Sermon Audio

Sunday we will work through another section of Galatians. Last week we saw the relationship between the law and the promise in 3:15-26. Paul showed us that the law was never intended to give life but was added because of transgressions. He described the law as a guardian or disciplinarian that hems us in under the wrath of God and drives us to the savior in order that we might inherit the promise by faith. As we continue in 3:25-4:11, Paul will explain more fully who we are in the gospel of Jesus. It is the gospel alone in which we find our identity before God. The Galatians were falling into an all too familiar snare of many Christians. They were tempted to believe that their standing before God was dependent upon Jesus plus works of the law. Over the course of our study in Galatians, we have seen how easy it is for any of us to fall into this temptation. When we fail to walk in the commands of God that we love, our heart breaks and we feel that God has removed his loving presence from us. When we succeed gloriously in doing good according to God’s word, sometimes we feel that we have earned a higher standing than we had in the gospel. Paul shows us in this section that, in the gospel, if we have been born again - God eternally sees us in Christ - holy and blameless before Him. We cannot add to what he has given and it is the height of arrogance to think we can. We can easily see the folly of claiming an identity that doesn’t correspond with reality. We are seeing from the world during this month in particular. And we also know that the gospel is desperately needed by the world that embraces such sinful falsehood, in order to be brought to salvation and transformed to live for God. But as we seek to speak the truth in love and share the saving gospel of Jesus with the world, we also must hold fast to that gospel ourselves. In Jesus our identity is secure and perfect before God. Regardless of how we feel in the moment, that is reality. In the gospel, we have been saved from sin, and we have been transformed to live for sin no longer. That is the identity of the born again believer in Christ. We are:

I. United with Christ Through Faith (3:25-29) - and Paul lists the benefits of this union

II. Redeemed From Slavery & Adopted (4:1-7)

`And therefore we must:

III. Live As Children of God (4:8-11)

As we walk through the book of Galatians, the main point is repeated over and over again. Jesus is enough. Jesus is sufficient. We have all things in the gospel through faith alone. I know that the point of these messages in Galatians have been repetitive as we take the book in sections, but there is no greater truth that believers need to have repeated over and over. We must preach this to ourselves daily. The gospel is sufficient. The gospel is the grounds of our growth into maturity. The gospel is the hub around which the whole Christian life turns. We need the gospel more today than we ever have before - and tomorrow we will need it even more.

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This Sunday we jump back into the heart of Galatians 3 after a two week break. Remember that Paul is writing to refute false teachers claiming that Gentiles must trust in Jesus and submit to circumcision according to the law of Moses in order to be right with God. In 3:1-5, Paul began by reminding the Galatians that they had received the Spirit by hearing with faith, not by works of the law. Therefore, to think that works of the law could now perfect them is foolish. Then in 3:6-9, Paul showed them from the Scripture that God foretold the Gentiles would be saved by faith when he preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying "in you all nations will be blessed." And in v. 10-14, Paul said that those who try to live by the law are under a curse, and that the only way to be free of it is through Jesus who became a curse for us.

Now, in verses 15-26 Paul will show the relationship between the law and the promise. He does this to demonstrate that the law of Moses was never intended to nullify or alter the promise given to Abraham. In these verses, Paul gives an overview of God’s purposes in salvation history, and shows us how the epochs in the Old Testament fit together in the grand narrative of God’s gospel. This section of Galatians is very dense and complex. Paul’s argument is difficult to follow in a few places. Take some time to read 3:15-26 before Sunday to familiarize yourself with them. I hope to break them down into three headings.

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There is quite a lot going on this Sunday. Of course it is Mother’s day; the day we celebrate God’s gift of our mothers. We are also having eight families which will participate in our Parent / child dedication service in the 11am service. And in addition to all that, we will begin our baby bottle project this Sunday to raise money in support of Kansans for Life & Embrace Crisis Pregnancy Center, in order to continue the fight against abortion and to help mothers who may think abortion is their only option. So because of this focus on the family, we will pause our study of Galatians and briefly look at Psalm 127. This is a psalm of ascent, meaning it was sung by those going up to the temple during times of worship. The Psalm is only 5 but it is significant in its application for parents and the family. The first two verses show us that unless the Lord is working, all our labors are in vain, and in the second part, the psalmist applies this principle to the raising of children and the family. Sunday as we celebrate our mothers, and the families committing to raise their children in the Lord, I hope that God’s word will guide us to commit ourselves to preparing the next generation to stand for the gospel in a culture that is continually moving away from the truth of God. This is important even if you don’t have children or your children are grown and have their own families. We will see 8 families committing to raise their children in the Lord and in the fellowship of FBC. Regardless of what season our own family is in, we can invest in making disciples of the next generation.

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Through the first two chapters of Galatians, Paul has given testimony of the origin of the gospel he preached, the authenticity of his call as an Apostle, and the authority of the gospel over even other Apostles. As we begin Galatians 3, Paul turns his attention back to the Galatians who are being tempted to follow after the false teachers who claim that Gentile Christians must adopt Jewish practices to be in covenant with God. Through chapters 3 & 4, Paul use many Old Testament texts to prove that salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus alone. Sunday we will see the beginning of this presentation as Paul does for the Galatians exactly what he did for Peter in chapter 2. He calls them back to living out the truth they have believed in the gospel. As Paul presents the truth to the Galatians, we find those same truths calling us back to the gospel, when we are tempted to forget the promises of the covenant we have in Jesus Christ. Though we will probably not be faced with people telling us we must add traditional Jewish law to our faith in order to be righteous before God, we are continually barraged by messages from the world, well meaning religious people, and even our own hearts which tell us that Jesus has left something unfinished which we must complete. Paul addresses this head on, asking the Galatians (and us) "Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" (Gal. 3:3)

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Sunday we will jump back in to the middle of Paul’s rebuke of Peter. In verses 11-14, we saw that Peter was not walking in step with the gospel. He drew back from fellowship with the Gentiles because he feared those of the circumcision party. Paul called this hypocrisy and said Peter stood condemned. Peter believed the gospel but he was not walking in step with what he believed. His actions said that Jesus’ death and resurrection was not enough to cleanse his Gentile brothers and sister before God. As we walked through those verses, we noted how we often live out of step with the gospel. We often fall back into thinking that works of the law must be added to what Jesus accomplished. We do this in the way we respond to trials in despair; when we refuse to reconcile with other believers; when we act or think in ways that says Jesus has not given me all I need to satisfy my soul. Paul calls this hypocrisy. But to remedy the situation, Paul doesn’t give Peter laws or rules to follow. Instead, he reminds Peter of the gospel in which he believes. Sunday we will see how Paul does this and use this as a template to remind ourselves of the gospel when we walk out of step with it. Whatever we face, whatever pain we experience or trial we endure - Jesus is enough. He has given us all things. And that means he has cleansed our brothers and sisters in Christ as well. If Jesus is enough - then we must walk in that truth in our own lives and in our relationships with one another.

Verses 15-21 make up the central theme of the book of Galatians. I hope you can join us as we remind ourselves of the gospel so that we may grow to live more and more in step with that truth.

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