Authentic Christianity Pursues Godly Unity

Well, I’d like to join in wishing everyone a very pleasant, good Sunday morning, and we’re thankful to Eddie for leading our songs today, and we’re thankful to you for your presence here this morning, and we’re going to continue here on the first Sunday of April. Welcome to April.

We are going to continue our thoughts on authentic Christianity, and this is a series of studies that we’re looking at from the book of Galatians. And let’s just refresh our memory when it comes to what the book of Galatians is all about. It was written to address a threat to the gospel, and this threat was that some Pharisees were teaching that Gentiles had to obey the law of Moses and be circumcised.

And this came to a head in Acts chapter 15, but the book of Galatians was written to let those Gentile Christians know that, in fact, wasn’t the case, that they did not need to obey the law of Moses. And Acts 15, verse 1 says, “…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 it was necessary to circumcise them, command them to keep the law of Moses, Acts 15, 5. And so the book of Galatians is now bringing up this issue and saying, no, we have freedom in Christ. We do not need to go back to the law of Moses and obey the law of Moses, but rather we are going to live by the law of Christ.

In Acts chapter 13, verse 39, Paul taught that the gospel liberates us from the law. He says, “…and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.”

And so, the book of Galatians is really about authentic Christianity. What is Christianity? It’s not the law of Moses, but what is it? What does it teach? What are we trying to stay true to? What are we trying not to compromise? And that’s what we find in this book, the book of Galatians. And so, it is about doing what Christ wants and how Christ has led us to salvation.

And so the topic of authentic Christianity is something that this book addresses. And we’ve been asking this question, why do we want to talk about authentic Christianity? And the answer is because, just like in Paul’s time in the churches of Galatia, something had been corrupted, something had been broken.

And now it needed to be restored back to what it was originally. And how do we do that? Well, we’ve got to go back to the original plan. And Paul’s efforts in the letter to the churches of Galatia was to bring them back to Christ and to what his plan is for his salvation.

And that means today that if we want to restore New Testament Christianity, if we want to be an authentic Christian, then we need to go back to the Bible and just let the Bible speak to us and nothing else.

So that’s what we’re seeking to accomplish as we go through the book of Galatians and think about authentic Christianity. Well, this morning, we’re going to note very specifically in Galatians chapter 2 and verses 1 through 10 that authentic Christianity pursues godly unity.

And, you know, this is one of those areas in the religious world today that has been confused again by so many, and we have those who want to say, Well, we should have unity and diversity, which just is some kind of holding of hands, but then no unity of doctrine, no unity of teaching at all in that regard. What is authentic unity? Authentic Christian unity? What is that? And how did the Apostle Paul pursue that?

Well, he wrote about it here in Galatians chapter 2 in his efforts to make sure that the church was truly unified on the gospel. So let’s look at Galatians chapter 2 and verses 1 through 10 and note five lessons regarding authentic Christian unity.

First of all, authentic Christian unity or godly unity cooperates with faithful brethren. And of course, that’s what unity is about, mainly, right? Getting along with each other, cooperating with each other, and understanding how we are to help each other and support each other.

That’s one of the primary tasks of being unified. But let’s see what Paul says about it here in Galatians 2 and verses 1 through 2. He says this, Then, after 14 years, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me, and I went up by Revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preached among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run or had run in vain.

So I want you to notice the different personages that Paul is talking about here. First of all, there’s Barnabas, there’s Titus, there are those who are at Jerusalem. He says he went up to Jerusalem and there were those there and he communicated to them the gospel that he preached among the Gentiles and then he talked privately with some who were there in Jerusalem.

These are all efforts on the Apostle Paul’s part to maintain unity, to make sure that we are pursuing the spirit of unity and the bond of peace. And unity, first of all, cooperates with faithful brethren. And here were some faithful brethren, Barnabas, Titus, those at Jerusalem that he was communicating with.

And he was working with them as he sought to obey the leading of the Spirit here, because he said he went up by Revelation, that is, the Spirit told him to go to Jerusalem to talk to them. And so this shows, you see, that Paul himself, he desired to cooperate.

Now, we will say this, that this cooperation with faithful brethren was the catalyst for him going up to Jerusalem was because there were some unfaithful brethren, and they were causing division, and now Paul had to deal with that. Acts 15, verses 1 and 2, it says, and we just read this a minute ago, but look at it again. “…certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined, that is, the church in Antioch determined, that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question.”

So, there was a question. Now, Paul didn’t have any doubts about the gospel that he was preaching, but there were others who did. And then you had this group that came from Judea, and they taught this doctrine that you had to be circumcised according to the custom of Moses.

And so, now there’s a division. How do we resolve that division? Well, the first thing we need to do is cooperate with faithful brethren. Let’s get together with faithful brethren and let’s talk about it and let’s see what the Scriptures say about it.

Well, Paul here went to the apostles and the elders in Jerusalem and met with them about it. Of course, he was inspired of God. He knew he was inspired of God, but he went up by Revelation because the Holy Spirit told him to, He says there in Galatians chapter 2, to cooperate because he wanted to cooperate with faithful brethren. Paul did not need to go to Jerusalem to know what the truth was. He already had it. But he did it in the interest of unity and cooperation. And I think this is a great point.

You know, sometimes we who know the truth and can show that it’s the truth, we want to preach the truth and we want to stand forth with the truth, but then there’s others who have doubts, there’s others who may disagree with us, and sometimes people just need a little more help.

They need to be cooperated with. We need to be patient with them and to talk to them a little more about it so that everything can be established. Now, Paul didn’t just insist on his own way here. He didn’t just say, well, here’s the truth, take it or leave it, you know.

No, he cooperated and we need to cooperate as well. Think about Philippians 2 and verse 4. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. You see, that’s what Paul was doing. He was looking out for other people’s interests, not just his own.

And so he cooperated and he went up and helped this situation instead of making it worse. And so to have this kind of unity, you know, unity means that we seek to cooperate with faithful brethren because cooperation is a product of love.

Now think about this. When we love other people, we’re going to cooperate with them. Love suffers long and is kind. Love does not envy. Love does not parade itself, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil.

All of these attitudes that we need to have, that we need to display, that are part of the attitude of love, should be working together toward unity and cooperation. So, first of all, when we think about authentic Christian unity, authentic Christian unity wants to cooperate with faithful brethren.

But then secondly, we note this. Authentic Christian unity does not compromise the truth of the gospel. Now look at Galatians chapter 2 and verses 3 through 5. And this is here in Galatians 2 again. Yet not even Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.

And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in, who came in by stealth, to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage, to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

So, we want to cooperate with faithful brethren, but at the same time, authentic Christian unity does not compromise the truth of the gospel. Now, this is something that the religious world today just does not understand. And so many hold their hands up together and say, oh, we have unity. When the truth of the matter is, is that 99% of them have compromised the truth of the gospel. You cannot have unity by compromising the truth of the gospel.

And that’s what Paul is saying here. Here were brethren who came in secretly to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus. And what were they trying to do? Bind the law of Moses. They were trying to get Gentiles to be circumcised, to obey the law of Moses. The law of Moses didn’t save. Christ was the one who saved.

And so here we have an effort by some to compromise the gospel. But Titus was not compelled to be circumcised, and because of these false brethren, Paul said, we did not yield submission to them, even for an hour. That is, we’re not going to compromise the truth of the gospel. Acts 15 and verse 2 says that He had no small dissension and dispute with them. Now remember Galatians 1 and verse 8, where Paul said, But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. The gospel must not be compromised. If we are going to have authentic Christian unity, we cannot compromise the gospel. Because the gospel is what authentic Christian unity is based on.

To have authentic Christian unity, we’ve got to have one standard of truth. Now Ephesians 4, verses 3 through 6 gives us a snapshot of that. This is the foundation, so to speak, for the standard of truth on which we must not compromise.

We must endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. Now, look at these seven great ones that Paul discusses here. He says, for us to start with unity, we’ve got to have the truth. And here it is, there is one body and one Spirit, even as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above us.

Now that’s got to be established first because that’s the basis or the ground or the foundation for our unity. If we do not have a standard for unity, then it’s just every single person’s opinion, and that’s it. There must be a standard for unity, and we must not compromise that standard.

Unity is not just holding hands and declaring cooperation or faithfulness or declaring joint efforts or all of those things. It’s not just doing that. Paul didn’t hold the hands of these false brethren. He did not compromise the truth of the Gospel.

But then third, authentic Christian unity shows no favoritism. Look at verse 6 here in Galatians chapter 2. Paul wrote, “…but from those who seemed to be something, whatever they were, it makes no difference to me, God shows personal favoritism to no man. For those who seemed to be something added nothing to me.”

So there were some who thought themselves to be big shots among the church, and they were teaching all of this stuff about how the Gentiles needed to be circumcised and obey the law of Moses. Paul didn’t think anything of them because he knew that they were not teaching the truth. And so, he said, we’ve got to believe the gospel without respect of persons. And authentic unity shows no personal favoritism.

You know, sometimes people want to compromise the gospel, they want to compromise the truth, because some big name says something different. Or because someone who is important to them says something different. None of that matters to God. That is, when it comes to the truth, God doesn’t change the truth because some man is a big shot.

God doesn’t change the truth because some human being is important to us. The truth is the truth and it stays the truth. Paul preached to governors and Kings. He preached to paupers and middle-class people. He preached to all classes of society.

And one time he preached to Felix. As he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid. Paul didn’t change the gospel because Felix was a big-shot governor and he wanted to please him. He told him the truth, whether he wanted to hear it or not.

Sometimes we have people that are very important to us, people that are very close to us, and we love them dearly. But the absolute best thing that we can do for them is not to compromise the gospel, but to just lovingly and gently affirm the truth to them.

Because authentic Christian unity shows no favoritism. Now Paul even had to talk to Peter about the mistakes that he made when he came to Antioch. Galatians 2, 11-13 tells us this story. It says, Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face because he was to be blamed. For before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles. But when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.

And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. So here was Peter, who was happily eating with the Gentiles in Antioch. But then when these guys came from Jerusalem, or from Judea, and then Peter saw them, he was like, Well, I guess I better stop eating with these Gentiles. No, Paul says, you shouldn’t have done that.

Now, Paul wasn’t afraid to confront Peter about this, and he said he withstood him to his face about it, Because Peter was compromising the gospel, even though Peter was an apostle. Even though Peter was someone that Jesus personally chose. Yet, he needed to be told to change his ways. And Paul did that because he knew that the gospel must not be changed. And that authentic Christian unity shows no favoritism.

You know, when we show favoritism, we actually invite compromise to the message of the gospel. And that becomes a problem. Because then people expect you to compromise, not only for that, but for the next problem that they have. And the next problem they have. And soon, what happens? You don’t have the gospel anymore.

We’ve got to hold the truth of the gospel. There is no partiality with God, Romans 2 and verse 11 says. Paul wrote to Timothy, he says, I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality.

And you know, sometimes it’s difficult because I actually like some of you. And I love all of you. And it is tough. When you love someone, and when you like someone, it’s tough to tell them the truth sometimes. But we’ve got to. Because we are not to show partiality.

Number four, authentic Christianity recognizes a division of labor. Now look at what Paul says here, Galatians 2, 7-8. He says, “…but on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter, for he who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles.”

So, Paul recognized the division of labor. Now, just because we’re supposed to be united as brethren doesn’t mean we can’t work in different areas. And Paul went to the Gentiles, Peter went to the Jews, and that was just fine, as long as we’re all preaching the same gospel. That’s the important thing.

Unity recognizes that we don’t all have to do the same things, but we all must teach and preach the same thing. Think about Romans 12, verses 3 through 5. For I say, through the grace given to me to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith, there’s the standard. But notice this, whereas we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we being many are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Maybe your talent is not going out and preaching from the pulpit. Okay, I can accept that. Maybe you do better working with small children. Maybe you do better working with the elderly.

Maybe you do better working with your neighbor. I don’t know. Maybe you’re a card person who likes to write cards and send cards out. Maybe you like to study the Bible with other people and just talk to them about it. All of these things are very good and they’re all ways that we can serve God together.

There is a division of labor and unity recognizes, authentic Christianity recognizes a division of labor in the gospel. But we don’t change the gospel. But then finally, authentic Christian unity approves good works. Notice Galatians 2, verses 9 through 10.

And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.

They desired only that we should remember the poor, this very thing which I also was eager to do. James, Peter, and John recognized the good work the Apostle Paul and Barnabas were doing with the Gentiles, and they wanted that good work to continue.

They recognized there was a good work in helping the poor, and they wanted that good work to continue. When we are united with one another, we will approve good works. We will encourage one another in doing these good works.

And authentic Christianity recognizes that unity approves good works. Ephesians 2, verse 10 says, “…we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Galatians 6, verse 10 says, “…therefore as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

And Titus 2 and verse 14 says that we are to be zealous for good works. We want to encourage people to be involved in good works. And if we’re going to pursue unity, we’re going to have authentic Christianity, then we need to approve good works.

Authentic Christianity pursues unity. How? First of all, by cooperating with faithful brethren. Secondly, by not compromising the truth of the gospel. Third, by showing no favoritism. Fourth, by recognizing a division of labor. And finally, by approving good works. Now, here’s a great recipe for authentic Christian unity. Would to God that every single one of us would desire unity and that they would pursue the same things that the Apostle Paul pursued to have it.

Maybe this morning you need to pursue authentic Christianity in your life. And we want everyone to be united upon the truth of the gospel. We don’t want to compromise the gospel, and the gospel is that Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners, and He died on the cross so we might be forgiven of sins, and He was raised from the dead, and all authority was given to Him, and then He commanded us to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, and He said this, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.

Now, that’s what we want to do. We want to uphold the truth of the gospel, and we want people to come to that truth, repent of their sins, confess Jesus as Christ, and be baptized to identify with Him. You see, that’s preaching the truth of the gospel. We’re not going to compromise on those things, because if we’re going to have unity, we’ve got to have a standard, and that standard must be the Word of God.

Maybe this morning you need to become a Christian by submitting yourself to that very plan that Jesus gave for you to be saved. If you need to do that this morning, you can come right now while together we stand and while we sing.

End of transcript. Thank you for reading along!