Am I trying to please people?

“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10)

 

Paul the apostle is a person who had persecuted Jesus before he was reborn by Jesus’ Spirit. Paul had lived in his normal passion as a learned person of the society at that time. But one day, he changed completely into a different person to the past. It wonders that if a person can be so changed clearly different. However everything God does is mysterious like that. Considering the history of the spread of Jesus’ gospel on the Earth, whoever will not be able to help but be really surprised. The gospel I have now is the precious delivered by the apostles who had risked their lives. This Bible text tells us how has to preach the gospel with which attitude.

 

Paul’s amazing change and the passion as an apostle were given to Paul himself by God the Father and Jesus Christ. God the Father had Jesus Christ raised from the death. We often hear, “I believe in God,” or “I believe in Jesus.” It seems the two kinds of expressions are same in general, but the inner concept personally would be different each other. The reason for the difference is that each person thinks subjective not biblical to the real meaning of the Bible text. Jesus, whom the Bible says through Paul the apostle, is our Lord who saves man according to the will of God the Father. Jesus sacrificed His body instead of all men in order to remove the original sin of all. The purpose of Jesus’ doing so was to make people rescue out of the evil of the world and be happy.

At the gathering of Galatian Church, non-Jewish people also were participated with Jews in the services and activities of church. Non-Jewish members had learned of the faith according to Paul’s teachings, which says the faith of freedom in Christ, not being bound by Judaism. And yet some strange people came into and they spread the wrong teachings that also Christian the non-Jewish could be saved only by following Judaism. The original sin of man was solved by Christ’s atonement, because man could not attain the redemption by the act of the law. Nevertheless those tried to harm the gospel of grace and freedom by a wrong teachings. Paul the apostle felt heartbreaking pity, looking at their spiritual chaos of Galatian church that occurred by Satan’s trick. In Galatians 1:6 “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel,” he expressed his vain feelings. He also pointed definitely out that there is no other gospel from the first, and that their impure intention is just to harm Jesus Christ’s gospel.

Heresies’ influence has been persistent always until now from the past of church history. Their activities may be often revealed openly, and it works secretly inside the church. But they don’t admit to themselves that they are heresies at all. And rather they sometimes assert a theory for personal wellbeing or the public good of society and also open business along the assertions. Some Jews in Galatian church argued that salvation through the law of Jews was right. And it was the same thoughts that Paul the apostle had before being reborn through Christ the resurrected. Saul, Paul at present, had thought that Judaism was right enough to risk his life. The stupidity that Paul had personally experienced himself in the past, that was now hurting the spirits of Galatians. But we have to know man can never be free by just practicing the law.

Paul declared a curse on them who deliver heretical thoughts. That doesn’t mean Paul wanted others to be unhappy. That says, because there can be no gospel other than the gospel of Jesus, the teaching that violates the gospel of Christ means nothing in itself. We know that not knowing God and not believing in Jesus is the greatest sin. Thus Paul’s saying was not a curse, but a maximum expression of sadness. And Paul said, “Shall I be good to people or good to God?” as an important conclusion to have as a preacher of the gospel.

 

The people of God are the people living under God’s rule. And Christians are those who call and follow Christ the Savior as the Lord. Thus those who believe in Jesus Christ must live according to the lessons of Jesus. “Who should I live to please?” won’t you know answer without hearing it? The apostles and their disciples were willing to sacrifice their lives for Christ’s gospel. Think deep about how you have lived until now to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

 

(Written by Koonoh, Pastor of JDO Presbyterian Church in Korea, on Aug 30th 2020)