A Glimpse of Galatians: By Grace Alone

By Richard J. "Dick" Hill

A Glimpse of Galatians: By Grace Alone

brings to life Paul the apostle and the Galatian church. It explores their tumultuous relationship, focusing on Pauls teachings on the absolute sufficiency of Gods grace to defeat death and bring eternal life to believers. Dr. Richard J. Dick Hill promises a glimpse, but offers a finely detailed picture of the richness of Pauls proclamation and of the persistent tendency of Christians to pervert the gospel of grace by bending it to their desires to bolster Gods saving work in Jesus Christ with their own efforts.

By organizing the exploration of the themes in Galatians into ten chapters, A Glimpse of Grace offers readers a theological primer on topics like death, grace, law, the meaning of Christs sacrifice, baptism, faith, the contrast between law and grace, living in grace, and liberty. Each chapter digs deeply into Pauls letter to the Galatians, draws from his other writings and the rest of the New Testament, and critiques contemporary church practices.

If you have wondered about death and life, law and grace, and the meaning of Christs death and resurrection for todays world, then let A Glimpse of Galatians: By Grace Alone lead you into the mind of Paul and present his spirited response to these deep questions. Armed with his teachings, you can equip yourself to recognize distortions of the gospel, see Gods grace at work, and follow the Holy Spirits lead to return to the truth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Mar 2, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512702941

Richard J. "Dick" Hill

Dr. Richard J. “Dick” Hill has five decades of experience in Christian ministry. He is the founder and director of Glimpses of Grace Ministries and a retired pastor. Other published books he has authored include A Glimpse of the Christ, A Glimpse of the Christian, A Glimpse of the Chosen, A Glimpse of the Coming King, A Glimpse of Galatians, and A Glimpse of Romans. He received a ThM degree from Dallas Theological Seminary and a ThD from Louisiana Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Linda, have three children and nine grandchildren. They reside in Kosciusko, Mississippi.

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Copyright © 2016 Richard J. Dick Hill.

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Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-0296-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-0295-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-0294-1 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/20/2017

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

1 PAUL: THE MESSENGER

Paul’s Special Background

Paul’s Unique Call

Paul’s Further Training

Paul’s Apostolic Credentials

2 DEATH

Death’s Beginning

Death’s Consequences

Death Spread to All

3 GRACE

God’s Grace Described

The Gospel Defined

Mixing Law, Works with Grace

Free in Christ

Titus Circumcised?

Peter – A Hypocrite?

4 LAW

Why the Law?

The Law Defines Sin

Reflection of the Real

Written on our Hearts

No Pain No Gain

Blind to Death

A Spoon to Stir Sin

The Strength of Sin

It is Good at Revealing Bad

All or Nothing at All

5 PAID IN FULL

Old Testament Object Lesson

How Christ Died

Why the Cross

6 BAPTISM: REAL AND RITUAL

Dying With Him

Real Baptism

Ritual Baptism

Raised with Christ-Free from the Law

Christ in Me

7 FAITH

God’s Covenant Work

Holy Spirit Received By Faith

Righteousness Received By Faith

A Perverted Offer

8 CONTRAST OF LAW AND GRACE

Function of Law as Schoolmaster

Child Differs from Servant

What is Religion?

Hagar and Sarah: Law vs. Grace

9 STAND IN GRACE

Do Nothing but Stand There

Danger of Falling from Grace

Three Grace Words

Beware of False Teaching

10 FINAL CALL FOR LOVE LIMITED LIBERTY

Love by Burden Bearing

Love By Sharing

Caution: Speed Bumps Ahead

STUDY GUIDE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

To my Lord, to Whom I have dedicated my life to present His gospel of grace to my generation, clearly and understandably to all. . .and to my wife, Linda, and my children, Chris, Kerri, and Quinn, who the Holy Spirit has used to equip and challenge me in my roles as husband and father, and to encourage and motivate me for the task of being a minister of the gospel of grace. . .this book is dedicated.

PREFACE

Because of the Adamic nature within us and Satan’s power and worldly influence around us, the clear facts of the gospel of grace have been watered down, distorted, and compromised throughout history. During the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem to the uttermost parts of the earth, a gospel of works replaced a gospel of grace.

During the extreme persecution of the church in 300 A.D., a compromise was reached between the persecutors (emperors of Rome) and those being persecuted (those having believed in Jesus Christ.) The result was that the gospel of the grace of God was plunged for hundreds of years into a sea of religion that blinded people to the wonderful grace of God by means of the finished work of Jesus Christ alone.

This period ended with the sixteenth century Reformation in Europe when the clear gospel of grace resurfaced. The gospel then burned brightly for several generations, only to fall once again to the strength of the flesh and the deception of Satan. Those who taught a clear gospel of grace were again persecuted for their faith. This persecution of Christians encouraged the thirst for religious freedom and ultimately led to the founding of America.

In the beginning years of this country, the gospel of grace was taught and believed by many. However, several generations later, and true to history repeating itself, the gospel of the free grace of God in Jesus Christ is again under siege. The feeling is that God has done His part, but we must now do ours. For this reason, Paul’s little letter to the church at Galatia is just as important today as it was when Paul wrote it.

Paul told the Galatians (and us) that we do not have a part in God’s work of salvation. God has done a sufficient work in Jesus Christ to save by faith and to reproduce the life of Christ in the believer, by faith. During Paul’s day, it was the religious establishment of Judaism that was distorting and confusing the facts of the gospel of grace. Things are very much the same today.

Even during the dark days of human history when the gospel of grace was being distorted and confused by many, God was always faithful to raise up grace champions who were not ashamed nor afraid to teach that salvation has been made available to all by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. May God be pleased to use this book to produce such champions of the faith.

INTRODUCTION:

CONFLICT WITH LEGALISM ENDURES AFTER 2000 YEARS

The conflict between law and grace in God’s plan of salvation has been raging since the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. The transition from the age of law, which ended with Jesus Christ’s death for us at Calvary, to the age of the church in which we now live, was not a sudden change without any problems. It was a bitter struggle. It was not a simple matter for a believing Jew brought up under a system of do’s and don’ts to accept without question the new message of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.

This conflict was fueled by the fact that the Jews realized that they were God’s special, chosen people. For you are an holy people unto the Lord thy God; the Lord your God has chosen you a special people unto himself, above all people who are upon the earth (Deuteronomy 7:6). Because the Jews were God’s chosen people, they wrongly considered the Gentiles to be inferior. The only way Gentiles could be accepted under their religious system was to become Jewish proselytes by pledging to keep their law, be circumcised, and be spiritually cleansed with water.

When Paul was chosen by God to go to the Gentiles with God’s simple message of salvation by grace, he always encountered violent opposition from those Jews who were clinging to a spiritually obsolete law system. In fact, the Jews from Judea simply refused to accept this new message of grace, and they tenaciously dogged Paul’s footsteps, seeking to discredit him and disprove his message. They taught instead that a man must be saved by works.

And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved…[and] some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, It is necessary to circumcise them and command them to keep the law of Moses. (Acts 15:1, 5)

This confrontation became so serious that a special meeting was called. This special meeting (called in history the Jerusalem Council) with its two spokesmen, Peter and James, determined that the Gentiles did not have to keep the Law of Moses nor be circumcised to be saved. After much debate at the meeting, Peter rose up to defend Paul’s message of grace.

Now therefore why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they. (Acts 15:10-11)

It was then decided that a letter be sent to the Gentile Christians at Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia.

Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying You must be circumcised and keep the law – to whom we gave no such commandment – it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have, therefore, sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell. (Acts 15:24-29)

Such a bold, clear stand for salvation by grace alone from this important council would surely settle the issue, wouldn’t it? Not so! The Jews from Judea merely changed their approach. They reasoned, Oh yes, we’re all saved by grace, but to have full fellowship with God, one must keep the Law of Moses, in particular, circumcision. This effort to mix living by the Mosaic Law with the gospel of grace is historically called Galatianism, and Paul recognized that it was a deadly poison distorting the truth of the gospel.

These two forms of Galatianism began to affect the early church. Paul recognized right away that Galatianism was a lethal