Paul himself, after he received it from Jesus, He went to the elders. He went to Peter and he added this phrase that, 'I may not have run in vain.' So this idea that, 'I, you know, I was just in prayer, you know, you know, and the angel of the Lord visited me.' If we can't, are you getting what I'm saying? Please follow me here. So they said this in verse three, 'Being brought on their way by the church, they passed through and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles, and they caused great joy unto all the brethren.' It's going to be a long read, but stay with me. If you have not read your Bible today, at least you read almost one chapter. By the time you add this one and Galatians, half, you have read one chapter. Glory to God. You will make effort. Amen. All right. All right. It says, 'And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles, and they caused great joy unto all the brethren.' Do you know when Paul says in Galatians chapter 3, he says, 'It says Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law.' I hope you know that your interpretation, 90% of the interpretation of the church is because He was writing to Galatians, not Jews. What law did He redeem them from? The Gentiles didn't have the law of Moses."

"We'll come to it."

"Are you still here?"

"Yes, sir. Are you?"

"No, I'm, I'm just telling you the truth that. Let me be very sincere with you. Let me be very sincere with you. We need to get back to being Berean Christians."

"I'm telling you the truth where we take the word of God and we look at it and we are. But not with a critical spirit because many times when I hear 'Berean Christian,' the next thing I see is critical. All right. And being brought on their way, uh, we finish this one now. Verse four. Verse four quickly. Quickly. 'When they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church.' So the big boys received them, of the apostles and elders. So even Paul had places where he went to submit himself. It's dangerous. There's no place to submit yourself. I'm telling you the truth. But as you read Paul, you know that Paul, Paul had his own issues. Are you saying? I'm going to show you in just one bit. Paul will honor somebody, next he will jab him. That poor guy. Galatians chapter 1. Amazing. Well, look at it. It says, 'They were received of the church and of the apostles and the elders. They declared all the things that God had done with them.' Next verse quickly. 'But there arose up a certain sect of the Pharisees.' So, do you see where they're coming from? Judaized, saying, now everybody read. What did they believe? 'It was needful to circumcise them to keep the law of Moses.' Everything you have said, Paul, we are not arguing. But listen, they are not yet saved until you circumcise them and they keep the law of Moses. Look at the next verse quickly. 'And the apostles and the elders came together for to consider of this matter.' Next verse. 'And when there had been much disputing back and forth, Peter rose up.' You hear what Peter will say now? 'Every man proclaims his own good. And said unto them, Men and brethren, you know how that a good while ago, God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel and believe.'"

"Me, even before Paul came, I've been there."

"Look at the next verse. [laughter] 'And God, which knoweth their hearts, bare witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us.' Next verse. 'Which means if He gave them the Holy Ghost like He gave us, then He's not making any distinction. Leave them alone and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.' Next verse. 'Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to what? Bear.' Next verse."

"Everybody read. One to go. Uh-huh."

"Uh-huh."

"Uh-huh."

"How shall we be saved?"

"Through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through our works? No."

"Next verse quickly."

"Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul. Read on."

"Uhhuh."

"Now, so James was the most senior apostle at the time. He was the one who was in charge of the Jerusalem church. He says, James answered, 'What did he say?'"

"Mhm."

"To take out of them a people for His name. Next verse."

"Okay, let's jump to verse 18 for the sake of time. Quickly go to verse 18. Everybody read."

"Just a second. I do not want you to miss this. This changes the game completely. If He had ended it and He put a foot stop. 'Don't let's disturb them. Don't trouble them. They are saved by faith and faith alone.' Then if He put the full stop there, then we will say that irrespective of what we see, irrespective of what you do, it does not matter, you are saved. But look at what it says. 'But that we write unto them that they abstain from pollutions of idols and from.' Is somebody getting something here?"

"Can I ask you a question? By saying this, was He giving them a law?"

"By saying this, was He being legalistic?"

"Does the law of Moses cover fornication?"

"Yes, sir."

"Does the law of Moses cover idolatry?"

"Yes, sir. So by bringing it here, is Paul reinstituting the law of Moses?"

"So a man says, 'Thou shalt not fornicate,' and shows you from scripture, they say he's not preaching grace."

"Do you see the folly in this thing?"

"He just told us that we are saved by the grace of Jesus Christ. He says, 'But I write unto them that they abstain from pollution.' So telling them to abstain, have I told, 'Am I putting them back under yoke and bondage now?' So what part of it did Paul retain? James, the church, retain? What part of it did they remove? They removed perfection by the Levitical order."

"But they retained the effect. Listen to me. The law in the Old Testament was God saying, 'This is who you should be. You shouldn't steal. You shouldn't kill. You shouldn't lie.' But the Lord did not have the power to make them that."

"But grace now comes and has the power to make us that."

"So what God said to them, 'Don't do,' God is saying grace makes you do."

"[applause]"

"Do you understand what I'm saying here?"

"That what He had to put and say, 'Don't do,' grace gives you the ability to do every detail."

"So if I'm telling you, 'Don't lie,' is not law. Is me calling out the nature inside you. So if you hold a believer, listen to me, if you hold a Judaism, a Jew in the Old Testament and a believer in the New Testament and say, 'Emmanuel, listen, go home and sin no more. Thou shalt not do that anymore.' It is not legalism. It is me speaking to the nature on the inside and on the basis of what God has done, He can place that demand."

"When you don't understand this, then you cherry-pick and you say, 'All that matters is grace.' If you say anything else, then you are bringing people into legalism. That's wrong. That's wrong. You can't be smarter than James. QED, case closed. We have not closed it. No. No. It's still there. Let's continue."

"Are you still here tonight?"

"Yes, sir. [cheering]"

"What am I showing you? Bible. Am I right?"

"Yes, sir."

"He says, 'For Moses of old time had in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day.' Next verse, you love this. Then please the apostles and elders with the whole church to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch. Antioch, remember?"

"Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe."

"So you see that it was the Galatian church that was the problem. They even had counsel in Jerusalem on their head. Paul, now, I'm, you can see why Paul was parrying."

"Now, I don't know if the council held before he wrote the letter or the council. I mean, theologians have different positions on that. Some say it held before he wrote the letter. Some say it held after he wrote the letter. If it's before he wrote the letter, he'd say, 'Look at how you people are shaming me.' That's why he was parrying the way. Have you seen people that they went out and they shamed you and he said, 'You wrote letter to them that, listen, I, I disown you from being my children and all the rest.' If he was, I mean, you could see why, whatever the position was, he was upset. Look at what happens now. He says to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. So it wasn't Paul alone that went. Barnabas followed him. They now carried on top their matter. It says, 'namely Judas who is also called Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men amongst the brethren.' Next verse. 'And they wrote letters by them after this manner.' Let's read the letter. A letter is an epistle. Am I right? So this is an epistle inside the book of Acts. And this is Galatians, chapter zero. There's chapter zero, there's chapter one, because do you get what I'm saying? This where we should have started from. [laughter]."

"So what did they say to the Galatians? 'The apostles and elders and brethren said,' when they start a letter like this, no, you're a problem. 'Send greetings unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia.'"

"Next verse."

"Uhhuh."

"'From amongst us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, you must be circumcised and keep the law, to whom we gave no such commandment.'"

"Next verse. 'It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul.'"

"Next verse."

"'Men that have asserted their lives for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.'"

"Next verse. 'We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth.'"

"Next verse."

"What do you want to say?"

"They should just say what they want to say. Oh, this perambulation. All right. Now, let's read it. Verse 28. 'For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us.' Read on."

"Please underline those two words there. They are necessary things to your grace. They are necessary things to your faith."

"Do you understand what I'm saying here?"

"Anybody that is teaching you and does not add these necessary things does not like you."

"To lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things."

"Next verse quickly everybody. What does He say? 'That you abstain from meats offered to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication: from which if you keep yourselves ye shall do well. Fare you well.'"

"Shall we rise up and close the service? Do you get what they are saying here?"

"The context, Galatia, they, I mean, I didn't have time to show you that they were very idolatrous. They were. It was a very sensuous area, very, very sensuous, very sexualized area. Now, so please listen to this. There were three positions that developed out of the Galatian church based on the things that they heard. There's the Pauline position, which is what we believe. Justification by grace, by faith, no added works, and all the rest to it. Blah, blah, blah. You don't do honor. Then the Judaizers came and they said to them, they said, 'Listen, you, you must do this. You must do that. You must do this. You must do that. You must do this. You, if you don't do it, you're not perfect before God.' Then even amongst the Galatians, there were people that came up and then they took Paul's message and they began to say things like, 'Well, if we are saved by grace, not by works or anything, then they kept on with the life from where they were coming from.' So you see the conundrum you had in the Galatian church. That's why they had to tell them that, 'Listen, yes, so that's why they added it. Yes, so it is by grace, it is not your works that brings you into salvation, but this grace should produce a certain lifestyle. Let us tell you these necessary things.' And they pointed out those necessary things, not in a bid to reestablish the law of Moses, but in a bid to call out what God has put inside them. Is somebody following what I'm saying?"

"Romans chapter 8. Let me show you this and then we lose. You got anything tonight?"

"Maybe I'll take three questions. Just three questions."

"Romans chapter 8. Now, if there are no questions, it means the teacher did a perfect job or the teacher did a rubbish job. You know, somebody can confuse you so much you don't even know the question you ask. You just go, 'It's okay. It's okay.' Romans chapter 8 verse one. Look at it. 'There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.' Everybody read verse two with a loud voice. 'For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.' Please. Verse three is very important. Everybody read. 'For what the law could not do.' Hold on. Which means the law was meant to do something, but it could not do it. So grace then comes to do what the law could not do. So whatever God wanted to see by giving them the law that could not be done, He expects to see it by grace because grace is now the power to do it."

"Thank you, Holy Spirit."

"Well, this is verse what now? Where did we stop? Verse six. No, we went beyond verse six. What do you mean? We're in verse 10 now. Uh, Father, we thank You and we bless You. Thank You for expanding these thoughts in our hearts and our minds in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. I'll take one, two, three questions very quickly. Anybody quickly, you got a question? If not, we can close. There's a question there. Please, let's move very quickly. If you're asking a question, please keep your hands lifted. So the ushers know you're asking a question. All right. Um, I'm taking just the. So please, Minister Toba, please note very quickly your question. Please note that I'm taking just three questions."

"So my question is, um, from Acts 15 when they gave instructions, um, um, the necessary things. I think I'm trying to understand. So I understand the fornication part of it, but then I'm confused about the strangled and blood and all right. So, and the reason I'm asking is because is that something like we don't apply that today broadly? So like, what's the construct there, or is there like a way to approach that specifically?"

"Okay. So, I mean, that's a contextual question because that's the way and manner in which they, that's the way and manner in which they served their God. All right. So they would strangle, they would mix blood, they would even drink blood and all of the rest. So it was pretty much idolatry. That was what was being dealt with there. Idolatry. If you remember, even writing to the Corinthian church, Paul spoke about how that you don't eat food sacrificed onto idols because that was part of their religious worship system. So they were bringing that same system into the worship of God. And then here's Paul saying, and some of them, and thank you for asking, some of them were justifying it because the Judaism that these other people were preaching as well had some form of that they were killing animals. So if it's blood, all of us is blood. And all, just in the same way you have, um, there are people that I, I don't want to mention the name of the group, a cult or something like that, they call themselves Christians, but they still maintain the occultic practices that you have in Southwestern Nigeria. They still maintain it, and they will use the name of Jesus. They will do things like that and all this rest. So it was speaking to the specificity of their, um, religious activities in that day and that time. All right. Number two question. [applause] Is there a second question?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you very much, sir. Um, it's more or less what he asked. Um, when Paul said in Acts chapter 15, the necessary things, and one of the things he mentioned was eating meat offered to idols. I just remember that in another scripture, he said that's in 1 Corinthians chapter 4. He said, 'We know that an idol is nothing in the world.' So he seemed to have suggested in that other scripture that eating meat wasn't necessarily a sin in itself, but only when it, um, offends your brother. So it just seems like a contradiction."

"So at the very core of it, um, the basic thing, what they did there was that they offered those meats to idols, and it was a form of worship. So they used it as a form of worship. Now, what Paul, when he says 'expedience lawful and all this,' what he was saying was this, as long as you see, because at the end of the day, it's what you believe. As long as, and I'll give you a practical example. I've shared this before, very funny but practical example. I grew up in a paja, and in years ago, once you go out, you get to a roundabout or whatever it is, you see a calabash with egg inside. One of those days, I went and I ate the egg. Oh yeah, I picked one of it and I ate it. I had my, my mother always just used to wonder what kind of child I was. She would say, 'You will kill me. You will kill me.' And, and I remember I said to her, I said, I said, 'Which God, which God is coming to eat this thing? I'm hungry here.' And I said, 'I ate it.' I said, 'I deserve the egg more than that God.' Now, so for me, it was not a worship. Do you understand what I'm saying here? Now, what Paul was saying is this, is that if you do it, those who grew up in such a setting may interpret it as though you are engaging in their worship, and He's saying that that's going to affect the conscience of your brother. Do you understand what I'm saying here? That's, that was what He was trying to explain there. But for someone who, this is how they worshiped God, He said, 'No, you don't eat it to worship God. You don't do all of those things to.' But He's saying for you who that was never an issue, I can eat the egg and get out of the place and it won't matter. Do you understand what I'm saying? Because in and of itself, there's nothing wrong with egg. There's nothing wrong with oil. There's nothing wrong with this. But is the, do you get the answer? Thank you. Question number three. [cheering]"

"Third question."

"All right. Good evening, everyone."

"Good evening."

"Um, I really hope I can explain my question to you. So my question is from the book of Romans 8:3 that we read last, and it says, 'For what the law could not do in that it was weak through flesh.' Yes, I understand that the law came before Christ, and then grace and everything. But it says here that, 'For what the law could not do in that it was weak,' and then from the beginning, God knew that the law could not accomplish it. So why didn't God just go straight and give us Jesus? Like, I've been, that's my genuine question, and I really hope you can explain it for us."

"He asks all of you, all of you. I don't, that's a powerful question. And interestingly, interestingly, I think I'm not sure whether chapter 2 or chapter 3, that's one of the subjects that we're actually going, but I'll touch on it very briefly now, and then we'll go more extensively into it. Anything God does, He does on the basis of the free will of man. He does on the basis of the. So the entire program of God is on the basis of the free will of man. Now, if you study the reason for the law, the law in and of itself was the mercy of God. We'll read it later on in Galatians, it says that the law was a 'pedagogus,' the Greek word 'pedagogus,' which means a schoolmaster. And it says the purpose of the law was to bring us to Christ. Which means that God did not put the law to condemn man. God put in the law so that man can see how sinful he is. Let me put it this way. Before the law came, there was no reference for sin."

"So nobody, you couldn't say that this person is a thief because there is no law that says, 'Thou shalt not steal.'"

"Before the law, there was no reference for fornication. That's why what's his name now, um, Lamech will kill somebody and he'll be making a boast of it. He says, 'The same way God kept, um, Cain, he says, I've even done worse than Cain. God will kill me.' And the reason for that is this. There was no law that was stipulated against that. So God put in the law such that man could see, number one, that he's a sinner, because without the law, you can't define sin. And then, number two, the consciousness of being a sinner awakens your need for a savior."

"So if Jesus had been sent without the law, nobody will have need for Him. [applause and cheering]"

"Do you understand? Do we understand what I'm saying here? So the law was actually the mercy of God to prepare us for the Messiah. Now, I know the next question somebody will ask. So what happens to people who, before Jesus came? Let me ask, let me ask another question. How about people that never hear the gospel, they die? What happens to them? We are together. This series, we'll trash it out. Thank you."

"[music]"

"You want to ask a question?"

"Whoever, just a second. I was standing here preaching, preaching, preaching, and writing paper. I'm not. If you can't answer, ask it. Don't ask me."

"The question actually is that, can we continue tomorrow? Next week is too far. You know, in, in Nigerian parlance, there's what they say. 'I dey for you.' [cheering]"

"So, so if you want to show up tomorrow, I dey. Are you following? God bless you. Thank you. Hallelujah."