January 31, 2021
Having begun their Christian experience by faith, the Galatian churches seem content to leave their journey of faith and pursue a new direction based on works—a direction opposite of Paul’s message of Christ and Christ alone. Paul finds this not only disturbing but hard to imagine. His letter to the Galatians is a vigorous attack against another gospel of works, which is not good news. He strongly rebukes these believers for being foolish and bewitched. He reemphasizes that faith and only faith brings son-ship.
Paul begins by setting forth his credentials as an apostle with God’s message: blessings come from God based on faith, not law. The law declares men guilty and imprisons them; faith sets men free to enjoy liberty in Christ. But liberty is not a license to do whatever I want. Freedom in Christ means freedom to produce the fruits of righteousness Through a Spirit-led lifestyle. The book is called Pros Galatas, “To the Galatians,” and it is the only letter of Paul that is specifically addressed to a number of churches (“To the churches of Galatia,” 1:2). The name Galatians was given to this Celtic people because they originally lived in Gaul before they migrated to Asia Minor.
Galatians 1:1-5, Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead), and All the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:
Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever, Amen. (Next week we will address “this present evil age.”) Today, we will focus on the apostleship.
Paul an apostle (not of men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead)
Even in the days of the first apostles, apostleship was a significant issue in the Lord’s church. There were both true apostles and false apostles. (Many verses focus on FALSE apostles). Because of the emphasis that Paul is placing here on his apostleship and because it is a vast subject in the Lord’s church today, I will spend the time establishing a biblical view of an apostle.
There are two apostolic categories established in the New Testament. First, is the “apostles of the Lamb” (see Revelation 21:4). The other is referred to as the “ascension” gifts beginning with apostles as taught in Ephesians 4:10-11. Both of these categories are well established in the scriptures.
First, are the apostles of the Lamb mentioned in Revelation 21:4) is speaking of the men whom the Father gave to Jesus. Note what Jesus says in His High Priestly prayer of John 17, when He says in verse 6, “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world.” These were common ordinary men that the Father chose to give to His Son to be apostles. An apostle is chosen, gifted, and anointed to be sent back into the world to represent the Father’s word that came through Jesus Christ.
The original apostles were promised by Jesus the “keys of the kingdom,” as mentioned in Matthew 16:18. In the Gospel of John, Jesus instructed His apostles that they would receive the Holy Spirit soon and when they had, “the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 16:26).
The apostles of the Lamb were unique in their calling and in the “stewardship” given in representing Jesus, the King and representing, the kingdom of the King to Israel and eventually the Gentile nations. (Paul’s uniqueness was that he was the apostle to the Gentiles). The apostles of the Lamb laid the foundation of what Christ was building according to Ephesians 2:20. They drew from the prophets of the Old Testament. The keys that they were given to those apostles, the mysteries of the kingdom, became the foundation of Jesus’ New Testament church. Jesus is the cornerstone of the building and the apostles, through their teachings, became the foundation.
Paul, who had been known as Saul, became a primary persecutor of the new church. He even approved the stoning of Stephen, the first martyr for Christ. While on the road to Damascus to arrest Christians, Saul met the resurrected Christ. See Acts the ninth chapter for the details. Saul, whose name was changed to Paul, became the archetype of the ascension gift apostle mentioned in Ephesians 4:11.
Let’s talk about the ascension gift ministries. The name, ascension gifts are evident from the text. After Jesus ascended and sat down at the right hand of the Father, the scripture says He gave gifts unto men. Five gifts are listed, apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher. The gifts or “graces” are from Jesus Himself. They are His ministry given to men to represent Christ on the earth.
Contrary to some teachings, these gifts are essential for several reasons that Paul lists. “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come into the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head–Christ—from whom the whole body, joined together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:12-16).
I have one question, where today in the church do you see this functioning? Do you think there is still work to be done to accomplish our Lord’s will? Can you see why these gifts when properly functioning, are needed to perfect the body of Christ for His work in the earth to be done?
The grace or gift of the apostle is still needed today. Let’s talk about the function of an apostle, 2000 years later. First, the apostolic gift is a “stewardship” gift. The apostle is a steward of God’s word. He does not have the right to speak his own opinions but must represent the Lord’s viewpoint. A modern-day type apostle must lead people to what the original apostles understood and taught. Look at all the various doctrines in the church today. People are tossed to, and fro; many are confused. The purpose of the apostleship is to restore the teachings of the Apostles of the Lamb.
Paul understood that he was given grace by Jesus to speak God’s word, even the mysteries of His word. “I now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily” (Colossians 1:24-29 NKJV).
There you go! Paul is very clear about his stewardship assignment. Today, God expects no less from His representatives. My ministry is evident. Represent Christ by representing Paul, Peter, and all the other apostles of Christ. There is no room to guess. There is no room to come up with my own ideas. Would Paul and would Peter Amen what I am teaching and what I am representing? It does not matter what the Seminary thinks or what the denomination thinks, or even what I think.
Paul’s ministry did not come from men. Nor did it come through, man. It came from Jesus Christ and God the Father. It came as a result of the resurrection. His ministry was filled with other apostolic men, as he mentions. Paul had a company of apostolic leaders. Each of the men traveling with Paul had an anointing of the apostolic gift. How do I know this, because when Paul sent men like Timothy, Silas, Titus, and others, they were always sent to do what only an apostolic gifted person could accomplish? Other men such as Barnabas, mentioned in Acts 14:14, and Epaphroditus mentioned in Philippians 2:25 are called apostles. Again, these are ascension gift apostles given by our Lord to His church for equipping and bringing to maturity to the full stature of Christ.
In light of what we have learned, I suggest that you keep your eyes and mind open as you read the New Testament and see if you can identify the many apostolic gifted people in the New Testament. Keep in mind, an apostle does not promote himself, an apostle only teaches what the original apostles taught, and apostles never are out to build his ministry. He is a servant of Christ and is only concerned for Christ and the benefit of the Churches of Christ.