Running Well

Galatians 5:7-14 (KJV) Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? 8 This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. 9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. 10 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. 11 And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased. 12 I would they were even cut off which trouble you. 13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Repentance Is When We Follow Jesus

The children of Israel were mocked by the line of Ishmael, the Arabs, from the time that Isaac was born. The Bible tells us that Ishmael, the son of Hagar the Egyptian, mocked Isaac while a baby (Genesis 21:9-10). God promised that He would bring Israel – the nation by whom He would send the Messiah to the world – 430 years before the Exodus. The promise was made to Abraham, to Sarah, and through Isaac. God keeps His promises.

The clock started ticking with the birth of Isaac. The nation of Israel would not actually be fully built until Jacob’s twelve sons became the twelve tribes of Israel. God led Joseph to Egypt, and Israel grew in Egypt from twelve families to twelve tribes. The children of Ishmael persecuted the children of Jacob. Israel suffered as a nation of slaves to Egypt. The Bible says that they suffered until Israel cried out to God:

Exodus 2:23-24 (ESV) … the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. 24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

God raised up Moses, and did mighty miracles among the Egyptians saying “Let My people go!” But Pharaoh would not let them go, and beat them harder with the whip. Then Moses told them what God said do.

Exodus 12:21-23 (ESV) … Go and select lambs {without blemish} for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. 23 For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.

The Blood of the Lamb would protect the home from the destroyer, from death. That night Israel huddled in their homes, and heard the cries of the lost who were not under the Blood. Where ever there was no Blood, the first born of the family died in that house. They next day Pharaoh told Israel to leave Egypt. The Bible says:

Exodus 12:40-41 (ESV) The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. 41 At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.

430 years from the birth of Isaac, God fulfilled His promise. God always fulfills His promise. How did Israel leave Egypt. “The people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children”
(Exodus 12:37, ESV).

They didn’t RIDE out on horses or camels. Why not? The Bible says that “The LORD gave people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so they let them have what they asked for. They asked the Egyptians for SILVER and GOLD jewelry and for CLOTHING” (Exodus 12:34-36). But they did not ask for, nor receive, animals to ride. THEY WALKED OUT. They were ON FOOT. The God that they followed – the preincarnate Christ Jesus our Lord – went before them as a “pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night” (Exodus 13:21). This is the same God Who, in Noah’s day, sent two of every animal to the Ark (Genesis 8:19). God could have easily sent horses or camels to Israel. But THEY WALKED OUT. Why did I go through all this? Because of this verse:

Galatians 5:7 (KJV) Ye did run well; WHO did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?

You WALK before you RUN.

God used Israel as a picture of salvation for us. When we come to God by faith, we usually come when we are at our lowest point. We are hurting. Our resources have come to an end. We realize we are broken creatures, and we need the Lord. As Israel called out to God for relief, we call on the Name of Jesus. For years we walked WITH Egypt, WITH the lost world. But now we find ourselves enslaved to it. We are slaves to sin and death. Then we cry out! WE REPENT.

Repentance is when we stop walking with Egypt (the world) and follow Jesus both day and night. We go where Jesus tells us to go. We walk WITH HIM, BEHIND HIM, and He goes before us. Like Israel, we are freed from slavery to Egypt.

You must WALK before you can RUN. God uses WALKING to describe the entrance into the Christian way of life. He uses RUNNING to describe the continuation of your life with Christ. Paul tells the Galatians “You DID run well.” Running is a fast walk. Why is running used for Christianity? Because running is strenuous, not easy. Running involves valleys and hills. Running follows a course. Paul wrote the Church:

1 Corinthians 9:24-25 (ESV) Do you not know that in a RACE all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So RUN that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

If you are a Christian, you WALKED away from Egypt. You repented, and called out to Jesus for salvation. Jesus came, and you began to follow Him. Now you RUN for Him. You follow Him, and RUN so that you can obtain a prize. The prize is Jesus’ “Well done, My good and faithful servant”. We see this picture again in:

Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV) Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

You cannot run for Jesus until you walk away from Egypt. You did not walk out of Egypt in your own strength. You did not save yourself. You cried out to God, and Jesus came. The Bible says:

Romans 5:6-9 (NKJV) For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

While a slave to sin, Jesus died for you. While sinners lost in Egypt, Christ died for you. Then you received the Blood of the Lamb, the Blood of Jesus Christ. You received His death, His resurrection. We live for God because God died for us! We had nothing to do with our salvation, other than calling upon Him, repenting, and following Him in love ALL THE TIME. The lost do not walk after Jesus. The lost do not care about the Blood of the Lamb. They wallow. They wallow in sin, and wander in darkness. The lost are like the man in Lystra …

Illustrate: In Lystra, there was a man there “without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who had never walked” (Acts 14:8-10). We are all this way before Jesus. We are crippled from our mother’s womb. We cannot walk with Jesus, cannot run for God. This man cried out to God, and God sent Paul to him. Paul commanded, “Stand up straight on your feet” (Acts 14:10), and immediately the man “leaped up and walked”. The crowd saw this, and said “the gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!”. Paul told them,

Acts 14:15 (NKJV) … why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them

Stop following the false gods of this world. Walk away from Egypt, and follow the LIVING GOD WHO made all things. Follow Jesus. He can heal you. He can save you. It is His Blood that cleanses us. It is His Blood that saves us. There was another man “lame from his mother’s womb” (Acts 3:2) who laid daily at the gate of the Temple, begging for help. When Peter saw him, he said:

Acts 3:6, 8 (NKJV) … Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk … 8 So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them–walking, leaping, and praising God.

We must walk before we can run. We cannot walk, unless Jesus heals us. Once we leave Egypt, we walk with Him loving Him, following Him, day and night. My Olive Tree commentary notes:

“Christ is preeminent – first and foremost in everything – and the Christian’s life should reflect that priorirty. Because believers are rooted in Him, alive in Him, hidden in Him, and complete in Him, it is utterly inconsistent for them to live life without Him. Clothed in His love, with His peace ruling in our hearts, weare equipped to make Christ first in every area of life. ”

What Hinders Our Walk, Our Race?

Galatians 5:7-8 (KJV) Ye DID run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? 8 This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.

The Galatians were running well. When they heard the Gospel, they repented, and walked away from Egypt. They began to “run with patience the race set before them”. But then they stopped running well. To run well, you must

1. Stay on the Official course that is set up for our race, and

2. Stay focused on the Leader, Who is in our case Jesus.

It is Jesus Who goes before us. It is Jesus Who leads us. What caused the Galatians to get off the course? What caused the Church to stumble, to wander? It wasn’t Jesus Who caused it. Jesus knows where we are supposed to go. So what was it? The Apostle writes:

Galatians 5:9 (KJV) A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.

Leaven or YEAST is used in Scripture as a picture of SIN. Before the Israelites killed the Lamb without spot or blemish, before they put the Blood of the Lamb on their homes, they ate unleavened bread for 7 days. They put leaven out of their homes. My commentary notes:

“in the Mosaic Law, leaven represents sin or corruption. The law forbade grain offerings made with leaven (Leviticus 2:11). In fact, no yeast was allowed to be burned on the altar in any sacrifice. The grain offering for Aaron and his sons (the priests) was also not to contain leaven and was to be eaten in a holy place (Leviticus 6:17). … Leaven is also mentioned in the New Testament. In Matthew 16:6–12, Jesus compared the false teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees and Herodians to leaven. ”

Salvation is rooted in Christ, not in our efforts. Our root is in Jesus, in what He has done for us. The Bible says:

Colossians 2:6-8 (NKJV) As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. 8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

What hinders our walk with Jesus? It is not Jesus. It is when we take our eyes off of Jesus, and begin to look to the world, to the lost. It is sin to look away from Jesus, and look to the world in your walk. People watch nonsense on television, the beliefs of the world. “A little leaven leavens the whole lump”. Let a little bit in, and it will cause you to drift back to Egypt. God saved us from Egypt. We do not belong to Pharaoh, but to Jesus. We follow Him day and night. False religion and unbiblical weirdness calls to us as we run our race. We must not listen to it! It has no place in our faith.

When Jesus was attacked, He ALWAYS referred to Scripture. “It is written”. Where is it in the Bible? If the writings of the Apostles and Prophets do not support it, put it away. Cast it off as unnecessary. Follow Jesus.

Let’s read carefully the next verse, for it says much:

Galatians 5:10 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.

What is Paul saying here? He is NOT saying “I have confidence IN YOU”. The Christian has NO CONFIDENCE in themselves. I have no confidence in you, by yourselves. I have no confidence in ME, much less YOU. Do you know what the Christian’s confidence is in? The Apostle says:

Philippians 3:3 (NKJV) For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh,

The true CIRCUMCISION, the true BELIEVER IN CHRIST, is the person who (1) “worships God in the Spirit”. Like David, we dance before the Ark of God. We are not focused on what others around us think or do. We are focused on loving Him Who loves us. We (2) “rejoice in Christ Jesus”. Life is a gift from God, and we celebrate what Jesus did for us! But Beloved, we who are the true CIRCUMCISION (3) “have no confidence in the flesh”. We’re not trusting our works to get us to the Promised Land. We are trusting what Jesus has done and is doing in us. Paul says:

Galatians 5:10 I have confidence in you THROUGH THE LORD, that ye will be none otherwise minded…

All Christians know that if they are saved, it is because Jesus saved us. All Christians know that our faith is in HIM, not in US. Listen to me.

If you are genuinely saved, you will keep walking with Jesus. If you are genuinely saved, you will run on the course He sets before you. We have no choice. He is Lord.

There are many pretenders who, with “philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ”, will come along with a “New Thing”. If you are Christ’s, you will reject the serpent. You will “examine yourselves daily as to whether you are in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5). There are a lot of those who profess that they are “Christians”, but they have never followed Jesus out of Egypt. They follow the world. They follow human trends and philosophies. They follow religion. But they do not follow Jesus.

Jesus spoke of these people. They run around, run, run, run. They try so hard to be saved, to try and impress others. Like the Pharisees, they heed not the Word of God, but human traditions and human impressions. They will stand before Jesus one day. Jesus spoke of them:

Matthew 7:21-23 (NKJV) Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

The will of the Father in Heaven is that we follow Jesus out of Egypt. Someone asked Jesus, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” (John 6:28). What is the Will of the Father? Jesus said simply,

“The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent”
(John 6:29)

We follow Jesus. We live to please Jesus. The Pharisees crept into the Church at Galatia and taught “you MUST be circumcised to be saved”.

Paul Taught Circumcision – But Only For The Jews

Galatians 5:11-12 (KJV) And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased. 12 I would they were even cut off which trouble you.

Someone will always come along and try and add something to salvation, something that needed not to be added. The Pharisees did this at Galatia. They said, “You can’t be saved if you’re not circumcised, for God gave us the Law of circumcision”. The truth is, circumcision has nothing to do with salvation, but everything to do with Israel. Abraham was saved in Genesis 15. It was not until Genesis 17 that God gave Abraham and his direct descendants the covenant of circumcision (Genesis 17:10-14). God directed that the male children that came out of Abraham’s line, through Isaac, would be circumcised. Then God said this:

Genesis 17:14 (NKJV) And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.

God did not say that the uncircumcised person would be lost or cast out of God’s Kingdom. God said “that person shall be cut off from his people”, that is, cast out of the nation Israel. Paul had two young men that he trained. Timothy was a descendant of the blood line of Abraham, a Jew. Timothy had a Gentile father, and was never circumcised. Paul had him circumcised (Acts 16:3). But then Paul worked with another young man named Titus. Paul REFUSED to have Titus circumcised (Galatians 2:3) because he was a Gentile, not a Jew. Only the male Jews are under the Covenant of circumcision.

When the Pharisees tried to get the Galatians to submit to the Covenant of Circumcision, they were trying to get them to run on man’s course, not God’s course. We need to be careful not to infuse the doctrines of humans into the directives of God.

Paul said “I wish these people, these Pharisees, were CUT OFF from you”. That’s really an amusing statement. He was saying, “rather than cut off your foreskin to please these Pharisees, CUT THEM OFF. Circumcise these troublemakers from your midst. We don’t need them. Get back to running your race well, as you were doing.”

What is the race we are to be running, Church?

Galatians 5:13-14 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

You were called into liberty. God called you out of Egypt, out of slavery, to follow Him. We are freed from sin and human tradition to “by love serve one another”. We fulfill the Law when we love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Love does not add to the elements of salvation. Salvation is a gift of God. You receive the gift by following Jesus. We love Jesus. We love one another. We minister by love. We do the things that are pleasing to our God.

We do not make golden calves.

Galatians 5:15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.

We are not saved to murmur as Israel did, but to follow Jesus. We are not saved to put ourselves first, but to follow Jesus. I close with this:

Romans 13:8-10 (ESV) Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

That’s the course we are on. That’s the light that we walk in. We follow Jesus. We add nothing to His Word. We magnify Him Who saved us, looking for the day when we will enter our Promised Land.

Amen.