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| CRUCIFIED GALATIANS 2:15-21 Series: Set Free - Part Four Pastor Stephen Muncherian October 23, 2011 |
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If you have your Bibles and would like to turn to where we’re going this morning we are going to be looking at Galatians 2:15-21. You’ll also find message notes in your bulletin.
We’re going on in our study of Paul’s letter to the Galatians - believers who lived in the Roman province of Galatia - what is now a good part of central Turkey.
The theme of Paul’s letter is found in 5:1. Let’s read this together to get it fresh in our minds. “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.”
Christ has set us free. Stand firm and live free. Set Free. Live Free. Let’s repeat that together. “Set free. Live free.”
Last week Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Afghanistan holding talks with President Karzi encouraging them to keep up their efforts at making peace with the Taliban. A peace process that had hit a snag when the Taliban assassinated Afghanistan’s top peace negotiator.
The Soviets spent 10 years in Afghanistan and achieved nothing. Before that the British invaded Afghanistan and achieved nothing. Afghanistan has been conquered by the Aryans, the Persians, the Greeks, the Kushans, the Sassanians, the Huns, the Arabs, the Turks, the Mongols, the Timurids - all of whom failed to produce any lasting stable peaceful society. There have been a number of Afghani leaders who have been in power and been assassinated - having high hopes and producing nothing.
Afghanistan is an example. Pick a region of the world - any region - and somebody is mistrusting or fearing or hating or killing or abusing somebody.
What causes people to burn their own cities? Like Athens? Or LA a few years back? All these revolutions around the world - countries in upheaval - rioting - violence - even in civilized places like London. Occupy Wall Street - and our own version Occupy Merced. We’re in a election cycle. People and parties arguing over what solution will solve our problems.
Does anybody really believe - after thousands of years of the same issues going unresolved - that somehow all that is going to change?
Can we agree that we live in a frightened and frustrated world? At the gut level people desire something different. But we’re fearful of what may come - frustrated and pessimistic because we’ve proven - after thousands of years of trying - that mankind left to ourselves - like in Afghanistan - we have failed miserably to achieve what we long for - whatever that is.
Its been said, “Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and it annoys the pig.” (1) And yet, how many times have we found ourselves trying to teach pigs to sing.
The definition of insanity? Repeatedly doing the same thing and expecting different results. And yet - mankind for thousands of years had been trying to teach pigs to sing with increasingly frustrating results.
What is true in our society is more so true in our hearts. The core of the issue isn’t out there - its in here. Our hearts. Fear and frustration.
Which is what Paul is dealing with here in Galatians. Not just an empty religious philosophy - wishful thinking for a brighter tomorrow. But real hope - real answers - for the stuff we feel - that we struggle with - deep down in our hearts. Issues that bind us - that keep us back from what God has for us - freedom - real life in Christ.
Galatians 2 - starting at verse 15: We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
Let’s pause there. Verses 15 and 16 focus on The Futility of Works. Let’s repeat that together, “The futility of works.”
Remember last Sunday when we divided into two groups - Jews and Gentiles - two sides of the church? “God chose us. We keep the law. We’re more spiritual than you.”
The Jews in Paul’s day looked on Gentiles as being sinners. To the Jews the terms Gentile and sinner meant the same thing - no difference. There was an attitude of spiritual superiority coming from the Jews. “I’m better than you.”
Probably Paul has in mind three things that Jews saw as setting them apart from those Gentile sinners. Three things that Jews were doing that proved to them how righteous - how spiritually superior they were. Just how tight they were with God.
First was circumcision. The radical mark of devotion to God. Being set a part as a people for God.
Second was their dietary laws. What a Jew could eat and where and when and with whom. What the food could be prepared in. What foods could be eaten with what foods. Orthodox Jews today keep a kosher table. Same deal.
Third issue was their holy days - feast days - how and when they should be observed. When and how they came before God.
All of which was religiously significant and important for the Jews - trying to live rightly before God. Don’t miss that. It’s the right motivation. To live rightly before God. But ultimately the wrong devotion. Ultimately all that became an act of pride and self-effort at doing what God wanted. Trying to live rightly before God by being devoted to their own self efforts.
Did you notice how Paul includes himself? “We ourselves.” All through these verses Paul includes himself along with rest of the Jews.
“We’re Jews and not Gentile sinners. And yet we - myself included - we know from personal experience - not some abstract religious doctrine - we know that no one is justified by works of the law.”
For 1500 years the Jews had been working at keeping the law and they still couldn’t do it. All the legalities - circumcision - diet - religious observances - 1500 years and yet through all that not one person had made it to being right with God. Their answer was more laws - more regulations - more interpretations - more frustration. Working harder and harder at being more righteous.
Paul’s personal testimony? We - together - we need to be honest. Being a good Jew doesn’t make one right with God any more than being a good Gentile - or a good Christian. There’s a huge futility to keeping the law if one is counting on all that self effort to get right with God. Might as well try teaching pigs to sing.
There are tons of people who show up at churches every Sunday who have the sadly mistaken idea that somehow by showing up - singing some songs - praying some prayers - putting some money in a purple bag - fulfilling some vow - some commitment they’ve made to God - or doing some kind of religious service - that somehow that is going to get them right before God.
Paul’s testimony is very simple - by ourselves the only thing we prove by doing all that is that we can’t. The law sets a standard of righteousness. Do this and live righteous. Do this a be right with God. By showing us that standard the law shows us that we can’t live up to that standard. We just don’t have what it takes.
John Stott in his commentary on Galatians says very simply, “There are at least two things that we know for certain. The first is that God is righteous. The second is that we are not.” (2)
Paul writes, “A person is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.”
What does that mean - a person is justified through faith in Jesus Christ?
An oldie but goodie illustration. Because “justified” is a legal term we can think about it in the context of a courtroom.
God is the judge - sitting on his bench.
We’re the accused. We’re guilty. There isn’t a person on the planet who has ever lived - except Jesus - there isn’t any person dead or alive who hasn’t broken at least one - and for some of us, a few more than that - all of us have broken God’s laws. Each of us has done something disobedient to the will of God.
Our society bears the marks of that disobedience in the crud we see around us. We bear those marks in the wounds and scars of our lives.
Big ones. Little ones. It doesn’t matter. Break just one and God has every right to throw the whole book at us. God - who is righteous - as our judge has every right to punish us to the extreme of what our sin demands.
That punishment is very real. Scripture describes a lake not made of water but of eternal fire. The atmosphere is sulfuric gas - acrid steam - foul odor - a place of eternal burning and choking - unending weeping and sorrow - torment without relief - forever and ever. A very nasty place. Very real. Very much worth avoiding. The worst is that all that means eternal separation from God and His righteousness. (Revelation 20:11-15)
We can argue the justness of all that and claim that God is a loving God who would never send anyone to that kind of punishment. (S4E2) But God warns us. Paul writes in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin - what we earn by our sin - is death.” Inescapable justifiable condemnation.
And there is nothing that you or I or anyone can do about it. Thousands of years of trying - working - trying to keep the law - trying to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps - to improve ourselves - to live better - to live righteous - thousands of years of trying have proven that we can’t. The futility of works. But Jesus can and did. Amen?
Jesus - God Himself - Jesus fully God - born without the death sentence of sin hanging over Him. Jesus being fully man - God with human skin on - being everything that it means to be human. Jesus fully capable of taking our place as our representative human - lived sinless and took our place on the cross. Died in our place. Took our sin on Himself.
Jesus paying - with His own life - the penalty for our sin. Jesus steps before the judge in our place having done what we could never do for ourselves. The guiltless in place of the guilty.
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For our sake he - God - made him - Jesus - to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
In what has got to be seemingly the most unjust transaction ever - God takes our sin and puts it on Jesus. God takes the righteousness of Jesus and puts it on us. Because of Jesus - stepping into our place - taking our penalty for our sin - God gives us Jesus’ righteousness while Jesus gets our sin.
Paul writes - Galatians 2:16: “So we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law.”
There’s that “we” again. Did you see it? Paul including himself.
Paul, Mr. Judaism - persecutor of the church turned proclaimer of the Gospel - I have believed in Jesus Christ. Jew or Gentile. It doesn’t matter. How is anyone justified? By faith. By trusting what God has already done - Jesus’ taking our penalty.
When we trust that God has accomplished what is necessary for our justification - God then conducts this amazing transaction applying Jesus’ righteousness to us - takes this undeserved unearnable gift of justification and applies it to our lives.
Someone has said that justified means Just If I’d Never Sinned. Heard that? That’s astounding. Isn’t it? Because of Jesus, when we trust - by faith believing what God has done - God makes us to be justified before the judge.
Paul’s bottom line - verse 16 - “because by works of the law no one will be justified.”
That verse is so clear its impossible to misunderstand. No human being - male, female, young, old, Jew, Gentile, Greek, Armenian, Swedish, Chinese, Japanese, Hispanic, black, white, purple, or chartreuse - is justified by what we do but only by faith in what Jesus Christ has already done. Its not faith plus something. Its faith plus nothing. Amen?
Let’s say that together, “Its not faith plus something. Its faith plus nothing.”
Who justifies us? God.
Verses 17 to 19 focus on The Reality of Death. Let’s repeat that together. “The reality of death.”
Verse 17: But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.
That’s kinda confusing isn’t it? Let’s unpack what Paul is getting at here.
From time to time a spouse will say something to me like, “My marriage is falling apart. I know I’ve got some faults. But you wouldn’t believe what my spouse is like. Can you talk to him or her?” At some point in our conversation I try to help that spouse to see that just maybe they might have some seriously contributing issues as well.
Way too often I’ve had parents say things to me like, “Can you get a hold of my child.” - generally a teenager “Can you invite my child to church. Maybe the church can do something to help.”
Sad. Usually the more I find out about what’s going on the more obvious it is that there’s stuff going on with the parent that also needs work. Parents way too often have messed up with their kids - expect the church to fix their kids - then blame the church because the church can’t do anything.
Its hard to point out to a parent that maybe the parents have issues that need to be worked on.
Think with me. If I point out what’s wrong does that mean that in some way I’m a part of the problem? Contributing to the problem? If I’m part of the solution by identifying the problem does that mean that I’m part of the problem. No. But I am part of the solution.
There’s a comparison here. The law points out that we’ve a problem - our sin and our coming judgment. But never gives us a workable solution. Jesus - by living righteous - by being the means of our being justified - Jesus shows us that we live in sin. But Jesus - unlike the law - shows us God’s solution to our problem.
While the law never provided a release from the bondage of our sin - Jesus is the release from our bondage. Jesus isn’t a servant of sin - showing us our sin - He’s God’s solution to our problem of sin.
Paul goes on, “If I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.”
How many of you saw this film? How many of you wish you hadn’t seen this film? Charlton Heston and Ava Gardner. The plot was all about what? Sstruggling to survive after a catastrophic earthquake destroys most of the LA.
The film was shown in Sensurround. Remember the speakers? It was kinda like when you pull up to someone who’s got their woofers blasting in the next car over. 20 Hz - wide sound waves moving your car. They had these hecky big speakers brought into the theater so every time the earth shook the theater shook. Very 70’s
At one point towards the end of the movie - the city is ruins - the small band of survivors has somehow made it through all the hazards - what’s left of the audience has survived the movie - at some point near the end Charlton Heston, thinking wistfully of LA, Heston says, “We can rebuild it.”
Please forgive me for this. But, my first thought was, “Why? With all the smog and congestion and freeways. Why rebuilt that?” “Maybe build something better. But don’t rebuild it the way it was.”
I’ve been in churches - maybe you have as well - I’ve been in churches - emphasis past tense - where the people in those churches looked suspect at people in other churches thinking that only if you were baptized in their church - or believed exactly what they believed - done what they said we should do - or shouldn’t do - only then could they be certain that you were truly saved.
As long as our religious life consists of how we look, what we wear, what we don’t wear, where we go to church, how often we go to church, how much we give - we’re trying to rebuild what’s already been torn down.
If we’re rebuilding this outward religious experience and trying to say to others that all those religious works are what it takes to be right with God then what we’re really saying is that Jesus really hasn’t released us from bondage. Jesus is an incomplete substitute - only pointing out sin not freeing us from it. He’s just like the law and we’re still toast.
Paul writes, “I died so that I might live to God.”
“Why? Why - given the astounding reality of our justification by faith in Jesus - being made alive - being set free - why would we ever go back to the law - trying to rebuild a system that we’ve been set free from - trying to somehow earn our justification - our rightness before God?”
And yet, we do.
One of the subtle techniques of our Adversary Satan is to get us to thinking that its justification plus something. That somehow what Jesus did wasn’t good enough.
There are sins in my past that I’ve asked forgiveness for and that I know - intellectually - theologically - doctrinally - I know that God has forgiven. But every once in a while those sins come up as thoughts. “You’re damaged goods. Your usefulness to God is limited. Who are you to think that God can use you?”
Do you ever have that happen? “You’re not good enough. You don’t have what it takes. You need to pray more. You need to give more. You need to serve more. You don’t read your Bible enough. You need to… whatever.”
How often do we live in fear that somehow we’ll really mess up and people will find out that all that outward righteousness is accompanied by inward inadequacy. Satan is so quick to point out where we fail.
Our solution is to try harder to be more righteous. To work more hours. To prove our worth. To be a better husband and father and pastor - wife - whatever. To measure up. To try harder to do all the right things.
While we’re struggling with issues in our hearts - fears and doubts and hang-ups - the frustration of all that is like we’re trying to teach pigs to sing. Because deep down we know we’re really not getting anywhere. We aren’t solving the issues of our heart.
Praying more and reading the Bible more and serving and worshipping and all that is really good stuff. Essential to our relationship with God. But none of that makes us any more saved - any more justified. Great stuff. But if the motivation is about us - and what we’re doing - and not God and what He’s done - then - even as those who have been set free - we’re living in bondage to the past.
Who justifies us? God. Faith plus what? Nothing.
Paul’s point? Justified is justified. Its time we tried living as those who’ve been justified. Set free. Live free.
Verses 20 and 21 focus on The Life of Christ. Let’s repeat that together, “The life of Christ.”
Verse 20: I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
Do you see Paul’s heart here? Notice - “I have been crucified.” It is no longer I who live.” “Christ lives in me.” This is personal.
A child will come to camp or maybe VBS or AWANA and every time the invitation is given to receive Jesus as their Savior they raised their hand. They pray the prayer. They have the talk with their counselor.
Which is great to see the heart of a child responding to God. Isn’t it? Maybe those moments are really acts of rededication. God knows.
Not just children go through that process. Sometimes adults.
Along the lines of what Paul is writing here - once thing we should never doubt - but often are tempted to doubt - is that when God saves us we're really saved.
Paul writes, “I have been crucified.” Past tense - completed act. Done once. Not needed to be done again. People are not like cats - nine lives. There are only so many times we die. Once.
Faith plus nothing means that we give everything we are to God. We die. Our sins are nailed to the cross. Our old lives - with our sin - with everything that condemns us - are old lives are put onto that cross with Jesus. Its dead. Justified is justified. Done deal.
Paul writes “The life I now live is the life that Christ is living in me.” Because what was is dead whatever life I live now is because who enables life within me is Jesus. The boundaries - the purpose - the direction - the energy - the character and content of my life is all about Jesus.
The life in the flesh that Paul writes about isn’t drinking and drugs and sex, oh my. But daily life in the here and now of the real world of humanity.
If we’re not going to live life by our efforts at doing life - but rather if we’re going to live life by faith - trusting God with our life - then we need to learn what it means to daily live trusting God for our lives. Make sense.
The Prodigal Son rejected and disgraced his father. Took what his father had graciously set aside for him - lovingly provided for him. Took his inheritance - his birthright - his connection with his family and his heritage - the reputation of his father’s good name - took all that and trashed it. Lived a life of wine, women, and song - partay. Went through money like water. Ended up degraded in his eyes - hit below bottom - went home in disgrace to plead with his father for a job. Somehow to earn back the favor of his father.
He’s met how? With the open arms of his father who’s run out to meet him. By his father who’s been looking for him - waiting each day for his son to return. The undeserved love of the father. (Luke 15:11-32)
How would the son feel?
Imagine Paul. All the personal pronouns in these verses. For Paul this is personal. Imagine Paul - hurting - desperate - needy - trying to fulfill the law - to accomplish the impossible by his own works. Paul realizing the love of God - of Jesus - who went to the cross for him.
Jesus who was ridiculed and rejected, spat on and beaten. On the cross bleeding and dying. For me. For you.
The law never loved me. Jesus loves me. Loved me enough to die for me. If I’d been the only one in the whole world Jesus would have died for me. For you.
Do
you remember the words?
Yes,
Jesus loves me!
We don’t deserve His love. We don’t deserve justification by His sacrifice. But the astounding reality is that He really does love us.
Read a quote a while back. I don’t know who actually said this. But I think it fits to what’s being said here. See if you agree.
“Your primary job is to experience deep contentment and joy and confidence in your everyday life with God.” (3)
The reality is that anything less than that binds us. The desire for God is what we’re created for. It’s the place where God will use me to bring glory to Himself. It’s the place where God sets me free to be who He’s created me to be.
Someone said, “Our hearts were made to be loved by God.”
That means letting go of ourselves - our doubts - our fears - our frustrations - and realizing that the God who lovingly justifies us is trustworthy with our lives. It is learning to daily run into the arms of our Father and give our lives to Him.
Crucified is a past tense once accomplished experience. Once dead, now I live. The power to live that life comes not from me trying to somehow add something to what God has already done for me - but by trusting God so supply everything I need for each day of my life - however God chooses to bring it.
Unless otherwise
indicated, Scripture quotations are from The Holy
Bible, English Standard Version®
(ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a
publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. |