Steve Webb  0:00  
There is such a thing as truth.

This is the Lifespring family Audio Bible coming to you from Riverside, California and podcasting since 2004. I'm your OG Godcaster Steve Webb. This is a daily podcast and we're reading through the whole Bible in a year. Welcome. It's good to see you today. Our reading is Galatians 1-3 and I'm calling the episode ultimate truth. Today's show notes page, if you'd like to make a comment on the episode is lifespringmedia.com/s12e151. Are you ready? Let's go. 

Galatians chapter one. Greetings from Paul an apostle. I was chosen to be an apostle, but not by any group or a person here on Earth. My authority came from none other than Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Jesus from death, greetings also from all those in God's family who are with me, to the churches in Glacia. I pray that God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ will be good to you and give you peace. Jesus gave Himself for our sins to free us from this evil world we live in. This is what God our Father wanted. The glory belongs to God forever and ever. Amen. A short time ago, God chose you to follow him. He chose you through His grace that came through Christ. But now I am amazed that you are already turning away and believing something different from the good news. We told you. There is no other message. That is the good news. But some people are confusing you. They want to change the good news about Christ. We told you the true good news message. So anyone who tells you a different message should be condemned, even if it's one of us or even an angel from heaven. I said this before. Now I say it again. You have already accepted the good news. Anyone who tells you another way to be saved should be condemned. Now, do you think I'm trying to make people accept me? No, God is the one I'm trying to please Am I trying to please people? If I wanted to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. Brothers and sisters, I want you to know that the good news message I told you was not made up by anyone. I did not get my message from any other human. The good news is not something I learned from other people. Jesus Christ Himself gave it to me. He showed me the good news that I should tell people. You have heard about my past life in the Jewish religion. I persecuted the church of God very much. I tried to destroy his people. I was becoming a leader in the Jewish religion. I did better than most other Jews my own age. I tried harder than anyone else to follow the traditions we got from our ancestors. But God had special plans for me even before I was born. So he chose me through His grace. It pleased him to let me see and know his son, so that I could tell the good news about him to the non Jewish people. I immediately prepared to do this work without asking for advice or help from anyone. I did not go to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but without waiting, I went away to Arabia. Later I went back to the city of Damascus. Three years later, I went to Jerusalem to meet Peter. I stayed within 15 days, I met no other apostles, only James the brother of the Lord. God knows there is nothing untrue in any of this. Later, I went to the areas of Syria and silicea No one in any of Christ churches in Judea had ever met me before. They had only heard this about me. This man was persecuting us. But now he's telling people about the same faith that he once tried to destroy these believers praised God because of me.

Galatians chapter two. After 14 years, I went back to Jerusalem with Barnabas and took Titus with me. I went there because God showed me that I should go. I explained to them the message that I tell the non Jewish people. I also met alone with those who were considered to be the leaders. I wanted to be sure we were in agreement so that my past work, and the work I do now would not be wasted. Titus, who was with me is a Greek. But these leaders still did not force him to be circumcised. We needed to talk about these problems because some who pretended to be our brothers had come into our group secretly. They came in like spies to find out about the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. They wanted to make us slaves, but we did not agree with anything these false brothers wanted. We wanted the truth of the good news to continue for you. Those men who were considered to be important did not change the good news message. I tell people It doesn't matter to me if they are important or not. To God, everyone is the same. But these leaders saw that God had given me a special work the same as Peter. God gave Peter the work of telling the good news to the Jews. But God gave me the work of telling the good news to the non Jewish people. God gave Peter the power to work as an apostle for the Jewish people. God gave me the power to work as an apostle to, but for those who are not Jews, James, Peter, and John seemed to be the leaders. And they saw that God had given me this special gift of ministry. So they accepted Barnabas in me, they said to us, we agree that you should go to those who are not Jews, and we will go to the Jews. They asked us to do only one thing to remember to help those who are poor. And this was something that I really wanted to do. When Peter came to Antioch, he did something that was not right. I stood against him because he was wrong. This is what happened. When Peter first came to Antioch, he ate and associated with the non Jewish people. But when some Jewish men came from James, Peter separated himself from the non Jews, he stopped eating with him because he was afraid of the Jews who believe that all non Jewish people must be circumcised. So Peter was a hypocrite. The other Jewish believers joined with him, so they were hypocrites to even Barnabas was influenced by what these Jewish believers did. They were not following the truth of the good news. When I saw this, I spoke to Peter in front of everyone. I said, Peter, you are a Jew, but you don't live like one. You live like someone who is not a Jew. So why are you trying to force those who are not Jewish to live like Jews? We are Jews by birth. We were not born sinners, as we call those who are not Jews. But we know that no one is made right with God by following the law. It is trusting in Jesus Christ that makes a person right with God. So we have to put our faith in Christ Jesus, because he wanted to be made right with God. And were right with him because we trusted in Christ, not because we follow the law. I can say this, because no one can be made right with God by following the law. We Jews came to Christ to be made right with God. So it is clear that we were sinners to does this mean that Christ makes us sinners? Of course not. But I would be wrong to begin teaching again, those things that I gave up. It was the law itself that caused me to add my life under the law. I died to the law so that I could live for God. I've been nailed to the cross with Christ. So I am not the one living now it is Christ living in me, I still live in my body, but I live by faith in the Son of God. He is the one who loved me, and gave himself to save me. I am not the one destroying the meaning of God's grace. If following the law is how people are made right with God, then Christ did not have to die.

 Galatians chapter three. You people in Malaysia are so foolish. Why do I say this? Because I told you very clearly about the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. But now it seems as though you have let someone use their magical powers to make you forget. Tell me this one thing? How did you receive the Spirit? Did you receive the Spirit by following the law? No, you receive the Spirit because you heard the message about Jesus and believed it. you began your life in Christ with the Spirit. Now do you try to complete it by your own power? That is foolish. You have experienced many things. Were all those experiences wasted? I hope they were not wasted. Does God give you the spirit because you follow the law? Does God work miracles among you because you follow the law? No, God gives you his spirit and works miracles among you because you heard the message about Jesus and believed it. The scriptures say the same thing about Abraham, quote, Abraham believed God, and because of this faith, he was accepted as one who was right with God, unquote. So you should know that the true children of Abraham are those who have faith. The Scripture is told what would happen in the future. These writings said that God would make the non Jewish people right through their faith. God told this good news to Abraham before it happened. God said to Abraham, quote, I will use you to bless all the people on earth. Unquote. Abraham believed this and because he believed he was blessed. All people who believe are blessed, the same as Abraham was. But people who depend on following the law to make them right are under a curse. As the Scriptures say, quote, they must do everything that is written in the law. If they do not always obey, they're under a curse, unquote. So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by the law. The scriptures say, quote, The one who was right with God by faith will live forever. Unquote. The law does not depend on faith. No, it says that the only way a person will find life by the law is to obey its commands. The law says we are under a curse for not always obeying it. But Christ took away that curse. He changed places with us and put himself under that curse. The Scripture say, quote, anyone who was hung on a tree is under a curse, unquote. Because of what Jesus Christ did, the blessing God promised to Abraham was given to all people, Christ died, so that by believing in Him, we could have the Spirit that God promised brothers and sisters, let me give you an example from everyday life. Think about an agreement that one person makes with another. After that agreement is made official. No one can stop it or add anything to it, and no one can ignore it. God made promises to Abraham and his descendant, the Scripture does not say, and to your descendants, that would mean many people, but it says, and to your descendant, that means only one, and that one is Christ. This is what I mean. The agreement that God gave to Abraham was made official long before the law came. The law came 430 years later. So the law could not take away the agreement and change God's promise. Can following the law give us the blessing God promised. If we could receive it by following the law, then it would not be God's promise that brings it to us. But God freely gave his blessings to Abraham through the promise God made. So what was the law for the law was given to show the wrong things people do? The law would continue until the special descendant of Abraham came. This is the descendant mentioned in the promise, which came directly from God. But the law was given through angels in the angels used Moses as a mediator to give the law to the people. But when God gave the promise, there was no mediator, because a mediator is not needed, when there is only one side, and God is one. Does this mean that the law works against God's promises? Of course not. The law was never God's way of giving new life to people. If it were, then we could be made right with God by following the law. But this is not possible. The scriptures put the whole world in prison under the control of sin, so that the only way for people to get what God promised would be through faith in Jesus Christ, it is given to those who believe in Him. Before this faith came, the law held us as prisoners. We had no freedom until God showed us the way of faith that was coming. I mean, the law was the guardian in charge of us until Christ came, after he came, we could be made right with God through faith. Now that the way of faith is come, we no longer need the law to be our guardian. You were all baptized into Christ. And so you were all closed with Christ. This shows that you were all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Now in Christ, it doesn't matter if you're a Jew or a Greek, a slave or free, male or female. You are all the same in Christ Jesus, you belong to Christ. So you are Abraham's descendants. You get all of God's blessings because of the promise that God made to Abraham.

Well, beloved, Paul opens his letter to the Galatians by establishing that he is an apostle, chosen not by men, but by Jesus Christ Himself and God the Father. I'd say those are some pretty impressive bonafides wouldn't you? Paul isn't doing this to impress them, but to answer the charges brought against him by those who made their way into the Galatian church who were questioning his qualifications. 

And after this, Paul expresses his amazement that they have allowed themselves to be sidetracked to a different gospel or good news such a short time after becoming believers. He says, There is no other message that is the good news. But some people are confusing you. They want to change the good news about Christ. We told you the true good news message. So anyone who tells you a different message should be condemned, even if it's one of us or an angel from heaven. I said this before. Now I say it again. You have already accepted the good news. Anyone who tells you another way to be saved, should be condemned. Now, other translations say they should be cursed or anathema. Those are strong words. And I'm sure you noticed the part where Paul said, even if it's one of us who tells a different gospels, or even an angel from heaven! 

Beloved, over the years there have been and there now are people who try to change the good news, and many of them are great salesmen. They often bring a message of love and sunshine and prosperity. And they even sprinkle their message was snippets of Scripture. 

You know who else did that? Satan, as he tempted Jesus in the desert. 

And another message that's popular today is, "Well, listen, there are many ways to interpret Scripture. There really isn't an absolute truth. My truth is this. Maybe your truth is that. That's cool. Whatever your truth is, that's fine." 

Well, guess what? There is such a thing as truth. If your truth differs from the truth, it's an opinion and it's false. I'm here to tell you that Scripture is clear. There's no equivocation. No waffling. No wishy washiness, no gray in the Good News message. 

God's truth is absolute. Confusion only comes from Satan. God is the author of truth, not confusion. If you want to know the truth, spend time with God. Get to know what the Scriptures say. Study them, pour over them, meditate on them. If you have questions, pray and ask for wisdom and seek godly guidance if need be. 

We have the benefit of over 2000 years worth of literature to help us. If you're unsure of the teaching of one man or resource, use a variety of resources. But the best way to discern true from false is to study the real thing. You know how to tell the difference between counterfeit money and real money? Study what real money looks like. Then when you see counterfeit, it's usually obvious. 

It's the same with God's word, study it get to know what the Bible teaches. And then when you hear false teaching, it'll stand out like a sore thumb. 

We live in an age where information is easy to get. Use that to your benefit. But with everything, use discernment. Anything that contradicts the teaching of Scripture, throw it out. 

If you diligently search the Scriptures, you will be rewarded with a clear understanding of what the Good News is. God wants you to use all the mental capacity he gave you. Christianity is not about checking your brain at the door. As the author of all truth, as the Creator of all that is, God is not afraid of your questions or your doubts. There are answers, and God will reveal all that He wants you to know if you diligently seek Him. That's not to say that he'll reveal all the mysteries of the universe to you, because not everything is knowable by man. But you can be sure that of the things that man can know. There are clear and absolute answers. 

What do you think? Let me know at lifespringmedia.com/s12e151. Tomorrow our reading is Exodus 33 through 36.

On this date in church history, January 30 1536, parish priest Menno Simons left the Catholic church over his doubts about Transubstantiation, he converted to the Anabaptist faith and he led a group of followers who eventually came to be called Mennonites.

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Let's pray. Our heavenly Father You are God, the Creator of All That Is. You are eternal, you had no beginning. You'll have no end. You are truth. All truth comes from you. And your word is truth. completely reliable. Help us Lord. To correctly understand your word. We ask for clarity. And as we seek to understand and then share its message, help us to do it accurately. Correct us when we're wrong, Lord, and please forgive us. Take our feeble attempts and by the power of your Holy Spirit, make them effective in spite of our weakness. Lord, I thank you so much for the Lifespring family and I ask that you'd bless them today with your presence. Lead us, guide us, be our provider, our shield, our rock, our healer. I pray this in Jesus' name Amen. Send in your prayer requests and praises at prayer.lifespringmedia.com

I welcome your comments on the show, go to Lifespringmedia.com/s12e151. And at the bottom of the page, you'll find a place where you can leave a comment. Let me know what you think. Or you can email me at Steve at Lifespring media.com and support the show, please, at Lifespringmedia.com/support. Until tomorrow may God bless you richly. Thank you for being here. My name is Steve Webb. Bye

Transcribed by https://otter.ai