"For do I persuade men or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ." -- Galatians 1.10

"Or do I seek to please men?" I understand "men" as a generic category for humans of any station, rank, or position (1). In 1.10, two benchmarks of authority are juxtaposed; for Paul, God is the transcendant canon for doctrine and life:

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for evert good work." -- 2 Tim.3.16

If Paul curried the favor of humans in general and the false teachers at Galatia in particular, the issuance of two commanding anathemas (1.8,9), meaning (at least) excommunication and more likely the "devotion to God for divine destruction", then he would likely have been expressed himself more gently. In keeping with this benchmark of authority and in the spirit of the reformation (2), "The word of God, which is contained in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him" (3), or succinctly, the Scriptures are the "Supreme Judge"(4) of all matters, ecclesiastical and otherwise (5).

"Men" and "God" as benchmarks of authority? Men? Who and what are they, by comparison? In view of God’s sovereignty, eternity, omniscience, holiness, utter freedom, and transcendance, who and what are they? An ancient Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, learned about God’s sovereignty the hard way, following a divinely sanctioned illness for preening pride. Following a little remediation (Humility 101), he confessed:

"All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, `What have you done?’" (Dan.4.35)

Isaiah (following grad level work on God's blinding majesty; see Isaiah 6) contrasts God and men:

"Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless." (Is. 40.21-23) (6)

Who compares to our Sovereign God? When God speaks by His Word, all of every rank and station are called to prompt attention. Humility, teachability, diligence, courage, conviction, and confidence are the necessary, sanctifying fruits of such a "spiritual, moral and mental re-calibration to reality". Aspects of these shall be briefed in our next post on 1.10, observing Calvin’s treatment on "pride" in teachers, Athansisus’ experiences in multiple exiles resulting from his determined defense of Christ’s deity (and the gospel), and in W.H.G Griffith’s notes in The Thirty-nine Articles (1571, Article 17) on the transformative impact on nations and peoples who had mature views about God’s freedom and sovereignty. For the present, concerning Paul in his relation to the false teachers, "For do I persuade men or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ."

Prayer : Lighten our darkness, we beseech Thee, O Lord; and by Thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night, for the love of Thy only Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. (7)

END NOTES

1. This is not understood to remove or flatten other spheres of ordained authorities: parents (Eph.6.1,2), government (Rom.13.1ff), et.al. However, relative to God, it is to assert that God’s Word is supreme to all centres of authority and should directives be given that counter biblical authority, "kings are to bend the knees and bow their necks to the Sovereign".

2. A senior chaplain once stated that references to "reformation sources" were not proper to Protestant forums of preaching; unwisely (in terms of his agenda), he put it in writing. Obedience to such a directive is impossible; fortunately, Jay Sekulow and the ACLJ intercept and oppose these kinds of covert acts of religious intolerance. Unabashedly, publicly, footnotes 2, 3 below are reformation sources that will go to 25,000+ people tonight. But back to more serious matters than "wee little humans" who repress religious expression, God and His unimpeachable sovereignty. After all, consider Tyndale’s repressive experiences in Belgium or Cranmer’s in England (death).

3. Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q & A. 2. 4 The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter One, Paragraph Ten.

5. We suggest that "via media", an Anglican response, differs perhaps signficantly from continental expressions of "sola scriptura". Richard Hooker, Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity (Ellicott City, MD: Via Media, Inc., 1994), Vol.1-3.

6. A.W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1975). I commend this as one competent "brief" on God’s sovereignty, expounded so inadequately today. It is still available today and worth a careful perusal.

7. The Book of Common Prayer (Philadelphia, PA: The Publication Society of the Reformed Episcopal Church, 1932), p.26.