From Persecutor to Converted

Transcript

GR 1140
12/06/1998
From Persecutor to Converted
Galatians 1:13, 14
Gil Rugh


We are in the book of Galatians in our study together today. The book of Galatians and the first chapter. Paul's purpose in writing the book of Galatians is to deal with some error in false teaching that has begun to make its way into the churches in the region known as Galatia. The teaching being promoted by those we would identify as Judaizers. They were individuals who professed . . . Jews who had professed faith in Jesus Christ as the Messiah. They were Jews who said we should proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ but they said that is not enough. We must also proclaim the Law of Moses. That in addition to believing the Gospel of Jesus Christ you must also be circumcised to be saved. And you must keep the Law of Moses in order to live a holy and godly life. The Apostle Paul said this teaching was a great threat and danger to the Church. And he began his letter in a very abrupt way drawing attention first to the seriousness to the issues at stake.

One of the reasons that heresy and false doctrine find receptiveness in the Church of Jesus Christ right down to our day is because believers fail to appreciate how serious the issues being confronted really here. When Satan masquerades as an angel of light and he brings false doctrine and false teaching to the church through teachers who claim to be devoted to Christ who claim to believe in the truth of the Gospel who also claim to have additional insights and understanding, we find ourselves somewhat disarmed. We never like to have conflict and battle within the family so to speak. And so there is a tendency to minimize the doctrinal issues at hand. In this area it would be easy for the believers at Galatia to focus on points of agreement about the Gospel with the Judaizers and play down the difference. Whether you keep the Law of Moses or not may be a point we disagree on. But praise the Lord we all agree that Jesus is the Savior. He died on the cross and He was raised from the dead. Well, Paul doesn't approach it that way. In fact, he says the issue is so serious at the end of chapter 2 verse 21 he declares, "I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly." Now we see that which may have seemed to be a small point has become overwhelmingly significant. Because Christ said at the bottom line the issue is is the death of Christ necessary of not. Well, I though we just talking about a minor doctrinal disagreement. Should we had circumcision to the Law or not. Well, at the root of that issue was it necessary that Christ died to pay the penalty for sins or not.

Paul has established his thesis that will be developed through particularly the first two chapters in verses 11 and 12. You know Paul's teachers not only bring a corrupted message but they also attempt to undermine confidence in those who are teaching the truth. And the Judaizers were doing that with the ministry of the apostle Paul. They were trying to undermine the confidence of the churches in Paul's apostleship. And if you couldn't trust him as a genuine apostle, perhaps his message also had been corrupted. Paul's thesis in verses 11 and 12 was very simple. The last part of verse 11, "The gospel which was preached by me is not according to man." The last part of verse 12, "But I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ." That gives you the negative and the positive of what he is going to demonstrate through the first two chapters of Galatians. I did not receive my Gospel from men. I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. And that becomes very crucial. Because once you establish that the Gospel has been revealed from heaven you have established that it is the absolute authority, the standard of truth. Any additions, any subtractions, are a challenge to God Himself. So what Paul is dealing with here is a very crucial issue.

He has declared in verse 4 the substance of his Gospel is that Christ gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age. And Paul's declaration is that the death of Christ is sufficient and adequate for our salvation both in our justification, our being declared righteous by God, freed from the penalty of sin, and for our sanctification, our freedom from the power of sin, the ability to lead a holy and godly life through faith in Jesus Christ.

What Paul is going to do now following verses eleven and twelve is prove his thesis. I did not get my Gospel from men. I got it from God. So he gives much personal material through these first two chapters to show that both before his conversion he was not influenced by the Gospel or taught it nor after his conversion was he taught the Gospel or influenced in his understanding of it by other people. It was a divine revelation.

We are going to concentrate on verses 13 and 14 and there Paul deals with his pre-conversion life in Judaism. And we will be looking at something of the background that Paul brought to this discussion. It's something that his readers were well aware of. We'll take some time to fill in any void we might have in some of the background information. So our approach will be a little different than some of our studies are as we move through a portion of the Scripture.

He begins in verse 13 with a preposition "for." "For you have heard of my former life in Judaism." And that preposition "for" connects it to what he has been saying in verses 11 and 12. I didn't get my Gospel from men. My first evidence and proof of that is what my life was like before conversion which will rule out the possibility that I picked this up in the days before I converted to Christ. Now we are going to demonstrate he was an avid, zealous opponent of Christ right up until the time of his conversion on the Damascus road in Acts chapter 9. For you have heard. They were well aware of what Paul's life was like before his conversion to Christ. They may have heard it from other people who talked about Paul because of his visibility. In all likelihood since Paul visited these churches in Galatia at least on three occasions, he shared his testimony. We find him giving his testimony in the book of Acts in chapter 22 and again in chapter 26. Luke records Paul's testimony in some detail. So we know it was something of a practice of the apostle Paul to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and share the impact of that Gospel on his own life. And he had evidently done that at the churches at Galatia. So he could tell them you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism.

And sometimes we read his statements and they just seem to state certain facts. And this one seems to be that. You've heard of my former manner of life in Judaism. But I want you to note something here. There is a contrast between the life he now lived as a believer in Jesus Christ and his former manner of life in Judaism. And this becomes crucial to the point that he is making. And he wants to demonstrate I lived in Judaism. That word--a single word in Greek but we've translated it "manner of life" which gives the idea of it. It includes everything that your life is, your thoughts, your ideas as well as your practices. And you are well aware of my former manner of life. But it was a former manner of life. This will come out as we study the next couple of lessons what Paul says about the transformation of his life in coming to know Christ. But I want you to pick up right here. That when conversion takes place, when a person is truly born again, there is a former manner of life and there is a present manner of life. And if the old manner of life hasn't become a former manner of life there is no new life in Christ. So you are well familiar with my former manner of life, the way that I lived and what I did in Judaism. He's going to select out a couple of areas in a moment.

Turn over to the book of Philippians where Paul elaborates. Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians chapter 3. Paul is giving a little expanded testimony in Philippians chapter 3. And he had to deal with the same kind of issue in writing to the Philippians. You know the Devil is relentless. And everywhere Paul went and preached the purity of God's truth, the Devil followed up with a corrupted version. But those who came along and claimed to believe in the same Christ, but altered the truth that Paul taught. And the Judaizers were the plague on the Church of that day, corrupting the purity of the Gospel with the addition of Mosaic Law.

Philippians 3:1 says, "Finally my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you." I don't mind repeating myself. And it's good for you. It's a safeguard. What's he have to say? "Beware of the dogs." You know, Paul just would not be acceptable in most of our churches today. He's talking about people here. He's talking about people who would come into the church claiming to be believers in Jesus Christ, claiming not only to believe the Gospel but believe the Mosaic Law and claim to understand the importance of wedding the Gospel to the Mosaic Law. Paul says, "Beware of the dogs." Similar kind of approach in dealing with false teachers in the church as he used in Galatians 1:8 and 9 when he pronounced eternal condemnation on them. They are anethama--condemned to hell.

Here, beware of the dogs. And you are aware if you have done any study on New Testament times, the dogs weren't the house pets that we think of. Oh, those cute dogs that cuddly and friendly and will be waiting for me at home after church. These are the street scavengers. They were the worse thing you could do--call a person a dog. This was despicable. And here Paul picks out a term of revolution. They are despicable. Beware of these false teachers. They are dogs. They are like the scavengers coming around.

"Beware of the evil workers. Beware of the false circumcision." They are claiming to be Jews. They are claiming to represent God. They are the false circumcision. We are the circumcision, the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. He's talking about himself . . . Jews who had really come to believe in Christ. They were the genuine circumcision and always within Israel. You had the genuine believer within the overall nation.

"We put no confidence in the flesh although I myself might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more." Now he's going to deal with Jewish issues. The Jews thought they could brag about their fleshly accomplishments in keeping the Law and their traditions. Paul says no one can out brag me when it comes to physical accomplishments as a Jew.

Then he goes on to list something of his life as a Jew. Verse 5, "Circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews." Paul was born a Jew. He was set apart in identification with the covenant of God to Israel with circumcision the eighth day. He's a Hebrew of the Hebrews. We see in another passage he's going to be a Pharisee. We see it here but he's a child of Pharisees. He is of the tribe of Benjamin. He has great blood lines.

The end of verse 5, "As to the Law, a Pharisee." I want to come back to that in a moment. "As to zeal, a persecutor of the church." He's coming to that in Galatians 1:13. "As to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless." Now Paul did not mean He had become righteous before God by keeping the Law. What He is saying is as much righteousness as you could accomplish by keeping the Law, I did it. No one was a better Law keeper than me. But Paul himself declared that by no works of the Law shall no flesh be justified, declared righteous in God's sight. But if you want to come to bragging, dealing with these deals, they claim to have a closer relationship to God and have more from God because of all their Jewish practices, let me deal you, none of them did more than me.

His statement here at the end of verse 5, "As to the Law, a Pharisee" is an important one. Two major Jewish parties are prominent in the New Testament--the Sadducees and the Pharisees. Josephus writes about them. He says there were three major parties in New Testament times. Josephus lived from 37 AD to 100 AD. He was a Jewish historian. His writing is significant to us. He was not a believer in Jesus Christ but he does give insights into what was going on in the New Testament period. He said there were three major Jewish parties: the Assenes, the Sadducees and the Pharisees. The Assenes do not appear in the New Testament. We don't have to deal with them. They were a very separatistic group who isolated themselves. We are familiar with them primarily because they are identified with the Dead Sea scrolls. We assume that was an Assenes community who preserved those. But in the New Testament the Sadducees and the Pharisees play an important role. Paul declares himself a Pharisee and he thinks this is significant to understand his background in Judaism. He'll make this declaration in Acts chapter 22 verse 3, Acts chapter 23 verse 6, Acts chapter 26 verse 5. As he gives his testimony and something of his experience, he would declare, "I'm a Pharisee. I was born a Pharisee, so I'm in a line of Pharisees." The Pharisees were the very strict law keepers in Israel. The Pharisees were drawn from common people--Middle Class, lower Middle Class. Pharisees worked with their hands. They supported themselves. They were not an aristocracy. Paul was a tent maker by trade.

The Sadducees were a smaller group than the Pharisees but they had a more power in their hands. The high priest was a Sadducee. Now some of the differences between the Pharisees and Sadducees just to summarize briefly. The Pharisees believed in the sovereignty of God. They believed God's foreordination in the events of human life and in the events of the world. The Sadducees did not believe in God's foreordination and sovereignty. They believed in the free will of man and man made his own decisions, set his own destiny. And so man controlled history, not God. But the Pharisees had a more biblical view on that. The Pharisees believed in the immortality of the soul. They believed in life after death. They believed in the resurrection of the body. They believed in the coming judgment and rewards before God. The Sadducees denied it all. They did not believe in life after death. They did not believe in bodily resurrection. They did not believe in coming judgment. You see, we are talking in many ways about the liberals and conservatives in Judaism. The Pharisees believed in the spirit world--angels, demons. The Sadducees did not believe in the spirit world. You can just jot down Acts chapter 23 and verse 8. There you have a summary comment of differences between the Pharisees and the Sadducees and there we are told that the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection. They did not believe in angels whereas the Pharisees did. It's just a brief reminder in Acts chapter 23 verse 8 of some of these differences.

The last point is the one that becomes significant and becomes significant in what Paul is saying particularly in Galatians. Both the Pharisees and Sadducees claim to believe in the Mosaic Law and the Old Testament. But the Sadducees claim to believe nothing but the Old Testament. Now we've seen from some of their beliefs that they did not really believe what was taught in the Old Testament. But their claim was their beliefs were limited to what the Old Testament said, their Scriptures. The Pharisees not only believed the Old Testament Scriptures but they placed great emphasis on all the traditions that had been passed down from their fathers regarding the Old Testament Law. And they embellished the Law greatly. And their intentions were good. They wanted to be sure that they protected the Law and obeyed it. So they added all kinds of laws to be sure that you wouldn't break the Law.

And they really got to the ridiculous. In fact, they filled up volumes. First set of works was collected in 200 AD called the Mishnah where they finally wrote down a lot of these traditions so we know what some of them were. I mean really helpful things. You know the Law said you should not do work on the Sabbath. You know there's details that that doesn't fill in. For example if you had cotton in your ear because of an infection and it fell out, well, the Pharisees told you if you picked that up and put it back in you had worked on the Sabbath. You violated the Law. That was very helpful to know. And you threw something in the air with your hand and it came back down and you caught it in the same hand, you violated the Sabbath because you worked with that hand. But if you threw it up with one hand and caught it with the other, you didn't violate the Sabbath because you didn't do too much work. You know what they are doing is the Law spoke and the Law was to be obeyed, but they had added all their own details. The Law restricted how far you could travel from your home on the Sabbath. Well, the Pharisees said if you store some food up in a place the day before so that you travel from your home to that place and sit down and eat, then you can travel the same distance all over again because wherever you eat is home. So if you want to take a trip that is three times as long as you are allowed on the Sabbath just put some food at the end of one place and then at the other because wherever you stop you can claim that's home.

And all these things. There's no end to it. Like I say it ends up filling volumes. And all the intentions in the Pharisees was good. This is to be sure that we don't violate any of the commandments of the Law. So they were the ones who were going to be extra scrupulous, extra meticulous in the observance of the Law. And their manner of teaching as Pharisees was memorization. To be a good Pharisee you had to be taught by another Pharisee and you had to commit all these things to memory. Finally in 200 AD it had gotten so vast that no one could memorize them all. They put them down in writing so they could still be followed. They weren't giving up on them. They just realized it wasn't feasible to memorize them.

Josephus says that there were 6000 Pharisees in his day. It's a relatively small number compared to the number of Jews. But they were widely influential. An even though the Sadducees held the power, it was difficult for the Sadducees to operate without the support of the Pharisees usually because the popularity of the Pharisees of the people gave them great influence. In Acts chapter 26 verse 5 Paul says I lived as a Pharisee according to the strictest sect of our religion. So when Paul talked about being a Jew, when he declared himself a Pharisee, that mean something. I mean, I just wasn't a run of the mill Jew. I just wasn't an average everyday Jew. I was the strictest of the Jews. And they would recognize that.

When you come back to Galatians chapter 1 and Paul says you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, that's included. They would have been familiar with his testimony and his background. He was a Pharisee. He was a Jew of Jews.

Now he's going to select out two areas of his former manner of life in Judaism to focus on. The rest of verse 13 will focus on his persecution of the church. Then in verse 14 he will focus on his accomplishments as a Jew in Judaism. Both of these serve to demonstrate he wasn't influenced by Christianity in the sense of learning it and coming to at least partially accept it before his conversion.

"You have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure, and tried to destroy it." And the literal order as this was written in Greek puts the "beyond measure" first. "How beyond measure I used to persecute the church." And he wants to strengthen what he is saying and emphasize it both by putting it first and by the word he uses. Beyond measure. My persecution of the church knew no bounds. I went all out in my persecution of the church. He says at the end of the verse, "I tried to destroy it." I persecuted the church and in my persecution of the church, my purpose was its destruction. That word to destroy is a strong word. It used of an army that would sack a city. One Greek commentator said Paul followed the scourged earth policy in dealing with the church. The word means "to annihilate," "to destroy." So when he said he persecuted the church you don't want to get the idea that Paul wanted just to put the pressure on the church, to limit it, to keep it in its place. No, Paul had one goal--I want to annihilate the church--and he devoted himself to that.

Back up to the book of Acts chapter 8. We know the apostle Paul primarily in his post conversion life. And that's where the New Testament deals with him. And sometimes it's difficult for us to appreciate the kind of man Paul was before God turned him around. There's similar things today where we know someone as a believer in Christ and you'll meet someone who knew them before, and they'll say, "You won't believe what kind of person they were before they were saved." And they may share something with you about their past, and you say I can't believe that that would really had been them. You know, a little bit with the apostle Paul. We think well here's a man with some intensity and he persecuted the church but he got saved and he's really a great guy. Do you understand he poured the same kind of zeal that he did in promoting Christ. Before his conversion he poured his whole life in doing everything he could to destroy the people of God.

In Acts chapter 8. Look Acts chapter 7 verse 58. Here you are at the stoning of Stephen. When they take Stephen outside the city to stone him. They take off their outside robes so they have more freedom to throw the stones. And you note, "The witnesses laid their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul."

And remember that young man named Saul. We will talk about him a moment . . . the age here. But you see something of the prominence of Saul at this point. They lay their garments at his feet. He's sort of the man overseeing this even now. Verse 1 of chapter 8 Saul was with hearty agreement with putting him to death. Not just agreement. He was committed to the death of Stephen and this is the right thing and it needs to be done. And that very day a great persecution breaks out against the church and who leads it? Verse 3, "But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison." Paul knew no sympathy, knew no empathy. He just wasn't going trying to stop the apostles from preaching in the temple for witnessing on the street. You get a knock on your door. If he heard that you might be a believer and it didn't matter you’re a mother with children, no difference with the women and the men, cart them off to prison. We get something of the total hatred of Paul toward the church, toward anyone who would be a believer in Jesus Christ, men and women alike. You weren't safe in your own home.

Look over in chapter 9 of Acts. Paul wasn't satisfied to do all he could to remove the church and believers from Jerusalem. Chapter 9 verse 1, "Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way." You note how it's stressed again. "Both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem." You see the hatred was so intense. I hear there are believers in Damascus. I need authority from the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem to go and arrest them and bring them back here, men and women alike.

Over in chapter 26 of Acts. Paul is giving his testimony before King Agrippa. Acts chapter 26 verse 10, "And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death I cast my vote against them." You see Paul wasn't satisfied to have these believers in prison. He wanted them dead. And he always voted for their execution. "And as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities." And here was a man consumed by his hatred of Jesus Christ and His Church and anyone who would belong to Christ.

You know Paul knew well what a commitment to Judaism meant. He realized that the proclamation of a crucified and resurrected Messiah who would bring salvation by grace through faith was an attack at the very heart of what he believed and lived as a Pharisee. And it stirred the hatred of his heart.

If you are still in Acts 26 in verse 8 he says, "Why is it considered incredible among you if God does raise the dead? So then, I thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth." You see, they go hand in hand--his zeal for Judaism and his hostility toward Jesus Christ. And so he pursued a course of persecution and destruction for the church.

Paul the man in his own testimony in Philippians 3 said as to the Law a Pharisee and I was as righteous as you could get by the Law. Any wonder that Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5 verse 20 unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees you shall never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Back in Galatians chapter 1. Paul's animosity was directed toward to the church of God. I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure. In verse 2 of chapter 1 he was writing to the churches plural of Galatia, all the local churches in various cities of Galatia. Now he puts them all together and he says my persecution was directed toward the church of God. He views it as one entity. Wherever it was. All believers who were part of that church. That fits does it not? He thought that he had to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. We read in Acts 26. When Christ confronted him on the road to Damascus he said, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me." And what is the Church but the body of Christ on earth. So the hatred and animosity of people toward Christ is naturally directed toward His body and toward His people. Jesus assured His disciples if they hate Me, they will hate you because we are identified with Him now as His people.

He persecuted the church of God. You know, this hung over Paul but as a believer knowing something of total and complete forgiveness in Christ, he was still appalled by the man he was before his conversion. Come back to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. You know I think one of the things that happens when you are genuinely converted and you are genuinely a child of God you don't forget the greatness of God's grace. That's why self-righteousness is such a contradiction to one who claims to be saved. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul says in verse 9, "For I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God." A lot of people didn't believe in Christ. A lot of people would have refused to hear and respond to the Gospel but Paul was at the head of the group that were so strong in their hatred, they persecuted and tried to destroy the church. But by the grace of God I am what I am. I don't deserve it. And if anyone doesn't deserve it, I'm one who doesn't deserve it. And in 1 Timothy chapter 1 he says the only reason God saved me was to demonstrate He could save the chief of sinners because I'm one who persecuted the church and He could save me and would save me that gives hope to everyone. That attitude and perspective on his life and he didn't forget it. And he didn't cease to marvel at God's grace and to recognize I am what I am because of that grace.

Back to Galatians chapter 1. So the pattern of persecution and attempting to destroy the church rules out any possibility that Paul was you know wavering while in Judaism of whether maybe he ought to convert to Christianity or maybe he was giving some consideration to some teachings about Christ that he had heard. No room for that. If you know anything about Paul's pre-conversion life, he is consumed with the passion to do all he can to destroy the church. In verse 14 he also was excelling and making more progress in Judaism than most others of his peers or contemporaries. He out excelled them in his zeal to do all that the traditions of the Pharisees expected of someone. That's why he could say in Philippians 3 that he was blameless because he is as righteous as you can get. He not only tried to keep the Law he tried to keep all the minuet trivia that the Pharisees developed that they extended out to be part of keeping the Law.

"I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen." I was advancing in Judaism. I take it he was the rising star. He was climbing the ladder. Here was a man who was going places in Judaism. We saw that in what we looked at in Acts chapter 7 verse 58. He's presiding at the stoning of Stephen. He's leading the persecution of the church that developed. He's a young man we read in Acts 7:58. And yet here he is in a position that you would expect maybe someone older in Judaism to be. Well, Paul had a zeal and a passion and a consuming commitment to Judaism that caused him to go right on by his contemporaries. And I take his contemporaries would have included other Pharisees. He was going someplace, if you will.

"Being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions." This may include the Mosaic Law but probably the dominant emphasis here is on his pharisaic traditions but that would include Law keeping obviously because that was the simple thing for the Pharisee because there you just had the basic law. It was all the details of knowing which hand to throw something up in the air and the hand to catch it, whether to put the cotton in your ear when it fell out of that. This goes far beyond just normal keeping of the law. Knowing whether to swear by the altar or the gift on the altar and what's important. Tithing even your herbs. These things that Jesus talked about and condemned the Pharisees for in Matthew chapter 23. "I was more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions." There was nobody zealous for Judaism, no one more zealous within the strictest sect of Judaism, the Pharisees than the apostle Paul. Look at my life before my conversion. I was going places in Judaism. There is no room allowed in there but oh, he was being won over by the Christians. Now for some people God in drawing them to himself does bring them and they seem to progressively come along until by God's grace they believe the Gospel. For Paul's he's saying that wasn't my case. I was excelling in Jerusalem. I'm going up and sep (?). Just that quick. So the change is made in my life.

I want you to note a contrast here. In verse 13 he speaks about beyond measure I persecuted the church. Beyond measure I persecuted the church. Now compare that with what he says in verse 14. "More exceedingly being zealous for the tradition of my fathers." And you see that it parallels. Paul's exceeding zeal for the traditions of his fathers also involved beyond measure I persecuted the church of God. You know you could be an average Jew not particularly zealous for Judaism and so not be aggressively persecuting the Christians. But you could have Paul's intensity to be a committed Jew and a sold-out Pharisee and not be adamantly opposed to Jesus Christ and Christianity. As we are going to see as we proceed in our study of Paul's unfolding, the opposite becomes true. When he becomes a believer in Jesus Christ he is absolutely committed and zealous for Christ and totally and completely opposed to any doctrine or teaching that is opposed to Christ. And you see that flaming zeal and it's just a matter of on which side.

You know, we sometimes as believers are pleased with the impact of religion genuinely. But you know there is nothing more threatening to biblical Christianity than religion. Who was more opposed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ than Saul the most zealous of Pharisees? Because the more intensely he was committed to his religion the more intensely opposed to Christ he had to be. Now if you stop and think about it, there a lot of good things about being a Pharisee. They were not fornicating all over the place at night. They weren't approving homosexual contact. They weren't in favor of abandoning babies at the forum. In fact to live within the Jewish framework you could have a certain degree of morality present. I mean so much so that there was severe discipline for adulterers and so on.

What I say? You know, well, that's one thing. At least if people are religious they bring a certain morality. You know, the most dangerous thing to the proclamation of the Gospel in our city is that people will become more religious. Because the more religious our city becomes the more intense there opposition must come to our Gospel. The people who don't care one hoot about religion, they are out golfing today or wish they were. So we are hear preaching the Gospel. Who cares what they do out there. You know who cares people who have an intense commitment to their religious beliefs and commitments. Because they know with the proclamation of the Gospel we are declaring them condemned, that the Gospel declares all their works and all their righteousness as filthy rages, polluted in the sight of God. And that is intensely offensive. And if the Gospel of God's grace in Christ is true, then all of their religious beliefs and convictions and works are worse than worthless. And we need to be very careful that our passion and zeal as God's people is for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not for comfortable lives. And as long as you know the morality of our city is decent and the schools are decent, you know, we can live together in harmony. That's not biblical Christianity.

The apostle Paul and his commitment to Judaism realized Christianity has to go. And his commitment to Jesus Christ he realized their can be no compromise with Judaism. We need to be very careful. I fear the church today is offering the world a corrupted form of Christianity. That we are trying to adapt to the world in such a way that our Christianity ceases to be the Christianity that the New Testament talks about, characterized by a zeal and passion for Christ that includes a zeal and passion for all that would corrupt and oppose the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That does not mean obviously that Paul persecuted nonbelievers after becoming a Christian, but his stand was adamant. He declared the false teachers of Galatia under anathema. He declared the false teachers at Philippi the dogs. There are lines that are drawn.

Turn over to Philippians as we close. Philippians again. Chapter 3. This is where we are going but we won't get there till our next study. So this will prepare the way. Philippians chapter 3. The apostle Paul has given his testimony of his former life in Judaism and verses 5 and 6 of Philippians 3 but note verse 7, "But whatever things were gain to me those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ." More than that I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ the righteousness which comes from God, on the basis of faith."

Remember what Jesus Christ did when he called men to be His disciples? He said first stop and count the cost. It will cost you everything. And if you love father, mother, brother, sister, family more than me you cannot be my disciple. If you are not willing to give up all your own possessions, you cannot be my disciple. Paul if you are not willing to put your Judaism on the dung heap, you cannot be my disciple. The only biblical Christianity there is that of faith in Jesus Christ which involves a total commitment to Him. No, you cannot go on in your old religious system. No, you cannot stay part of the church which was the church of your parents and grandparents. No, you cannot go on now and be a good Christian who loves the Lord and stay Roman Catholic or corrupted Protestant or anything else.

Your life will change drastically. You are going to receive the free gift of life in Christ. The righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith. You must turn from your self-righteousness, from your accomplishments, from your best efforts. See them for what they are worse than nothing but vile, polluted rages in the sight of God as Isaiah said. Put them on the dung heap, the rubbish pile. Place all of your faith, confidence and trust in the Savior who loved you and died for you and then there's no going back. There's no turning back. Jesus said you cannot put your hand on the plow and then turn around and go back. He said I want you to know when you place your faith in Christ, when you walk through that One who is the door, you can't go back. Something serious to consider. You may leaving behind your family, your closest friends, you may be leaving behind your possessions, honor, everything. There are no other terms on which the Gospel of Jesus Christ is offered. It is a free gift but accepting this gift by faith you must let go of everything else for good. Paul said look at my life. That's what I was before I was saved. That was my former manner of life. The contrast is dramatic and complete. And he stood absolutely firmly planted against anyone who would teach in anyway that it is acceptable or possible to mix Judaism and righteousness by works with the Gospel of God's grace by faith in Christ. Let's pray together.

Thank you, Lord, for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank you for your righteousness which is bestowed upon men, women and young people who turn from themselves, from their religion, from their best efforts and works, from their righteous deeds and realize that their only hope is Jesus Christ the Savior. Lord, you know us as we've gathered today. You know there are people in an audience this size who have come and perhaps come regularly to this church. Perhaps they have for a long time. But they have deluded and deceived themselves into thinking by coming here they are making themselves more acceptable to you. They are gaining righteousness by their deed. Lord, may they see that there is no salvation in attending this church or any other. Salvation is a free gift by faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. Lord, may we as Your people, may we as the Church of God, have the same passionate commitment to Jesus Christ as demonstrated by the apostle Paul. And Lord, may we stand committed in enthusiastic in our zeal for Him and firm and unshakable in our opposition to all who would teach contrary to the Gospel of your grace in Christ. In His name we pray, amen.