Shalom. Holy Scriptures and Israel is a ministry designed to share with the Jewish people the good news of the Lord Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah, and to instruct Christians on the Jewish roots of their faith. And now, teaching God's Word from a Hebrew messianic perspective, here is Gideon Levitam. Shabbat Shalom everyone. Let us open our Bibles. We are continuing in the wonderful study of the Book of Galatians today. We have arrived finally to Galatians Chapter 5 today. So we want to turn please to the letter that Shaul, Paul wrote to the believers in Asia Minor. These are the brothers and sisters from among the Goyim, from among the Gentiles. who came to believe in Yeshua the Messiah and they were exposed to some wrong teaching concerning justification and salvation and the apostle have written to them this very important letter which we know as the letter to the Galatians. In Hebrew we call El HaGalatim. The Galatim or Galatia was a region in Asia Minor where the message of the Gospel was brought through Shaul Paul He wrote this first book, the book of Galatians was actually the first letter that the apostle Shaul Paul wrote from all the 13 epistles that he wrote. Why? Because he already wanted to deal with the fact that false teaching, wrong teaching has to be dealt with in order to help the people of God to walk in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. So we are in chapter 5 and we are going to read today the first 12 verses of Galatians 5. So please turn to Galatians 5 verses 1 to 12 and I begin with the reading. Paul continues and he says to the brethren in Galatia, Stand fast! Therefore, in the liberty wherewith Messiah has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ, Mashiach, shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ, Mashiach, Messiah, is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law Ye are fallen from grace. For we, through the Spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ, in Yeshua HaMashiach, neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. Ye did run well. Who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded, but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. And I, brethren, if I had preached circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offense of the cross ceased. They were even cut off, which trouble you. And I'm going to stop here with this passage that I'm reading here in verse 1 to 12. The last verse he said, I would, they were even cut off, which trouble you. So I read the first 12 verses of Galatians chapter 5. Now, brethren, brothers and sisters, let me, as I'm beginning with this fifth chapter of the letter that Shaul Paul wrote to the Galatians, to just remind you that the book of Galatians really divides itself into three sections. Section number one is chapter one and two, where Paul, Shaul Paul gave his biographical testimony. It was really his personal life and he showed the Galatians how he first opposed the message of the Lord Jesus, the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. But eventually he turned to the Lord, he recognized that he was the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of the world. And the Lord raised him to become the Apostle to the Goyim, the Apostle to the Uncircumcised. Then in chapter 3 and chapter 4, which we just finished in our meetings together, he didn't give so much a personal testimony, but he gave theology, he gave doctrine, he gave teaching. And if you remember, He gave us these five-fold testimony as to the fact that on a basis of the scripture, on a basis of the doctrine that God had given in His Word, justification is not simply by committing the works or keeping the works of the law or being circumcised, but justification is entirely based upon faith in the Lord Jesus the Messiah and in Him alone. Not Yeshua plus works, not Yeshua plus law, Not Yeshua plus circumcision, neither Yeshua plus baptism, or neither Yeshua plus rules of men. No. Justification, salvation, forgiveness, redemption is entirely based upon the finished work of the Lord Jesus the Messiah who died for us. who pay the penalty of our sin and sins which we have all committed for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And that's why the Messiah had to die, to be buried and to rise again as the Hebrew Scriptures, the Hebrew prophets have already spoke about this many generations. And now that the door was opened to the Gentile world, and the Jew and the Gentile, Yehudi ve'goi gam yachad, they will only trust in Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, and they will be saved. So he gave us in chapter 3 and chapter 4, theology. teaching, after teaching from the Word of God, he went back to the Hebrew Scriptures and he showed us that justification is based entirely upon faith in the Messiah. And if you remember, he gave us a scriptural argument, he gave us a logical argument, he gave us a historical argument. He gave a sentimental argument, and even he gave the Galatian allegorical argument. And if you remember when we finished chapter 4, he gave them an allegory that Abraham, our father, had two wives, the free woman Sarai, and the servant, the slave, was Hagar. Both of them had children, Sarah had Isaac and Hagar had Ishmael and as you go down the line you find out that Hagar was giving Ishmael and he was the boy that was born out of the self-will of Abraham, not of promise. Yet Yitzchak was born out of the promise, and Yitzchak represents all those that believe in Yeshua the Messiah under the new covenant, the Brit HaChadashah, which represents Jerusalem, which is from above. While Yishmael, who came from Hagar, represents really the self-will of man, the old nature, The death which was born out of the flesh, and it doesn't speak of the Jerusalem which is above, it speaks of Jerusalem which is still below here, our own city of Jerusalem which is still in unbelief. waiting for the day when this Jerusalem will finally going to be recognizing that Yeshua indeed is the Messiah. So we have chapter 1 and chapter 2 of Galatians, personal testimony of Shaul Paul, chapter 3 and chapter 4, doctrinal theological ministry of the Apostle Paul, But now, beloved brothers and sisters, in chapter 5 and in chapter 6, Shaul Paul is now moving from doctrinal to practical. How do now we as believers in the Lord Jesus the Messiah, How do we live out our lives as believers in the present day? We are not under the law. The law condemned us. The law made us guilty. The Messiah forgave our sins. Now in this present day we live under the grace of God which we receive through the message of the Gospel. So now notice it is so interesting because Shaul Paul is very practical. He doesn't only give you theology, teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching and he leaves you hanging. No, Shaul Paul is also a man that want the people of God to be practical in their lives. He want them to live their lives as believers. He want them to grow spiritually. He doesn't want them to just merely know things in the head and not to put it down into their hearts and live their life in a practical way. So in this portion of Galatians 5, In verses 1 to 12, the Apostle Paul explains to the Galatians what they lose when they turn away from God's grace to law or to rules or to man-made legal system of men. if we turn away from the grace of God which we receive freely and go to the law to try to be justified on a basis even of the law of Moses we'll find ourselves that not only we cannot be justified we even cannot be sanctified because every time because of the sin nature we fail to submit to the law of God Even in our thoughts! You remember Yeshua said in Matthew 5, 6 and 7 in the Sermon of the Mount? He said, if you think you have already committed that sin, even if you didn't do that! So we are all guilty! Because we thought evil, we looked at evil, we wished evil, we heard evil, and the law is holy! And so the law is like a mirror. You look at the law, the perfect holy law that God gave and you say, wait a minute. Every time I'm looking at this law I see how exposing my sin nature is there. You shall not lie, I lied. You shall not covet, I covet. You shall be holy, I am unholy. You shall honor your parents I didn't honor. You shall not murder what I thought about murdering. You have committed sin. And that's why we are under the judgment of the curse of the holy law of God. and we deserve to be judged so the sacrificial system were given to Israel when the blood of the lamb was shed and the Israeli of old have accepted this and offer sacrifices it's pointed to the Mashiach that came and once the Mashiach came we are no longer under the law of Moses we are under the law of the Messiah we are not become lawless but we are under the law of the Mashiach which you will see that he will speak about it as we get further into Galatians 5 and Galatians 6. So now brothers and sisters a believer in this verse 12 verses in Galatians chapter 5 a believer who turned away from grace to law or man-made rules, going to end up to lose three spiritual truths that God wants for his own people in any generation, but especially in the days in which we live in today. If we turn away from the grace of God to law-keeping, number one, we're going to lose spiritual liberty. If we turn away from the grace of God to the law, number two, we're gonna lose spiritual wealth. And if we turn away from the grace of God to law keeping, we're gonna lose, number three, spiritual direction in our lives as believers. Three things we are going to lose. If we turn away from the grace of God, a back to law keeping or back to any rules of men now before I'm going to go I just want to remind you one thing two thousand years ago when Paul wrote the book of Galatians the early believers were Jewish believers who themselves struggled with how do we handle now this new era or new a period of time in the way of God's dealing with mankind But now 2000 years passed by, we cannot blame the Jews anymore. We cannot blame Israel anymore. We cannot blame the Jewish believers anymore. Now we have to look at the later days of the church age. Now we live in a day where the vast majority of the believers in this world are not Jewish. They are Gentiles. We can no longer blame the Jews anymore but we have to seek with the Lord's help to deal now with the Christians who are part of church who are now in the latter days is no longer the Jewish people that we can blame anymore. That's happened in the first century. Today we are dealing with the latter days of the church age in which the vast majority of the believers are not Jewish. They are minority. We are dealing with the non-Jewish believers who are somehow also have responsibility in what they are doing in these latter days of the church age. So now notice this, we all have to be careful as Paul is presenting here this before us, not to lose spiritual liberty, spiritual wealth and spiritual directions as we follow our Lord Jesus, our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. So he began, first of all, with Galatians 5 and verse 1. And I want you to take a note here. Notice Galatians 5 and verse 1, he says, Stand fast, therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ, Mashiach, Messiah, has made us free. and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Notice this, just pause here for a moment in this verse 1. In other words, in this verse 1 of Galatians chapter 5, Paul is saying, do not lose your spiritual liberty in the Messiah, but stand fast Therefore in the freedom and being not anymore entangled with a yoke that eventually lead you into bondage. What does he say here? What is really saying that what happened when these Galatians who were from among the Gentile world, they were pagans, the vast majority of them. Now that the apostle Paul, Shaul Paul, who became the apostles to the Gentiles, to the goyim, he went and he preached the message of the gospel and he said to them, listen, if you only believe, if you only will accept this man by the name of Yeshua, he is the son of God. He's God the Son who became a man who was born to the Virgin Miriam, lived a perfect life. He died a substitutionary death. He was raised and he's now lifted up and at the right hand of God the Father in heaven. He says now if you only believe on Him, you will receive forgiveness of sins. Now can you imagine what a wonderful message? No one asked from you to do anything in order to receive justification. Don't work for that. Don't pay for that. It's a gift. You remember John 3.16? For God so loved the world that He gave a gift. The gift was His only begotten Son. and that whosoever believeth on him shall not perish but have everlasting life you don't have to work for that you don't have to pay for that you don't have to to do certain things in order to receive eternal life so they were believers they have accepted the Lord and so beloved brothers and sisters they now have been liberated they had received freedom imagine if you in jail in prison because you were guilty and then somebody comes and says hey wait a minute you deserve to stay in prison for years but I got the key I'm gonna come and I'm gonna liberate you I'm gonna give you freedom you know like our forefathers the Hebrews they were slaves in Mitzrayim in the land of Egypt They were weeping there. The taskmasters beat them. But when God came in and liberated them, can you imagine the 600,000 men only who came out of the land of Egypt free? No more slavery. And when you think of history, of the way they've treated slaves in this world, and when the slaves have been liberated, what a freedom it is! Now that is exactly, and far more, what the Lord Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah, have done for us. He have done this for the Galatians. He set them free! He gave them liberty! Now no longer, as we just say, no condemnation anymore from a holy and a righteous God. But the problem is, as we have read in Acts 15 verse 1 and Acts 15 verse 6, where some came from Judea and told to the Galatians they are really not saved, they are really, really not forgiven because they haven't been circumcised. and they haven't kept the law of Moshe so now these brethren in Galatia begin to deviate to be shifting their lives and they say why if we are not quite saved I gotta get circumcised I gotta keep the works of the law I gotta do something in order that I will be actually saved And Paul saw that that led them into bondage. They now, instead of having liberty and freedom to love the Lord, to live for the Lord, they ended up to say, wait, wait, wait, I'm not quite there. And by the way, today people tell us the same thing. It's not anymore a Jewish problem, but people tell us today in Christendom, that you are really not saved. If you haven't been baptized, you haven't been saved as yet. As if the water will make you more saved. Do you know what happens to the water? You go in a dry sinner and you come out a wet sinner. Water doesn't save you. Water is only a testimony that Yeshua died and was buried and rose for us. But faith in the Messiah is what saves us. His work on the cross is what saved us. His death on the altar what paid for our sins. So what happened? The Galatians began to be entangled with yoke. And you notice he used the word stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith the Messiah has made us free. Notice that? Christ had made us free and be not, as it says here, entangled again with the yoke of bondage. You see, he says the word again to the Galatians because the Galatians, before they became believers in Yeshua the Messiah, they were worshipping idols. And they were doing some kind of work system for their own idols. Now that they became believers, They were in danger because they have listened to false teachings to say, wait, I'm not quite saved. I need to do something to sustain my salvation. And so Paul says, no, stand still. And by the way, if you notice here, the word here for liberty, the Lord Jesus, the Messiah already said, if you turn with me to John 8 for a moment, when he was here on earth in John chapter 8 he said this in the earlier verses in the middle of the chapter 8 verse 32 and 36 Yeshua said to the to the disciples and those that follow him before he died John 8 verse 32 he said and ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free Yeshua of Himself said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one come to the Father but by Me, not by law keeping. The law was never given to our people of old, the people of Israel to save them. It was given to help them to live a godly rule of life. But salvation was always on the basis of faith. And the sacrificial system reminded them of the coming Mashiach. Look at verse 36 of John 8. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. Freedom, liberty, salvation doesn't come from rules of man or even the law that God gave to Israel. It only comes from faith in God and faith in the Messiah who became a sacrifice for the nation of Israel. If you go back to Galatians and you notice in chapter 2 of Galatians, Galatians chapter 2 and verse 4, there already the Apostle Paul said to them to warn them. And he said to them in Galatians 2 and verse 4, Because of false brethren, unaware brought in, who came in privately to spy out our liberty, which we have in Mashiach Yeshua, in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage. See what happened? And I'm telling you, these beloved brothers and sisters, this is very practical. There is always the danger that someone will put us back into bondage. and seek to take away from the believer the liberty that we have in the Messiah Yeshua. Our justification and also our sanctification is linked with our walk with the Lord and with our faith in the Lord Jesus, in the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. So liberty that they have had when they trusted in the Mashiach Yeshua and now they become free from the judgment that they deserve now they were going back into all kind of man-made rules and they think even the God-given circumcision to our own Jewish people they thought that he will get circumcised now they're going to be saved or now they're going to be sanctified Cutting off of the flesh doesn't make us holier. Cutting off of the flesh was given to Israel, Brit Milah, as a sign that God made a covenant with the Hebrews. It was never given to the nations of the world. And therefore you can cut your flesh as many times as you want, you will never be justified. Paul is saying to the Galatians. So you see, beloved brothers and sisters, that's why He is so strong and giving them this warning there in Galatians chapter 5, stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith the Messiah has made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. And you notice He used the word yoke. What is the meaning of the word yoke? The Hebrew word for yoke is Ol. All means labor, that you work and you labor and you labor. The Hebrews of old were under yoke when they were in the land of Egypt. And therefore, he says, listen brethren, he says, stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith the Messiah had made us free and be not entangled. Don't get yourself involved in things that will eventually lead you to become slave again. Learn the fact that you have received the Messiah. The Holy Spirit of God have entered and became, you might say, took possession of you. You have a new birth. You have a new life. And now live in the light of the liberty that you have. Now somebody, of course, might say, well, maybe that means that now the believer in Yeshua have liberty. So he or she can do what they want. Well, where do you find it ever taught by the Apostle Paul? If somebody says that, he is wrong. Nowhere you will find ever the Apostle Paul says, now you have liberty, so go ahead and sin, do what you want, live a sinful life, dishonor God, do what you want. Where do you find it in the Bible? Never you will find it, neither in the Tanach, neither in the Brit HaChadashah, in the New Covenant. In fact, in Romans chapter 6, the Apostle Paul says in verse 1, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Well, God loved you. He had grace towards you. He forgave your sin. So now go ahead, live in sin. Carry on! Where do you find it in the New Testament? Where does ever Jesus or the apostles ever taught that we are now, because we are not under the law, we are to be lawless? You don't find it in the scripture. In verse 2 he says, God forbid, Romans 6, 2, How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Knowing not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus the Messiah, we were baptized into his death. And the word baptism here does not refer to water baptism, but to the spirit baptism. When the Holy Spirit of God came to take residence in us, he gave us a new nature. We are not to live lawless. We're not to say, I have liberty, so now I can carry on and do as I please. You don't find it in Scripture. This is the imagination of someone who teached it. Nowhere you are taught in Scripture, but Paul said, do not lose your spiritual liberty in the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Stand first, therefore, in the freedom that you have through the Lord Jesus to the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. And don't be entangled with that which brings you into bondage. If I will keep this, I will be more spiritual. If I will do this, God will be happier with me. and while we violate all other laws that God gave us in the New Testament and we violate them and we think that we have liberty to carry on the way as we please. It is so amazing to me that often time people look into the Tanakh for the laws to keep the laws in the Tanakh but they do not submit to the laws that have been given to us in the New Testament. plenty of instruction that we have in the New Testament, the New Covenant that we violate every day but we always go back to the law which we failed, which our own fathers have failed to fulfill and we don't realize that our rule of life is the Lord Jesus Himself not rules of men and not all sort of legal things that one will put upon another. So in verse 1 We find out the Galatians had to be careful not to lose their spiritual liberty. And brothers and sisters, I'm telling you, unless we are looking to the Lord for spiritual liberty, no rules, no legal things that men place upon one another will ever make us more spiritual minded. We are to be only spiritual minded and live in spiritual liberty as we are occupied with the person of the Lord Jesus the Messiah and allow the Holy Spirit of God, Ruach HaKodesh, to lead us. That's why many times we are in bondage. We are not free or enjoying the freedom, the liberty that we have in the Lord Jesus, in the Lord Yeshua Messiah. Now, this is the first thing that Shaul Paul warns the Galatians. Don't lose your spiritual liberty and freedom which you already have when you have come to know the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Don't lose it. Because if you're going to go back and you're going to entangle yourself with the yoke of bondage, you're going to find that you will not be spiritual minded. You will be called or you will be reckoned as a legal man that is not free or legal woman in that case. that you will not have the liberty and the freedom that you have in Yeshua the Messiah. And freedom does not mean freedom to live a life of sin. Freedom means liberty to live a life for God, a life for the Lord, a life for a blessing for the people of God. That's the first thing. But you notice, he moves along. And Shaul Polnam moves from warning against the danger of losing spiritual liberty, to secondly, there is a danger of losing spiritual wealth. As he says, you know, the believer in the Lord Jesus is a rich person, spiritually. And the moment we are retracting and going back into all sort of man-made regulation and laws that we think that we will be justified and sanctified by the Lord, there is a danger to lose the enjoyment of spiritual wealth. that we possess through our Lord Jesus the Messiah. So notice now in verse 2 to verse 6 how Paul is charging the Galatians. He said to them, notice that, he's saying to the Galatians, and remember that was their problem, his circumcision. That's why you find many times the word Brit Milah, circumcision, mentioned here in this chapter. Look what he says in verse 2, Behold, I, Paul, say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Paul is saying to the Galatians, if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. You notice that brothers and sisters in verse 2? In other words, the apostle Paul is saying to the Galatians, he says, listen, OK, you are not Jewish, you are not commended to be circumcised, but you think or you were taught that if now after you believe in Yeshua you are now going to be circumcised now all of a sudden you're going to get profit from the Lord he will give you as it were he will give you an additional blessing as you are going to be so spiritual minded and God is going to be pleased with you and you have some gain out of it and so you notice what he says I Paul said to you that if ye be circumcised, Christ, not as the Messiah, shall profit you nothing. He will not add to what you already have. And again, remember brothers and sisters, that was a problem. Galatians, the Galatians were exposed to wrong teaching by those who came down from Jerusalem and said to them, Galatians, and I better read this verse, lest we forget it. Acts chapter 15 and verse 1, listen to that. A certain man, which came down from Judea, taught the brethren and said, listen to this, except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses you cannot be saved. But there arose a certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying that it was needful to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses. And then the apostles in Jerusalem began to have deliberation. That was the first time that we have this, what you said, the Jerusalem Council. These early Jewish believers, the apostles and others, they had to start to ask themselves the question, really? Is that what God demand from the Goyim who became believers in Yeshua, the Messiah? They need to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses, otherwise they are not saved, they are not justified, you see? And they have given a verdict. They don't need to be circumcised in order to be saved. They don't need to keep the law of Moses in order to be saved. Because the law of Moses is holy, and because they are sinful, they will never be able to fulfill it to its fullest, they will be accursed. So that's why the Messiah came, and by faith in the Messiah, they received the grace of God, and they are now justified. And now they are to follow the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, and by following Him, they fulfill the law through the person of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, as the Holy Spirit of God lead them. so you notice what he says if you're going to be circumcised it will not add to you anything it will not help you spiritually it will not give you additional wealth or spiritual gain Paul said in verse 3 because after all you are already forgiven You're already saved. You're already justified brethren of the Galatia. Notice in verse 3, he continue and he says, if anyone who did get circumcised in order to keep the law, Notice what he called them in verse 3. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised. Apparently some eventually went and got circumcised. They thought they will gain something because they had an external experience. Paul said to them, I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to do the whole law. If you think that the Messiah have given you gain, through you as a believer in Yeshua the Messiah is going now to get circumcised? Do you think that that will give you any additional gain from the Messiah? He says no, because if you want and if you think that you will be justified and sanctified by being circumcised, then you become a debtor to do the whole law. Don't only take one part of it. Don't only think that if you'll take this part, you're going to be now receiving justification and liberty. No, Paul is saying to them, now you put yourself under the responsibility, you become a debtor to do the whole law. And you remember, we read Exodus 19 earlier, but in Deuteronomy chapter 27, Moses said to our own people of old, just before they have entered into the promised land, he said to them in chapter 27 and verse 26, Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen. Now what happened? It didn't take too long and they didn't confirm or establish the words of the law. They failed to show them that they could not be justified on a basis of law keeping. So they needed the Messiah to forgive their sins. And when the Messiah came and forgave their sins, they are now justified. So by saying, I'm going to be now circumcised in order to gain something more from the Messiah You actually saying that I need now to keep the whole law and to do every word that God have said. And if I fail in one thing, I became once and again condemned by the very law that I claim to submit to. So that's why the Apostle Paul wrote to them and wanted to correct them. He said, anyone that is circumcised, apparently there are some people who have gone and they wanted to be circumcised, assuming the doubt, they're going to be justified even more, sanctified even more, they are holier now, they receive an additional gain from the Messiah, and Paul is explaining to them, doesn't matter if you're going to do it again and again, it does not give you any additional spiritual gain from the Lord, and now you became a debtor. You put yourself on the ground of being a debtor and you don't enjoy the wealth that the Lord has already provided unto you. This is verse 3. So the Apostle Paul needed to explain to the Galatians and I would suggest to you and I that because we are believers in the Lord Jesus the Messiah we have such a wealth spiritual wealth and the spiritual riches we received through Christ, through the Messiah, not through works, not through circumcision. In fact, if you don't mind, turn with me to Ephesians for a moment. Galatians, Ephesians chapter 1. Just look what Paul wrote to the Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3 and 4. He says there in verse 3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus the Messiah who has blessed us. Listen to this brothers and sisters. He had blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenlies or in the heavenlies in Christ, in the Messiah. according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love." Listen, brothers and sisters, listen. God looks at the believer and He says, you are not guilty. I cannot blame you anymore, though there is much to blame you because of your sin nature. But when you believe in the Messiah, I cannot blame you anymore. My son, the Mashiach, has died and paid for your sins that you have committed. Look what he says in verse 7. In verse 7, Deuteronomy 1-7, In whom we have redemption. This is in the Mashiach. through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. See, God is so rich in grace and in mercy that we have forgiveness. We have redemption. And it happened because the Messiah died for our sins in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 7. It is according to the riches of His grace. Not according to the works that you and I do. You see what he's saying? Look at Ephesians a little bit further in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 17 and 18 listen to this verse 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus the Messiah the Father of glory may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him this is verse 17 not of verse 18 that the eyes of your understanding being enlightened that he may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints." Not only that we know, according to verse 7, the riches of his grace, but we have, because of the Lord, the riches of his glory. You cannot gain this by being circumcised. You cannot gain this by keeping rules. It's not what you did and I did. It's what he did for us. That's the beauty of the work of the Messiah. It's not a religion. It's a relationship. It's not keeping rules. but looking to the One who paid for our sins, and trusting Him. Look at another verse, please, in the book of Romans, in chapter 11. Paul wrote about the riches of His grace, about the riches of His glory, and he continued in Romans 11, and listen, this is a beautiful verse, verse 33. He says, all the depths, of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God how unsearchable are his judgment and his ways past finding out do you think that by cutting off of the flesh you gonna gain more riches? do you think by keeping rules you gaining additional gain before the Lord? no Paul is saying You already possess the riches of His glory because of Yeshua. You already possess the riches of His wealth and the riches of His love towards you and I. You already have possessed the riches of His wisdom. Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. How unsearchable are His judgment and His ways, a path finding out. See, to be honest, we as believers haven't tapped even a little into what God has for us. We haven't tapped into it. We haven't entered into it because we are so shallow. What we keep, what I do in order to keep myself spiritual, And we haven't tapped into the person of the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, who is the eternal Son of God, who is the creator of the universe, who is the upholder of all things, who is the one who came from heaven to pay for the penalty of our sins. And that's why He says, listen, if any one of us As it says in this verses 2 and 3, He is saying to the Galatians in chapter 5 and verses 2 and 3, He said, I say unto you that if ye be circumcised, the Messiah will profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised already thought that he or she or he will go and gain some additional spiritual wealth. He said, I tell you that now you become a debtor of the whole law. of the whole law. In Leviticus chapter 12 circumcision was inaugurated to the law that God gave to the Jewish people. He gave it for the Jewish people as a sign of the covenant. Jewish people who may wish to circumcise their children are doing it under the command of God but He doesn't save their babies. But to expect this from the Gentiles who became believers and to tell them to be circumcised is wrong. in order for them to be saved. Now let's move down to our chapter in Galatians 5 and verse 4 assuming that one is justified by the law is to fall from the sphere of grace. Notice verse 4 Christ Messiah is become of no effect And to you, whosoever of you are justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace. See what he's saying? Amazing! Because this is always our problem. It's always our problem. It's not only a Jewish problem. It's not only the first century Galatians problem. It's also our problems today. When we think that God will now justify us or we will gain the sanctification by keeping certain things. He says, listen, you have fallen from grace. And he doesn't mean that they have fallen in a sense of that they are losing their salvation. Of course not. He called them brethren 10 times. in the book of Galatians. Achim, Achim, Achim, Achim. They were already believers. They were already justified. They were already saved. But they had a problem in their lives. Because in their lives when they thought that they are going to keep certain things, rules, or being justified by the law, they have fallen from the realm of grace. And grace, brothers and sisters, sometimes we think grace, grace, God's grace, grace that is greater than all my sin. The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Yeshua, HaMashiach. The law is holy and just, but I am sinful and defiled. So how can I gain salvation? What shall wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of the Lord Yeshua, the Lord Jesus. the Messiah and that's how what happened is we are not careful in our walk with the Lord as he says here in verse 4 if you think that you will continue your life based upon law keeping you fallen from grace listen I didn't say it the Bible say it you cannot take a verse from the Bible and destroy it and say it's not Bible It's the Word of God. We either believe all the writings of Scripture, or we cannot have confidence in the Word anymore. So you continue now, listen to this in verses 5 and 6. He explained to them, because he doesn't want them to lose spiritual wealth. He is explaining in verses 5 and 6 how living life in the sphere of grace, is done through the power of the Holy Spirit and not through the works of the flesh or the works of law. You notice that and I'm reading verses 5 and 6. For we, Paul and the Galatians, we, Paul, the Galatians and us He said, for we through the Spirit, notice the capital S here, this is the Holy Spirit of God, for we through the Holy Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. Verse 6, for in Jesus Christ, in Yeshua HaMashiach, neither circumcision availeth, anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. in these interesting two verses what he's really saying he's really saying that the only way to appreciate justification and to appreciate our salvation and to live in a sphere of grace is to recognize that the Holy Spirit of God is our leader who will direct us in our life to follow the Lord Yeshua the Messiah and live for him. He continues, he says in verse 6 that neither circumcision availeth anything not uncircumcision availeth anything. What does he say? He simply says you can go ahead if you want to get circumcised. You can cut off the foreskin of your flesh. Do you think this gonna make you more sanctified or more right with God? He says it doesn't change anything. Do you know that when God commanded Abraham to circumcise Yitzhak, Isaac, in Genesis chapter 17, Isaac was only 8 days old. He didn't believe in God. He didn't know whether God is the God of Israel. He didn't know anything. he had to grow up and he had to follow the God of Abraham his father and to submit to his authority and to love him in response to his call but when he was circumcised he did not know anything you know when Yaakov was circumcised and Esav his brother they were also 8 days old but they didn't know whether they're going to follow God or not but you notice both were circumcised Jacob chose to follow God but Isa who was also circumcised didn't follow God you see beloved brothers and sisters here is the circumcision doesn't avail doesn't make one more justified or less justified because our justification our salvation is entirely based upon the finished work of the Messiah and that's why he says in Jesus the Messiah, in Yeshua HaMashiach neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision but listen to this brothers and sisters in verse 6 at the end but faith that as it says in verse 6 which worketh or expresses itself through love through sacrificial love for the Lord through sacrificial love for the brethren Can you imagine if you will be a pretty good law keeper, but all the time will have treat your brethren bad. What kind of law keeping is that? If you will be circumcised and all day long you will disobey the Lord, What was that avail? Paul is trying to expound this to the Galatians to help them to understand. Hey listen, brethren, he says to them, you need to understand that which is external. It's not that which makes you right with God. The truth is that you need to have faith, but also faithfulness. Not only faith for salvation, But the faith for salvation ought to be characterized in our life that faithfulness to the Lord and to his people will show us or will be evident through the love for God and the love of the people of God. And even love for our enemies. That's amazing. That's what differs between religion and relationship. Unfortunately in Christendom today, in the last days in which we live in, that's the folly that exists even in the last days of the church age. And we need to express our faith in the Lord which will be evident through love. And this is not merely feeling, oh I have tingling feeling in my heart. But this is love that is unconditional. Yeshua said in John chapter 13, you remember what He said to the disciples before He went and He died on the tree? He said in verse 35, By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. John chapter 13 and verse 35. In chapter 15 and verse 17, we continue and we read John 15 and verse 17, he says, These things I commend you that ye love one another. In Hebrew we say, Ahava. You remember 1 Corinthians 13, love is patience, love is kind. Love does not pride itself. If you read 1 Corinthians 13, it is fascinating to see what love is. And we can change the word for love and say, Mashiach is, Yeshua is. 1 Corinthians 13, it says, and I'm just going to read it for a moment. In 1 Corinthians 13 and verse 4, we read, love suffer long. Love is kind. Love envies not. Love wanteth not or boasts not. itself. Love is not puffed up, does not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh not evil, rejoicing in, not in iniquity, but rejoicing in the truth, beareth all things, love bear all things, love believe all things, love hope for all things, and love endures all things. Love never fail. We can say the Mashiach, Yeshua, never fail. He becomes the law for the believers who trusted in Him. So brothers and sisters, number one, do not lose your spiritual liberty. Galatians 5 and verse 1. Number two, do not lose your spiritual wealth Galatians 5 verses 2 to 6. Now bear with me just a little bit more. In verses 7 to 12, Shaul Paul now give us the third thing that we have to be careful not to lose. And therefore in verse 7 to 12 he says, do not lose your spiritual direction. Ye did run well, but now someone hinder you from running well. And Apostle Paul used the word running because he often used to, in his ministry, to teach concerning the athlete, the grace that we have. And as we continue on in this race, not race against each other, race along with each other. And as we move along, we have to be careful not to be cut off by someone that will hinder us from our spiritual direction. And so you notice in verse 7, the Galatians used to run well, but something happened. And he says, Shaul said to them in verse 7, ye did run well, Who did hinder you that you should not obey the truth? He said to them in verse 7, you used to run well when you first became believers until someone came and hinder you and taught you some false teaching. He like cut you off, slow you down. They were believers, they were saved, but something happened to them. That's why He said to them in verse 7, you did pass tense. You were running well in the past when I first led you to the Messiah, to Christ. But something happened. You are not running well anymore. Now you are saying the justification is not only on the basis of faith in the Messiah. You need to be circumcised and keep the law. Now you're no longer saying that it's justification, but now even sanctification. You say that you're going to be holier by certain rules that you're going to keep, and not through the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. You used to run well, but look at you today. And I can say it about us as well. Many Over the ages, in the church age, in the time in which we live, in this dispensation, this period of time, this economia, as Ephesians tells us, called the age in which we live, or economia in the Greek, economy. In this economy, how many a times believers who used to run well, somebody cut them off and caused them to stumble, or something cut them off. They used to read their Bibles, they used to pray, They used to attend meetings. They used to have fellowship with believers. They used to be humble and broken before the Lord. They used to fall on the grace of God depending on Him. They used to, like we used to. But what happened is that we are not sustained because we are not close to the Lord. And we allow false teaching to creep in. That's why, by the way, that's why the many assemblies, many churches, many congregations that they don't read the Bible and there is false teaching in their midst are breaking apart. That's why there are so many so professing church groups that today don't even believe in the divine nature of the Messiah. They don't believe in the inspiration of the word of God being inspired. They don't believe in the virgin birth. They don't believe in the deity of the Messiah. They don't believe in the trinity of God. They set the things aside. They used to believe. They used to run well. But they are no longer. because they got hindered and that's why he asked them in verse 7 who did hinder you? who did it to you? in chapter 3 if you remember in verse 1 he said to the Galatians in verse 1 he said oh foolish Galatians who has bewitched you? who tricked you? and now he said who has hindered you? you see There is always the danger, beloved brothers and sisters, in our lives that sin and false doctrine easily set us aside and easily come upon us and we become hindered from growing spiritually. We can't blame the Galatians, or we even cannot blame those early Hebrew Hebrews, but we can always look at our own hearts and search our hearts and ask ourselves this question. And so he continued in verse 8 and verse 9, he said to them, this persuasion is not from God, is not from the Messiah. Notice he says in verse 8, he says, this persuasion cometh not of him that call you. It's not from God. who called you by his grace. It's not from God, he's saying to these brothers and sisters in Galatia. That what's happened to you that you were hindered from spiritual growth. Don't blame anybody. It's not from God. It's coming up because you allowed false teaching to creep into your mind. And notice what he does in the next verse, very interesting. In verse 9, he says, a little leaven leavened the whole lump. A little hametz, a little se'or, leavened the whole lump. What does he say here? Do you know that this little leaven, leavened the whole lump, comes from the history of our forefathers, Israel. whom God told our people of Israel to take all manner of leaven out of their homes when they kept Pesach. And leaven in scripture, chametz or seor, always in scripture speaks of sin. But the sin has its appearance in two ways. There is moral sin, but there is also doctrinal sin. there is moral evil but there is also doctrinal evil and we are in a danger of adapting both moral evil on the one hand or doctrinal evil on the other hand Now, please bear with me, go to 1 Corinthians 5, just to read to you a verse there. In 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verses 6 and 7, the same Apostle Shaul Paul used the same expression, but there he write it to the Corinthians, but here he's writing it to the Galatians. Notice in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 in verse 6 he says, Your glorying is not good, knowing not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. Now why does he use this expression for both in Corinthian to the Corinthian, in Galatian to the Galatian? What's the difference? It's simply this. In the city of Corinth, there was moral evil that existed. That a man took his father's wife and continued on to be part of the assembly and didn't judge this moral sin. And Paul said to them, brethren, you have to deal with it. Don't you know that a little leaven is the whole lump? But in Galatians, it was not a moral sin. In Galatians, it was doctrinal sin. False teaching. And here in Galatians, he said to them the very same thing. In verse 9, he says, a little lamb and lemon is the whole lamb. In other words, there is not only an issue of moral evil, but there is an issue of doctrinal evil. Don't let yourself or allow yourself to have doctrinal evil. And today, beloved brothers and sisters, in the professing church, false teachings is being taught, sadly. And we don't realize that when we begin to play with the Bible and we start to introduce man-made views human opinion, and we twist or change the Word of God, we don't realize how quickly it may not be a moral evil, but doctrinal evil creeps in. Levin speaks of sin, speaks of chametz or seor in Hebrew, and it has to be judged and set aside because the little Levin Leaven is the whole lump. That's why many times people who used to be following the simple ABC of the Bible, they thought that they know more than God. So they started to introduce things that are not found in the Word. And it didn't take long time and it became a religion. And God blew on it. and the local assembly, the local churches closed, the door was shut. Because God is not pleased with it. It's not honoring to him. And so Paul is saying to the Galatians, really this persuasion is really not from God who called you. Don't you understand that the little leaven of false doctrine leavens the whole lump. It's not going to be for your benefit. Be careful not to allow yourself to be swayed by false teaching. In Acts chapter 20, Shaul Paul said, I know that after my departure, grievous wolves will come, not sparing the flock. That's what Satan does. He sowed false teaching among God's people. So God's people who are saved, who are forgiven, but they will allow themselves to be influenced by these false teachings. And so now it is now, as he's closing this portion in which you and I are dealing with today, Galatians 5 verses 1 to 12, in verse 10, Paul was confident that in the Lord, that the Galatians eventually will do the right thing. He says in verse 10, I have confidence in you through the Lord, not in your own strength, but it's through the Lord that ye will be none otherwise minded. He's saying, I believe and I trust the Lord who's going to enable you to make a right decision and not allowing yourself to be influenced by false teachings. But then notice he says in verse 10b, but he that trouble you, shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. You will see, sooner or later when we divert from the truth of the Gospel, God is a judging God. He is a holy God. His law is holy, which Israel could not keep, which should have led them to know that Yeshua is the Mashiach, which should have turned their hearts to the Messiah, The very same God, who is a holy God, will eventually judge. Scripture tells us that judgment must begin at the house of God, and if it begins with us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel? That's how God will deal with it. And finally in verses 11 and 12, Shaul Paul is denouncing the false teachers and the false teaching. And they accused Shaul Paul, but he denounced them. And you notice what he says, and I'm reading just these last two verses. He said, and I brethren, he's speaking to the brethren, to the Achim, to the believers in Galatia. He says, I brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, Meaning circumcision for salvation. Why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offense of the cross seized. He says, I'm suffering. I'm being persecuted because I believe that Yeshua is the Messiah. And the only way of salvation is through the work of the Messiah and not through the works of the law. And they were blaming him. And you know why they were blaming him? Because he circumcised Timothy. but Timothy was a saved Jewish man he was already a believer in Acts 16 he circumcised him as a testimony not for salvation but as a testimony as a Jewish man he was part of the Jewish people of the nation of Israel he circumcised him but they was accusing him and then he closed this portion and he said I would they were even cut off which trouble you You're talking about cutting off of the 4th skin of the flesh? I wish those that have done this to you will be cut off. I wish they will no longer do this to you. They will no longer come in your midst and disturb you. I wish that they will be cut off them which trouble you. And we can say this beloved brothers and sisters today, we pray and wish that those who come in our midst and teach us false teaching we too will be very careful not to lose our spiritual liberty not to lose our spiritual wealth and not to lose our spiritual direction we are to follow after Yeshua the Messiah who loved us and gave himself for us. May the Lord bless his word. Can we say Amen to that? You have been listening to the Holy Scriptures and Israel with Gideon Levitam. Gideon teaches God's Word from a Hebrew messianic perspective. For more information about this ministry, write to Holy Scriptures and Israel, Box 1411, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, L0S 1J0, or visit our website at holyscripturesandisrael.com. You are also invited to Gideon's weekly Bible teaching on Fridays at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. and Saturdays at 1 p.m. at Willowdale Christian Assembly Hall, 28 Martin Ross Avenue in Toronto. Holy Scriptures and Israel is made possible by your prayers and financial support. If you would like to support the program, visit holyscripturesandisrael.com. God bless you. Shalom, shalom.