Josh Benner

Category: Bible

  • Who is Paul? And why it matters. Studying Galatians 1:1

    Who is Paul? And why it matters. Studying Galatians 1:1

    The defense of the gospel

    I begin this post by asking you to consider two questions. 

    First question: who is Jesus? 

    Second question: who is Paul? 

    That’s the most important question that anyone can answer. Is he a good teacher? Is he a good philosopher? Is he a good idea? Is he a good role model? Is he a good man? Or is he the Lord who died for your sins? And the Son of God? And the king of kings? 

    But who is Paul? 

    While not as important to know Paul as it is to know Jesus, how you view Paul matters, and here’s why. Because how you understand Paul actually points to how you will understand Jesus. 

    A history of Pauline heresy

    When Paul wrote his letter to the Galatians, we don’t know every single detail of background information but one thing seems pretty clear. 

    There were people undermining Paul to the churches in Galatia.

    Who is Paul? 

    He is an Apostle of Jesus Christ.

    Apostles were people who had personally seen the risen Lord in the early church and who were commissioned to lead the church. 

    1 Corinthians 12 lists offices in the early church:: 

    God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 

    The apostles are listed first in that list for a reason. They were the authority. 

    We also see this in Ephesians 4:11-12: 

    he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ

    In the Book of Acts, after the ascension of the risen Jesus, and with Judas out of the picture, the first thing the apostles do is appoint another apostle: Matthias. 

    The Apostle Stephen dies in Acts 7 and we see Paul later become an apostle. After that, we never see apostles being replaced. And again, as people who had witnessed the risen Jesus, and given the unique role of the apostles in the early church, I would argue that the office of Apostle died out in the age of the original apostles. 

    So as I said a moment ago, there were people who were undermining Paul and his apostolic authority. 

    People still do that to Paul. 

    Many liberal Christians undermine Paul’s writings as just his opinion and not scripture and therefore not authoritative. 

    Paul was one Christian giving his views on the scriptures and that’s no more inherently significant than any other Christian. 

    But that’s why the answer to my second question matters so much. Who is Paul? 

    Is he just some guy who has some thoughts about Jesus? Or is he a man who personally saw the risen Lord Jesus and was personally called by Jesus to be an apostle? 

    Two radically different views of who Paul is. 

    What you think about Paul matters to what you think about the rest of the New Testament. 

    So again, I ask you: who is he? 

    I believe that he’s called to be an apostle and that this was affirmed by the confirmation of the other apostles, by the history of the church, by the fact that the early church viewed his writings to have had apostolic authority, by the account of him having been a witness to the risen Jesus and the radical conversion he had from a persecutor of the church to a man who became a martyr for the church, and because of the signs and wonders the Lord enabled him to perform during his ministry. 

    And I think that’ll hopefully give some more background and meaning to these first verse of chapter 1. 

    Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 

    Paul wrote 13 letters in the New Testament. All of them begin with his first name. That was a standard letter writing practice at the time. In these ancient letters, you would start by naming the sender. It’s the first thing the reader sees. 

    As I’ve already discussed, Paul will affirm his apostolic authority. In nine of his 13 letters, Paul mentions his apostolic office in his opening. 

    But there are a couple of unique things about Galatians. 

    First, Paul doesn’t defend his apostolic authority in his other letters as fervently as in Galatians. He usually takes it as a given that the readers will accept that fact. 

    In Galatians, he says he’s an apostle: not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead

    Paul is an apostle because of a divine calling. It’s not because he says so, it’s not ultimately because the other apostles say so. 

    In the second half of chapter 1, Paul will again give an extended version of his early actions after coming to faith and a long defense of his apostolic ministry. There is no section in Paul’s letters where he goes into such great detail to explain why he is authentically an apostle. 

    And here’s why it matters so much in this letter. 

    When people are downplaying Paul’s authority, his writing, his teaching, then it makes it easy to also downplay his message. 

    Paul talks so much about being an apostle, not because he’s insecure. 

    Paul isn’t being vain. 

    It matters that they know, and that we know he’s an apostle of Jesus Christ because Paul has the message of the truth about Jesus Christ, that he is the Lord who has died for us and that God reconciles sinful people to Jesus because of Christ and Christ alone. 

    And so Paul so fervently defends his apostolic authority because he needs to defend the gospel itself. 

    And he will be pointing to the gospel even from this first verse. not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 

    Jesus has been raised from the dead and he has led to a paradigm shift in human history and in salvation history. Everything changes because of the cross and because we have a risen Lord.  

    And Paul will point to that gospel. Because that’s what this letter is truly about.

    In verse 2, Paul says: 

    2 and all the brothers who are with me, 

    To the churches of Galatia: 

    All the brothers. 

    Paul includes his associates in the opening salutation. We don’t know exactly who was with him when he wrote Galatians. But notice that he does not call them apostles. He calls them brothers, while Paul is an apostle. 

    And then he addresses his letter to the churches in Galatia. As we’ve discussed the last couple of weeks, this was the region to which Paul had traveled during his first missionary journey. He shared the gospel, many people came to faith, but there were also very many who were hostile to the gospel. In writing to the Galatians, there were people who sought to dilute or distort the true gospel and so Paul writes as a defense of the gospel. 

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  • Evangelism Training Podcast interview: Thad Bergmeier

    Evangelism Training Podcast interview: Thad Bergmeier

    The newest episode of the Evangelism Training Podcast is now available. In this month’s episode, Josh talks to Thad Bergmeier. Thad visited us in February and helped with the MyCircle evangelism training. In this episode, we revisit the subject of evangelism training and talk about some of the challenges with evangelism as well as the successes we can celebrate.

  • Sermon: No other gospel – Galatians 1:6-10

  • Healing on the Sabbath. John 5:1-9

    John 5 begins with a miraculous healing from Jesus. 

    Jesus travels to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish feasts. In other words, it’s one of the Jewish holy days. We don’t know exactly which one. John talks a lot about the feasts in this gospel. He mentions three Passovers, mentions the feast of booths, among others. The fact that he does not specify in this instance might be that the specific feast is not theologically significant to this event. 

    Verse 2 begins to tell us about a specific place to which he travels within Jerusalem. 

    Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. 

    Verse 3 gives us the likely reason for why Jesus is there. 

     In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.

    So there are people who have various physical ailments and who regularly go to this pool. 

    From the context of the passage, it seems that they did this because they thought the pool itself was a place of physical healing. 

    The problem with this is that it is God alone who brings healing. 

    So that being said. I think it’s helpful to look at verse 3 and then continue it into verse 5. 

    3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 

    So lots of people who suffered from various disabilities would go to this pool. In verse 5, we’re introduced to a man who has been an “invalid,” as the text says, for 38 years. 

    Think about that for just a moment. 

    38 years, in a time that was before modern medicine. 

    We don’t know all of the ailments he might have had, but among them, as we will learn in this passage, he was unable to walk. 38 years of suffering. The average life expectancy in this period was about 35. 

    Verse 6, he encounters Jesus. 

    6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?

    Jesus sees the man lying by the pool. There are others there. He doesn’t seek Jesus out, but Jesus seeks this man out. 

    Why? 

    We’re never told. It’s the divine initiative. It’s providence. 

    The text says that Jesus knew he had been there a long time, which is reminding us of the supernatural knowledge Jesus has as God. 

    And then he asks the man “do you want to be healed?” 

    An interesting question

    It’s interesting to consider the first two sign Jesus has performed. When he turns water into wine, his mother comes to him. In John 4, it was the Roman official who came to Jesus and asked him to heal his son. But in this event, the man does not come to Jesus. 

    It is Jesus who comes to him. 

    That’s one of several reasons why this event is significant in this gospel and it’s making a theological point. 

    God heals whom he will. And it is not always because of great faith that he heals a person. Everyday there are people who God heals, God blesses in a multitude of different ways where they didn’t ask for it, they aren’t looking to God. It’s simply because of God’s own goodness, grace, and providence. 

    Verse 7, the man responds: 

    7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.”

    This guy thinks that being at this pool is his hope of healing. 

    He’s superstitious. 

    It’s not the pool that heals, it’s not being the first one in the pool that offers the promise of healing. It is ironic that he looks to the water as if it’s some mystical force of healing, when he’s in the presence of Jesus. 

    They’re in Jerusalem, the holy city. They’re near the temple, the sacred site which represented the presence of God on earth. And he’s focused on getting into a pool. 

    The point isn’t to fault this man for having the desire to be healed. Everyone who’s afflicted wants that. 

    But he’s looking to the wrong place.

    Illustration – faith healing

    It’s a point I made a few weeks ago, but our society and our world is drawn to people who claim to be faith healers and superstition. 

    In the early days of the Coronavirus epidemic, disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker was selling a silver substance which he claimed could cure a person of the virus. Peter Popoff who was another disgraced televangelist in the 80s continues to offer miracle spring water.

    There are people who pray to statues or believe that praying in a specific place will carry unique favor with God. 

    Those are not Christian values. 

    Christianity is not a faith of superstition. It’s a faith that’s rooted in the almighty God of creation. God knows all. He is sovereign. Praying in special ways, or special places, or with special objects is not the basis by which God suddenly will hear us. 

    It’s idolatry. 

    But Jesus shows him grace anyway. 

     8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. 

    As we’ve seen other times in this gospel, John is very matter of fact in his reporting of Jesus’ miracle. 

    Jesus tells him to pick up his bed. I’m sure the term “bed” is pretty generous here. It’s not like he had a sleep number mattress out by the lake. It was likely a very thin and dingy mat that he was using. 

    So that’s our first scene. The miracle which Jesus has performed for this man. 

    It’s another display of the power that Jesus has as God on earth, but it’s also important to this gospel because of what happens in the aftermath of this miracle.

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  • Evangelism as a way of life

    Evangelism as a way of life

    Jesus calls all of his followers to make disciples, to follow the Great Commission, to share the good news of the gospel. To those with whom we share the gospel, there will be some who will want nothing to do with it but there will also be those who are drawn to the message.

    We can’t assume that people know the gospel. And that’s always been true. There has always been the need for personal evangelism. 

    But our society used to have more of a church culture where it was easier to assume that a person was at least familiar with the gospel. That there was some common ground. That people were churched. 

    The struggle of evangelism

    I think that’s at least part of the reason why personal evangelism has become such a struggle. Because for a long time, people didn’t think it was necessary. It’s not that churches would overtly say that evangelism was unnecessary. 

    But when one perceives the society as largely already being Christian, then the need for personal evangelism seems less pressing. 

    Sure, it might be needed in other countries where they don’t have the gospel. Missions were important. But did we truly look at our own household, our own workplace, our own community as our own mission field?

    Undoubtedly, some did. I’m not saying no one shared the gospel. But what I’m saying is that America had become so saturated in Christendom that we lost a culture of evangelization. Perhaps we never had it. 

    Our society is becoming less religious. And Bible believing churches are now dealing with the fallout of a society where evangelism was not emphasized in the past and where evangelism skills were not taught. 

    Again, I’m speaking in broad generalities. It’s not like no one has practiced evangelism. And some churches did a better job than others with outreach. But overall, evangelistic efforts lagged. 

    The industry of evangelical Christianity

    Over the last 30 years as we’ve seen declines in the church in America, we were also seeing a greater industry of Christianity. 

    Entire TV networks dedicated to televangelists, an explosion in book publishing, popular Christian music, Christian movies, Christian conference, Chrisitan celebrities. There was a rising megachurch movement.

    The emphasis with these things was often in being “practical.” Tips on raising good kids, tips on dating and finding a good spouse, tips on marriage and having a good marriage, tips on finances. 

    Many churches became a place to hear a self-help message rather than the message of Jesus who calls his followers to die to self.

    Again, it’s not that all churches became this way but those churches became the popular churches and it influenced other churches. 

    Sermons that lost their theological weight. Music that was emotive, self-centered and shallow. Youth groups that were more concerned with entertaining kids than teaching them about Jesus. 

    In the Bible, Jesus calls us to count the cost before following him. Jesus also tells us to take up our cross and follow him, but this was replaced by a prosperity Jesus who asked little of us. 

    It took more of an inward focus rather than living in the world as a disciple and a herald of the gospel message. 

    The practical Christianity industry did not necessarily focus on preaching the gospel, let alone sharing it with others. 

    And so we have a command of Jesus and many well-meaning Christians aren’t equipped and don’t know how to follow it. 

    Why do people share the gospel? 

    Motivations to evangelize

    Two reasons comes to mind. And they’re not mutually exclusive. One is a sense of obligation. That’s a fine reason to share the gospel. It is, after all, a command of Christ. 

    But there’s a second reason that’s also important and that is because you have such a love for God and a knowledge of the grace of Christ and see such beauty in the gospel of his grace that you want to share that with others. 

    Obligation, you can force yourself to do. And that can work. I have no doubt many people have been led to Jesus by those who were faithful to share the message but who, in that moment, didn’t really want to. And we should praise the Lord for those who are faithful. 

    You can force yourself to do something from obligation. 

    You cannot force yourself to have a genuine love for the gospel and a passion for making Jesus known. That can only come as the result of a love for Jesus and a life that is centered around Jesus. 

    Walking with Jesus

    Towards the end of the Book of Galatians, Paul will talk of walking in step with the Spirit so that we will not gratify the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). 

    Paul talks about the fruit that the Holy Spirit produces. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. 

    We don’t create that ourselves. It is a supernatural work of the Spirit. 

    In 2 Corinthians 3:18, Paul talks about the transformative effect of looking to God. 

    we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 

    Looking to God, knowing the truth of God, serving God, praying to God, having a constant God-centered mind is transformational. 

    In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talks of the person who is blessed by living as kingdom people in the world. I won’t read them all but among them, Jesus says; 

    6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 

    7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 

    8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 

    And on and on. The Psalmist says taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8). 

    As Christians, we need to live a life where you can be the kind of people who love Jesus so much that you want to share him with others. 

    If you look at evangelism as merely an obligation, then maybe you’ll talk to people about Jesus sometimes. But to evangelize out of love must come from living for Jesus as a way of life. 

    Is your faith something that you just sort of attach onto your life and ultimately doing what you want to do? Or is it what drives you? 

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