Living by Faith - Galatians

The Anathemas

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Living by Faith

Lesson: 2-19

Genre: Talk

Track: 02

Dictation Name: Tape 01B

Location/Venue:

Year: ?

We come into Thy presence joyfully, knowing that Thou art on the throne, and we cast our every care upon thee who carest for us. We bring unto Thee oh Lord our every burden, hope, and need. We remember Thy suffering saints the world over, especially behind the Iron Curtain; we remember our country and its waywardness, beseeching Thee to deliver us from the hands of the evil men, and to establish us in Thy word, and in Thy mercy. Bless us now as we give ourselves to Thy word, that by Thy Spirit we may grow, we may become strong, and we may be more than conquerors in Christ our Lord. In His name we pray, amen.

Our scripture this morning is Galatians 1:6-10, and our subject: The Anathemas. Galatians 1:6-10, The Anathemas.

“6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.”

Various translations have no problems with these words of Paul, and as a result their translation is almost identical. However, I am going to read to your from another version, because while there is no difference in the meaning, this version catches the anger and the urgency of what Paul has to say with amazing skill. This is from the Confraternity Version.

“I am amazed that ye are so soon deserting him who called you in accord with this gracious design in Christ, and are going over to another gospel; but there is no other! Some who wish to alter the gospel of Christ must have confused you. For even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel not in accord with the one we delivered to you, let a curse be upon him. I repeat what I have just said; if anyone preaches a gospel to you other than the one ye have received, let a curse be upon him. Whom would you say I am trying to please at this point, men or God? Is this how I seek to ingratiate myself with men? If I were trying to win man’s approval I would surely not be serving Christ.”

Paul is angry. He wastes no time, he plunges into his attack on the Galatians, he tells them that he is amazed at the speed with which they are removed from God, who called them into the grace of Christ. Now the word that is translated as ‘removed’ means in the Koine Greek, ‘turned deserter,’ turned turncoat, gone over to the enemy, to another gospel which is not the gospel, but a perversion. They are, Paul says, deserters, apostates, malignant men, a part of the evil world they were called out of.

The word ‘removed’ very literally means in the Greek to transpose two things, to put one in the face of another. They have put a false gospel in the place of the true one, so that they have become worse than open enemies of Christ, in that they have confused the basic issue. The enemies of Christ are open and obvious. They claim to be of Christ, but they have turned it into another gospel; and Paul says: “There are some that trouble you, that disturb you mentally” but he does not say they are to blame, because he makes clear that they listen readily to men who pervert the gospel, who turn it into its opposite. What Paul says is relevant today, because there are many churchmen today who preach another gospel, who proclaim humanism from the pulpit, or who confuse the issues, mix in humanism with the gospel.

But what we would have to say, even of those who preach the gospel faithfully, that they are very different from Paul. Even good churchmen, when they set forth papers, statements, pronouncements of presbyteries and conferences, and cyclicals, all give us, however good the statement, diplomatically worded proclamations. They lack Paul’s moral passion.

Among both Catholics and Protestants, too often righteous indignation is frowned on. Kindly, cautiously worded statements are preferred. Today we have such monstrous evils as abortion; where is the moral passion in the church statements?

In verses 8-9, Paul twice pronounces curses on all who preach a false gospel. “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”

When Paul says ‘as he said before’ he is not referring to his previous sentence, he is referring to the past, to his statements when he was among the Galatians, to his statements throughout the Greco-Roman world. He has always been emphatic that there is one true gospel, and any dilution of it is a perversion of it.

Now some tell us, and this is an important point, that Paul is directing these curses, these ‘anathemas’ because the word in Greek is literally ‘Anathema’ against the false teachers, ‘some that trouble you.’ Technically this is true, if we limit preach to the formal ministry. But the word preach today has a more technical meaning than it did in Paul’s day. At that time it meant anyone who spoke of the good news, anyone who as a Christian spoke about the gospel to anyone else. So it applied to everyone to whom this letter was addressed.

It is an indirect curse. In other words, it is not to anyone specifically named; it applies to anyone who is a party to another gospel. Paul pronounces a curse thus, on all who alter the gospel in any way. Ridderbos commented and I quote: ““And not only is the truth more than the highest-ranking minister of God, but as the gospel, which constitutes the norm of the divine redemption in the world, it is so holy that anyone who independently modifies it brings the curse of God down upon his head.”

Paul has taught the gospel to them in person. They have heard it from others. All the apostles are in agreement with him. In verse two he says: “And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia.” Paul apparently had consulted the apostles elsewhere about this matter; so he says: ‘I do not speak alone when I pronounce this anathema, this curse, upon all of you who are involved in this. My anathemas,’ he says, ‘have a common assent.’

The word ‘curse’ or anathema means ‘banned,’ devoted to God, to be annihilated. A person who is accursed contaminates all that he touches. To curse is the right of the conqueror, and God is the ultimate conqueror. Normally, only God could execute a curse. We have God-give exemptions, as when God required Joshua to execute his curse on Jericho. But normally, the punishment of a curse is left to God, and it is sooner or later total and ultimate judgement. Paul’s language is a form of mercy, because the curse does not have a specific address, it is not directed to individuals; it is general. Thereby he gives them an opportunity to come out from under the curse.

In verse 10, Paul says: “Do I now persuade men or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet please men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” C.A. Anderson Scott paraphrased these words: “Am I seeking to curry favor with men, as my opponents say I do by making things easy for the Gentiles? Or is it God I seek to please?”

Paul had been charged with the Judaizers with preaching an easy salvation, of grace rather than works, of accommodation to men rather than to God. And Paul is here saying: “You’ve heard what I think of you; would you say this is pleasing men? When I tell you that anyone who preaches this should be damned, and when I tell you what I think of you, and I am not through telling you; does that mean that I am a man pleaser? Or am I pleasing God?”

Lenski ably and beautifully described Paul’s statement in these words, and I quote: “Paul meets all this with sudden, smashing questions. Indeed, does anybody who is trying to please men approach them with anathemas? The present tense is conative: “Am I now trying to get the approval of men — seeking to curry favor with men?” If at any time before I have spoken softly, is this now soft language? And have we not before, when we were with you Galatians, spoken in the same uncompromising way?”

Paul is determined to hit hard, to smash the confidence of the Galatians. He wants to awaken them to the enormity of their evil. They are so smug and self-righteous, they can condemn an apostle of God. Paul’s gospel is the gospel of grace, which means that salvation is entirely the sovereign act of God. Similarly, judgement, being accursed, is the sovereign act of God. It is the other face of sovereignty and salvation. The false gospel that these Galatians were giving assent to, placed salvation in man’s hands, and this opened the way for their reprobation. Paul, as he will make clear, stresses the law; he stresses works, but not as a way of salvation, and they are corrupting the gospel by bringing the two together.

Machen said of the anathemas and I quote: “So here Paul says — if the original sense of the word is to be regarded as still in view — that the punishment of the man who attempts to lay  violent hands upon the gospel of Christ should be in God’s hands: that man should be regarded as beyond men’s power to help; he should be regarded as having fallen into that state, about which the epistle to the Hebrews says: ‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.’”

Paul is saying, ‘if you hold these opinions, you are beyond my help. You are beyond the help of any man. Because if this curse fits you, if this is a gospel you hold to, only God can deliver you.’ Now Paul knows that the preaching of the true gospel goes against the grain of fallen man’s nature. It is not he, but his enemies who are the pleasers of men. Paul tells us elsewhere that he was ready to be all things to all men, in the sense of approaching them on their level with grace, in order to save them, never to please them.

In spite of his graciousness, he was commonly accused of ulterior motives. We have references to this in 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12, in 1 Corinthians 6:12-18, in 2 Corinthians 10:1-6, and 11:7-15 to cite the main ones. Again and again, precisely because Paul was the major force for Christ in his generation, he was also the major target of attack, to isolate him from even his friends, to leave him a lonely figure, because men resented the clarity and the strength of the gospel. Men who are determined to find fault, will never lack excuses to criticize. Such men want conflict, not reconciliation. But Paul says :”If I at all compromise the gospel to please men at even a single point, I should not be the servant of Christ.” His point is clear. Paul is saying: “I am the servant of Christ, and you face His curse unless you repent.”

This is the kind of preaching that the church needs today. That men cannot compromise where God is concerned, that men cannot treat God as though He were indulgent, as though he were so remote that any kind of compromise, any kind of easy gospel is possible, that it is men who have to be pleased rather than God.

Galatians is written to indict all such compromise, great or small. Let us pray.

Oh Lord our God, we give thanks unto Thee for Thy word through Paul, and we pray that the clarity of Thy word and its bluntness may again be made manifest in our generation; that Thy pulpits the world over may resound with a clear and uncompromising proclamation of Thy word; that men may know that it is the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Father, God the Spirit, who must be pleased, and not man. Oh Lord our God, raise up unto Thyself a generation of men to stand in the power of Thy word and Spirit. In Jesus name, amen.

Are there any questions now about our lesson?

[Audience Member] I thought, going on comments (?) two together, salvation and works, that salvation is not of works, but salvation and works go together, the works is a result of salvation?

[Rushdoony] Yes, that is right.

[Audience Member] They do go together, but not preceded…

[Rushdoony] Yes. Any other questions? Yes.

[Audience Member] I was wondering if you could give a brief overview…?...

[Rushdoony] A brief overview?

[Audience Member] Yes, when has it been prevalent, has it accelerated, has it decreased, is it unpopular today, …?...

[Rushdoony] Well, that is a big order; I would say that, first of all, it would be my statement, I don’t claim to speak with any final authority on anything; it is a phenomenon that has appeared repeatedly in the church, and the basic question is: Is it the same phenomenon as in the book of Acts? Now that is the first question that should be raised. In the book of Acts we do have a fact that a witness is made, beginning at Pentecost, in diverse tongues, to people who understood what was said, it was in the language that they spoke, they heard, they understood it, and the gospel spoke with a clarity. We know, as a matter of fact, that the gospel has a particular force when it is in one’s mother tongue. The world over, whenever there has been a translation of the gospel into the language of the people, the power of it is greatly enhanced; and when preaching is in the tongue of people it has a particular power, they understand it with a greater clarity.

Thus, this was the fact that marked the phenomenon of speaking in tongues in Acts. When we encounter it in Corinthians, there are some who question whether or not that was still the case, or whether it was a mixed phenomenon, and Paul makes it clear there that if it is not understood it doesn’t edify the church, and the word ‘edify’ means in effect to instruct or educate.

I would say that in its present form as we encounter it, there have been no verifiable examples of a person speaking in another tongue, in a foreign tongue, foreign language, that is understandable by those present. Some have claimed that this has occurred, however thousands of hours have been taped, and in those tapes no foreign languages appear.

However there are many in the Charismatic movement today who do not claim that they are speaking in other tongues, there are others who say that they are. What they say is that they are giving expression in the Spirit to their joy. Sometimes what they are saying, they are chanting in English, a bible verse or a phrase or two. At other times it is simply a welling up of joy. I find that totally acceptable; the other I am dubious about.

Thus you have a variety of claims and expressions. The Charismatic movement is a general term that has about as much meaning as say, Protestantism. Today Protestantism includes Modernists and Fundamentals, Calvinists, and all kinds of groups; in fact the word Catholicism today includes quite a variety of meanings and practices and beliefs. So too the word Charismatic today covers such a vast multitude of groups and persons, some of whom cannot agree with each other.

Does that help?

[Audience Member] Yes; the other thing I wanted to ask you is, we are not required to pray specifically …?... Now you say joy, showing of joy is fine, but in prayer life we are to express our self?

[Rushdoony] Yes, a very good point; prayer is talking to God, and we don’t talk to someone we love, our husband or a wife, only when we have something to ask. There are some who limit prayer to petition. Well, that would limit any communion, any conversation, to petition. But since prayer is communion, and it indicates a community of life, it means that you express yourself by expressing your joy, your gratitude, your need, and by sharing things. I have often said and I think it bears repeating, that the heart of all prayer is sentence prayer, praying a dozen times a day as you are dealing with something: “Lord, give me patience to do this,” or “Lord, give me the wisdom to see what it is I need to understand about this,” or, “Lord, give me patience to deal with this person,” and then saying: “Lord, thanks, I got the point there on that. Thank you for giving me the wisdom to seek these connections, or having the patience to deal with this person,” or, “Lord, I blew it on that, give me grace to do better next time.”

You see, when you pray like that continually through the day, then when you come to a formal prayer, your prayer comes more easily. Any other questions or comments? Yes?

[Audience Member] You hear so much on this (?) in 1 Corinthians, wasn’t that sort of God communicating to them through a vision or a calm or something like that, and part of worship, and their translation was done, so that God would communicate, because they didn’t have the whole Bible then.

[Rushdoony] Yes, well, they had most of the Bible, they had the Old Testament and they had some of the New.

[Audience Member] Well, they didn’t have much of the New Testament, just a little bit, and so in Revelation where it says you shouldn’t add or delete any more, wouldn’t that be a deterrent to the fact that, why would we need tongues now if we already have the scriptures God wanted to give to us, and we don’t need anything more than that?

[Rushdoony] Well, even then you see, they were not according to Paul, given the right to speak at will any more than anyone who gets a sudden insight, let us say at a meeting, has the right to stand up and say: “Here is a point you have missed, let me correct you on this.” Paul says: “Let all things be done decently and in order.”

Well, if there are not further comments, let us bow our heads in prayer. Oh Lord our God, we give thanks unto Thee for Thy word. We thank Thee for the power that is ours in Thy Spirit. We thank Thee for the freedom which is ours in Christ Jesus. Give us grace to use these things to Thy glory, to know that we have been called to serve Thee, that the purpose of our lives is not to please ourselves but to please Thee. Make us strong therefore in Thy service. And now go in peace, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, bless you and keep you.