As a result of revelation, Saul of Tarsus experienced a tremendous upheaval in his personal life

Galatians is a bo= ok showing us a struggle. This struggle is between God’s New Testament and Old Testament economy; between the Mosaic law, with its circumcision, and the very Christ of God.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Israel lived according to the Mosaic law for hundreds of years; and within a three and a half year period everything changed. As a resu= lt it was very difficult for the Jewish believers to transition from the law given through Moses, to just having faith in Christ. This transition was difficult beca= use of the absence of revelation. Be= cause we were born religious, it is equally as difficult to transition from “our religion” to living by faith in Christ. We must be clear that the only way= to escape the grip of religion is to be a person with a fresh revelatio= n of Jesus Christ.

In Gal= atians chapter 2, we see Paul giving an account of a meeting held with the Apostles and elders in Jerusalem (Luke’s account of this meeting can be seen in Acts 15). Paul tells us in v. 2 that he went= up (to Jerusalem) according to revelation. This= does not only mean that Paul had the leading to go (because Acts 15 says that Pa= ul was sent by the church) to Jerusalem, but rather he went up according to the revelation that he received concerni= ng Christ. To go up in any other= way would have compromised the truth of the gospel. Paul was heading into the heart of Jewish religion and therefore needed to be a person of revelation in order = to withstand the zeal and power of that religion. It was the revelation, as the rock, (Matt.16:18) that gave Paul the firmness and boldness to testify of all that the Lord Jesus had done among the Gentile (uncircumcised) believers.

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Paul a= lso went up to help insure that his labor was not in vain (v. 2; 4:11). He was not worried that he was lab= oring in an improper way. No! Paul was too clear. Why? Because he had the assurance of the revelation that he had seen of Christ.&nbs= p; However, his labor would have been in vain if he would have done not= hing and allowed the religious zealots to damage his work by bringing his fruit under the slavery of law.

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Paul didn’t go up alone. He = went with Barnabas and took Titus with him (v. 3). This was a bold move on Paul’= ;s part because Titus was uncircumcised and that was against the Jewish religion. Paul could make suc= h a move because he had revelation. He knew, according to his revelation of Christ, that circumcision didn’t matter, nor did uncircumcision matter.&nbs= p; Only the new creation is what matters (Gal. 6:15). Paul might have t= aken Titus as a “litmus test” to see how the Jewish believers in Jerusalem would r= espond to the fact that he was an “uncircumcised” Greek believer.=

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During= their meeting in Jerusalem, false brothers were brought in.&nbs= p; They did not come in on their own. It was a covert operation by some “insiders”, in order to spy out the believers’ freedom in Christ. These Pharisees= , who had believed, rose up, saying that it was necessary for the Gentile believers to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses. However, Paul was bold! He did not yield to their demands = for a moment. Why? Paul was a person of revelation.

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Brothe= rs and sisters, if we are not persons of revelation, we could very easily be ensna= red to believe that we need to do something to in order to please and serve God. We will have our list of “have to’s” and “must do’s” to put upon ourselves and others, in order to, we think, remain well pleasing to God. Without revelation we will, sooner= or later, be guilty of putting demands and expectations on others in order to bring them into slavery (under our power and control). The law is comfortable and “safe”. In our fa= llen human nature we love the law, because it puts us in a box of do’s and= do not’s. It is easier to = follow orders, then to be free in Christ and be led by the Spirit.

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This b= rings us to another important matter. = Verse 4 talks about those smuggled in to spy out our freedom in Christ Jesus. What is this freedom? According to the dictionary, freed= om is the quality or state of be= ing free. It is the absence of necessity, coercion (to restrain or dominate by force) or constraint in cho= ice or action. It is liberation f= rom slavery or restraint or from the power of another. Freedom is the quality or state of= being exempt or released usually from something onerous (involving, imposing, constituting a burden). True freedom is living according the Christ revealed to us who is now the Spirit= ! In Christ, we are free from= the law with its necessities. We = are free from the coercion and constraint of persons or things. We are free to be lead, live, and = walk by the Spirit.

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Freedo= m, to religious people, is scary. Religious people like forms, ways, rules, and methods. Religious peo= ple like control and order. But in Spirit, you never know what is going to happen (John 3:8)! The thought of “not knowing&= #8221; frightens the religious mind. To the religious, freedom in Christ is like being released from prison after b= eing incarcerated for most of their life. In prison, they are safe; they know the routine. They don’t have to worry abo= ut food, shelter, or clothing. A= ll they have to do is the same things over and over every day. Once released, there is a void; th= ey have no idea what to do! Their natural propensity is to do something in order to get thrown back into pris= on where everything is predictable. What does this mean in the spiritual realm? It simply means that if the realit= y of Christ does not fill the void in our life (the void from being freed from l= aw), we will revert back to religion.

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May th= e Lord grant us all a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Chr= ist; and may we enjoy the freedom that we have in Him.

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