The Truth About Grace :Galatians2

The Truth About Grace2:

MAKING GOD LOOK GOOD

Galatians 1:10-24

Let me begin by giving you a quiz. What are the following people famous for?

1.      Zsa Zsa Gabor

2.      Kim Kardashian

3.      Paris Hilton

4.      Nichol Richie

5.      Nadya Suleman

6.      Snookie

The answer is they are all famous for being famous. They are people who get media attention but haven’t provided any worthwhile contributions to society nor are they productive on a regular basis. Yet they are names mentioned a lot and all we can gather is that they’re famous for…well…being famous.

Historian and social theorist Daniel Boorstin originated that term – famous for being famous – to describe the celebrity as “a person who is known for his well-knowness” in a media driven world.

Someone else termed it the “Zsa Zsa Factor” in honor of Zsa Zsa Gabor. They are people who provide entertainment by the very process of living…human entertainment.

The world is filled with people whose entire life seems to be expended in trying to glorify themselves. Not so with the apostle Paul.

In Galatians, Paul is defending the church against those who would alter the gospel…those who would add to the gospel to suit their own tastes and then insist that everyone else adjust to their tastes. Paul begins by emphasizing the gospel is of grace alone.

But wait a minute. Why should the Galatians have listened to Paul instead of these Jews who said you should become a Jew in order to be saved? If someone gives you a message or advice, you want to know what authority they have to give you that advice. Why should you listen to them? What are their credentials?

Some of you may remember Bob and Francis Daniels. After they moved to Florida, Francis called back with a prayer request. She had gone to the doctor and they had done some tests. She was having headaches. I listened to her, assured her that I would be praying and said,  “Francis, that sounds like stress to me.” We talked a bit more and said goodbye.

In less than 10 minutes, she called back and said, “You are not going to believe it! I just hung up from talking to you and the doctor called with the test results and said it was stress!” I said, “Francis, I told you it was stress! You could have saved yourself a lot of money if you would have asked earlier!”

Of course, I was joking with her because if you want advice on a medical problem, I have no credentials to give advice on medical problems. If you are seeking help with your car, you want to know what experience that person has had with automobiles.

One way these false teachers were stirring up trouble in the churches of Galatia is they were seeking to discredit Paul’s apostolic authority. They could not successfully undermine his teaching of God’s gracious gospel until they undermined his divine authority in the eyes of the church members. So they spread the idea that Paul wasn’t a legitimate apostle but only a self-appointed apostle and that his motivation was to build up a personal following.

So many members of the Galatian churches began to doubt that Paul was a legitimate apostle. After all, Paul wasn’t among the original apostles whom Jesus personally called, taught and commissioned. So where did he get his message and authority? Did he get them second hand from the apostles or did he simply make up his own brand of the gospel and grant himself apostolic authority? What right did Paul have to speak for God as he claimed to do?

So Paul spends much time in Galatians giving his credentials…telling why they and we should listen to what he says. He goes back to his conversion experience and his motivation and the result is he says, “They glorified God because of me.”

That is really what you and I are to do in all that we think, do and say: Make God look good because He is good.

Body

I.                   IN YOUR MOTIVATION, MAKE GOD LOOK GOOD. (1:10)

Apparently, they accused Paul of setting aside the ceremonies under the Law of Moses just to make the gospel more appealing to Gentiles. Paul said, “That’s ridiculous.” If he had been merely trying to please men, as he did when he was a devout Jew persecuting Christians, he would have continued in Judaism. Instead, Paul surrendered his life to Christ. Paul points to his experience to show that living as a servant of Christ did not gain him popularity. This outspoken condemnation of false teachers doesn’t sound like a man-pleaser!

Life is a stage upon which we act out our life. Every person chooses what audience to play to. We have 2 choices.

WE CAN LIVE TO PLEASE OTHER PEOPLE. “If I were still trying to please men” refers to the days when Paul did seek to please his fellow Jews by zealously persecuting Christians. Some choose to play to man. The approval of their peers is their primary pursuit. Paul calls them, “Man pleasers.”

Perhaps Pilate is the clearest example from the Bible. He consented to crucify Jesus even though he was convinced Jesus had done nothing to warrant being crucified, but he wanted to please the Jews who were accusing Jesus.

Living to please other people means being afraid of what others will think. We do or don’t do certain things because of a fear that we will be judged or gossiped about by others. Standing firm in our freedom in Christ means we resist the urge to live by the fear of what others think.

There was a cartoon that is a takeoff on one of the Campus Crusade’s Four Spiritual Laws. A wife, speaking to her husband, who was obviously a minister, said, “God loves you, and people have a wonderful plan for your life.”

Other people will want to tell you how you should live the Christian life…what you shouldn’t do and what you should do. I’m talking about things outside of the Bible…not things directly addressed in the Scripture. I have shared before how the first church I was pastor of was a small country church. Those people believed it was wrong to go to a restaurant to eat on Sunday. That was making people work on the Sabbath. The next church I was pastor of many people in the church went to the same restaurant to eat on Sunday.

This doesn’t mean we should ride roughshod over other people’s convictions. We are called to a Body, and we all need to live and minister as members of the Body. But ultimately we are responsible to God, not other people. He is the One who puts us in the Body as He pleases.

In the light of what he taught and the way he had lived his life since his conversion, the idea that he was still trying to please men was ridiculous. If that were true, he would not be a bond-servant of Christ. Paul had surrendered his life to the lordship of Christ and that surrender had cost him dearly.

One way we can live our life is to be motivated by pleasing people. By nature people pleasers are not martyrs. They are marked by their desire to escape ridicule and trouble.

Are you seeking human approval? Do you need others to affirm you and tell you that you are doing well? Do you crave praise, and, on the other side of the ledger, do you hate to be criticized? It is an important question, because if your need to be approved runs too deep, you will find that you aren’t you anymore! If you have to have others’ approval for everything, you’ll end up trying to please everybody and you won’t even know what you think or what you believe any longer. In fact, if your life consists in little more than seeking human approval, you will have left God out of the equation. You will no longer be concerned with doing what God wants, because you will be so preoccupied with doing what you think others want.

That is not living to glorify God.

YOU CAN ALSO LIVE TO PLEASE GOD. Others choose to play to God as their audience. The favor of their heavenly Father is what they are interested in. Paul’s first purpose was “to be pleasing to Him.” (2 Cor. 5:9)

Every one of us tries to please something or someone. It may be man. It may be God.

Those who stop striving to please people become unintimidated without.

Those who seek to please God ONLY become invincible within.

God is glorified…God is made to look good…when our motivation is to please Him first and foremost.

II.                 IN YOUR MESSAGE, MAKE GOD LOOK GOOD. (1:11-16)

                                                                                                    

Paul declared that his message was no second-hand tale or man-created story, but a message that came from God.

That was a startling claim that demanded some strong proof. Paul found the proof in his own life.  Paul shared his circumstances before, during and after his conversion to prove this.

Christianity is supremely a religion of conversion. Everything we say and everything we believe is built upon one fundamental and revolutionary premise: You don’t have to stay the way you are. Your life can be radically changed by God.

Conversion is a miracle that happens when the life of God intersects with human personality. Once God enters the picture, your life will never be the same again. Until then, you may be religious and you may be a very good person, and you may obey all the rules of the church, but you have not been converted.

Conversion is the certainty that what you were does not determine what you are, and what you are does not determine what you will be. Long-held prejudices can be overcome. Life time habits can be broken. Deeply ingrained patterns of sin can be erased over time.

Of all the conversion stories in the Bible, none is greater or more profound than the conversion of a man called Saul of Tarsus who met Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus and his life was so totally changed that his name was changed to Paul.

Paul shares his story here. If you go to an evangelism class, you will be taught to use a 3-point outline in giving your testimony. Paul uses that here.

First, he shares HIS LIFE BEFORE CONVERSION. (1:13-14) These verses tell a chilling story. Before Paul came to Christ, he was perfectly happy in his career as a rising Jewish leader and an avid hater of Christians. He felt no remorse over persecuting the followers of Christ. In fact, he regarded it as his service to God. He had no desire to come to Christ and felt no need in his heart. He was satisfied in his religion in every way. He saw no need for anything else.

Paul was like those people who some years ago when the

Campus Crusade for Christ started a campaign with signs saying, “I found it” responded with their own signs, “I never lost it.” Paul wasn’t interested in becoming a Christ. He was a bigot and a fanatic, wholehearted in his devotion to Judaism and his persecution of Christ and the church. A man like that is in no mood to change his mind or to have it changed for him by men. He wasn’t looking for Christ…but Christ was looking for him?

Imagine Osama Bin Laden calling a worldwide press conference to say that he met Christ, was wrong in every way regarding Christianity and now has given himself as a follower of Christ to plant churches, preach the gospel, love the brothers and sisters in Christ and to see the Kingdom of God grow for God’s glory. This was the magnitude of Paul’s hatred and his conversion. Only God could save a man like Paul…and it turns out, that’s exactly what God did.

Perhaps your story of your life before conversion is that you were religious and a good moral person but you realized that was not enough to get you to heaven and to God. Perhaps you could play, “Name that Sin” with anyone. You would say, “You would not believe it if I told you, but I was as bad as you could be. But when I hit bottom, I looked up and found the Lord waiting on me.”

That is the good news of the gospel of grace. No one is so far gone that they are without the hope of grace and no one is so good that they don’t need grace.

Next, he shares HIS CONVERSION (1:15-16). Notice Paul’s focus moves from “I” to “He”. In verses 13-14, it is, “I persecuted…I tried to destroy…I advanced…I was zealous.” Then there was a great interruption and all that happened in Paul’s life came because of the one little word, “But”.

Paul was a sinner, but God…

Paul hated Jesus, but God…

Paul tried to kill Christians, but God…

Paul wanted to destroy the church, but God…

Paul enjoyed being lost, but God…

Paul wasn’t looking for a new life, but God…

Paul intended to kill more Christians, but God…

God moves into action. God came into Paul’s life without permission. He didn’t wait to be asked. While Saul was on the road to Damascus, the Lord Jesus just barged right in. He didn’t ask permission because if he had asked, Saul would have said no. He came in where He wasn’t wanted or expected and took over the situation.

Why did He do it? “God…was pleased to reveal His Son in me.” That is pure, sovereign grace. You might say, “That’s not fair!” Paul would never say that. Paul was lost just like Lazarus was dead. It’s not as if Lazarus was sitting around in the tomb saying, “I wish someone would raise me from the dead!” No, he was dead and Jesus came along and raised him without his permission. Salvation begins with God and not with us!

Now, as Paul looked at his past, he sees that God was at work through his entire life, pressing, moving, and pushing him towards this moment when he would shower him with grace. God was watching his every step. During his rambunctious teenage years, God kept him in sight. During the long years of rabbinical training, God was calling him to salvation. Paul didn’t know it, didn’t feel it, was totally unaware of it, and couldn’t see it at all until after he came to Christ. Then he could look back and see God’s fingerprints in every area of his life.

Don’t we have freewill? Absolutely! I believe that God gives us choices to make and then He holds us accountable for those choices. But God overcame his reluctance, knocked down all his excuses and drew him to Christ.

We aren’t aware of it. From our side, we are “accepting Christ” and “believing in Christ” and “trusting Christ as Savior.” Sometimes we say, “I found the Lord.” But remember that if the Lord didn’t find you first, you would never have found Him.

Then, he shared HIS LIFE AFTER CONVERSION (1:16b-24). Paul was now seeking to spread the message of Christ.

How can that drastic change be explained? Only God can bring about that kind of change in a person’s life. Paul’s life was the proof that his message about Christ was from God and not from men.

His life was the message that made God look good. What about your life? On June 1, 1953 a boy named David was born in New York. David had a troubled childhood. From his earliest memories he was tormented by suicidal thoughts. Fast-forward 22 years you can see a trail of anger, violence, depression, and suicidal thoughts that was about to erupt. David writes,
In 1975, however, I met some guys at a party who were, I later found out, heavily involved in the occult. I had always been fascinated with witchcraft, Satanism and occult things since I was a child. When I was growing up I watched countless horror and Satan-type movies, one of which was Rosemary’s Baby. The movie in particular totally captivated my mind. Now I was age 22 and this evil force was still reaching out to me. Everywhere I went there seemed to be a sign or a symbol pointing me to Satan. I felt as if something were trying to take control of my life. I began to read the Satanic Bible by the late Anton LaVey who founded the Church of Satan in San Francisco in 1966. I began, innocently, to practice various occult rituals and incantations. Eventually I crossed that invisible line of no return. After years of mental torment, behavioral problems, deep inner struggles and my own rebellious ways, I became the criminal that, at the time, it seemed as if it was my destiny to become. Looking back it was all a horrible nightmare and I would do anything if I could undo everything that happened.

David crossed the line – he began to kill. Donna Lauria was the first young woman to lose her life. David used a .44 caliber hand gun to take the lives of six young women. He wrote letters to the media and police department explaining how “Sam,” a demon who spoke through a dog, was instructing him to kill. Finally, in 1977, David Berkowitz, the “Son of Sam” was arrested and sentenced to 365 years in prison.

When David Berkowitz entered Attica Prison to serve his sentence, Robert Alexander, was a prison guard. Twenty year later, Judge Alexander has written about his experience with David Berkowitz. Let me read his account for you.

I spent many, many hours talking to David. I saw his struggle with the occult forces that plagued him. Have you ever looked into the face of evil? Not many people have ever scared me physically or spiritually, but David scared me spiritually. I wasn’t a Christian and had little knowledge of the occult and Satanism but I could see the effect it had on David. When he first came to Attica he struggled but was able to control the demons within him. He would show me the letters that Satan worshippers would send him. Most of the letters had the blood of people – including babies sacrificed on satanic altars. I was there when an inmate cut David’s throat. In fact, I comforted him at our prison hospital as the nurse stitched his throat. Over a period of two years I saw David slip into satanic despair and torment. He would howl and was engulfed in porno literature. He digressed out of control. ."
David was transferred to another prison and there the Lord had another inmate waiting on David. The inmate gave him a Gideon’s New Testament, but David mocked the man for some time. Finally, at the end of his rope, David began to read the Psalms. One night in his cell, he was reading Psalm 34 when he came to verse 6 and it melted his heart. David read, "This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him from all his troubles." David remembers that night so well. He writes,

It was at that moment, in 1987, that I began to pour out my heart to God. Everything seemed to hit me at once. The guilt from what I did... the disgust at what I had become... late that night in my cold cell, I got down on my knees and I began to cry to Jesus Christ. I told Him that I was sick and tired of doing evil. I asked Jesus to forgive me for all my sins. I spent a good while on my knees praying to Him. When I got up it felt as if a very heavy but invisible chain that had been around me for so many years was broken. A peace flooded over me. I did not understand what was happening. But in my heart I just knew that my life, somehow, was going to be different.

David Berkowitz leads Bible studies inside the walls of his prison. He is up for parole next year, but he wrote the governor and told him that he did not deserve parole. David said that he deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison because of the heinous acts he committed. He also stated that he believes the Lord has placed him where he is so that he can reach out to other prisoners.

In the motivation and the message of your life, make God look good.

III.              IN YOUR MINISTRY, MAKE GOD LOOK GOOD. (1:16b-24)

Paul said that God had set him apart, even from his mother’s womb, that he might preach Jesus among the Gentiles. His ministry was not man-created or man-conceived. It was of divine origin.

Paul’s emphasis in these verses is on what he didn’t do. He didn’t immediately go to Jerusalem to be trained by the apostles. And he didn’t start an evangelistic ministry right away. What did he do? He dropped out of sight for 3 years by going to Arabia. We would have put him on Christian radio and TV. We would have had him write a book and hit the Christian talk-show circuit. But that wasn’t God’s plan.

He spent 3 years in Arabia – evidently in personal study and meditation. He went back to Damascus. He made a brief trip to Jerusalem to meet Peter. He went north to Syria and Cilicia to preach the gospel.

In all of this, we see 3 attitudes emerging:

1.      A NEW ATTITUDE TOWARD OTHER BELIEVERS. He went to Jerusalem to meet Peter. The verb means, “To swap stories” with Peter…to come to know him. It is the word we get our word, history, from. Paul didn’t go to Peter to lecture him, to report to him, or to enlist Peter to contribute to the Paul’s save the world organization. He went to visit. The 2 men put their feet up in front of a few coals of fire and traded stories. “How did God get hold of you, Peter?” “Well, it was a day when I was working on the beach on the Sea of Galilee…” “How about you, Paul? Tell me your story.” And Paul recalled that wonderful day on the Damascus Road when he met Jesus.

2.      A NEW ATTITUDE TOWARD THE TRUTH. He declares in verse 20 that he is not laying.

3.      A NEW ATTITUDE TOWARD THE GOSPEL. He now preaches what he once tried to destroy.

Once he hated believers. Now he seeks their fellowship.

Once he hated the truth. Now he lives by the truth.

Once he hated the gospel. Now he preaches the gospel.

Once he was called Saul. Now he is called Paul.

Same man, new man. Everything is different now.

Once he was a terrorist. Now, he is an evangelist and missionary. Christ has made all the difference.

So he ends by saying that the churches in Judea (which, he once terrorized in his pre-conversion days) recognized the amazing change in his life. And they glorified God because of Him. His life pointed people toward God.

It leads me to a simple and profound question: IS ANYONE GLORIFYING GOD BECAUSE OF YOU? IS YOUR LIFE POINTING PEOPLE TOWARD GOD?

In your motivation, in your message and in your ministry seek first and foremost to make God look good. You have a story and your story is to glorify God in all that you do.

Lee Strobel was one of the editors of the Chicago Tribune. He was an atheist and proud of it. Then his wife started going to church and met Jesus. Then he started going and met Jesus. Now, he is a pastor and author.

He said, “How can I tell you the difference God has made in my life? My daughter Allison was 5-years-old when I became a follower of Jesus, and all she had known in those 5 years was a dad who was profane and angry. I remember I came home one night and kicked a hole in the living room wall just out of anger with life. I am ashamed to think of the times Allison hid in her room to get away from me.

5 months after I gave my life to Jesus Christ, that little girl went to my wife and said, ‘Mommy, I want God to do for me what he’s done for Daddy.’ At age 5! What was she saying? She’d never studied the archeological evidence regarding the truth of the Bible. All she knew was her dad used to be this way: hard to live with. But more and more and more her dad is becoming this way. And if that is what God does to people, then sign her up. At age 5, she gave her life to Jesus.

God changed my family. He changed my world. He changed my eternity.”

I read a statement this week. God does not recruit heroes. No, He doesn’t. Not many mighty are called, not many noble, not many powerful, not many great as the world counts greatness. God doesn’t go for the big names to populate heaven. He takes ordinary folks and then does extraordinary things through them. But even that isn’t the full story. When God wants to recruit frontline soldiers for His army, He goes into the enemy camp and rounds up a handful of the orneriest, meanest, toughest, roughest, and wildest looking sinners He can find. Then He draws them to Christ, saves them, justifies them, converts them, sanctifies them, cleans them up, fixes them up, dresses them up, and then sends them out to do battle in the service of the King of Kings.

That means no one is beyond the reach of God’s grace…no one. That was Paul’s story…that is my story and your story…the story of grace that is absolutely amazing and makes a wonderful God look good because He is.

Gary Harner, sermon, “How to Make God Look Good.”

Ray Pritchart, sermon, “How a Terrorist Became an Evangelist”

Brian Harbour, Brian’s Lines

John MacArthur, Galatians

John R.W. Stott, The Message of Galatians

With Gratitude for all the Sunday School Teachers!

The Saga Of Tobias Jones

Good morning, children,

I'm Miss Pool

Your teacher here

In Sunday School.

Now put away your toys and games

And let me try to say your names.

Andrew, Sarah, Peter, Sue,

Todd and Bridget, Mary Lou,

Amanda, Douglas, and who's there

Hiding underneath the chair?

Tobias Jones--come join us, Dear,

I have a place for you right here.

Let's sing a song--what will it be?

Tobias, you are quick I see

What song? Oh, my! Don't think I'm cruel

But we can't sing that in Sunday School.

Let's close our eyes and bow our hearts

Both eyes, Tobias! "Now, Lord, begin

To help us learn of You. Amen."

Today we'll tell of Noah

And the ark he built from wood.

The animals entered two by two,

And then God sent a flood.

For forty days and--Tobias, please!

I don't know how he caught the fleas!

But, anyway, the waters rose

Around that boat so big,

Until they stopped and Noah said--

Who's making noises like a pig?

Tobias, I am warning you--

What's that? The bell--Oh, no!!

I haven't finished and it's time

For all of you to go.

Well, next week we will finish up,

Be here to start on time.

Good morning, Mrs. Jones. Tobias??

Oh, of course, he did just fine.

(A few years later)

Good morning, Junior Boys' Class

Hear your teacher, Brother Ned,

I want to make it clear right now--

I'll have to knock some heads,

If you do like you did last week

With the spit-wads and the planes

For a small reserve of patience,

Is now all that I retain.

Just don't give me any trouble,

Do we understand each other?

That goes twice for you, Tobias Jones,

Since last year I taught your brother!

(A few years later)

Welcome, Junior High guys!

To your first weekend retreat,

I've come to be your chaperone,

And you can call me Pete.

We're gonna have a real good time,

We'll put you through your paces,

I'm glad your folks could pay your way--

What with the current cost of braces.

Anyhow--one thing I'll tell you

Before I let you go:

The girls' side is off limits!

Did you hear me, Tobias Jones?

Where is Toby? I just saw him

Sorting through his bag of junk…

Never mind--I hear a female shriek--

"Toby's lizard's in my bunk!"

(And finally)

Now that Senior High School Youth Camp

Always has at least one rebel,

Whose pranks may range from midnight raids

To food fights at the table.

And I'm sure you've guessed by this time,

Where the likeliest prospect lay,

Yes--you guessed it--it's none other

Than our own Tobias J.

So you can probably imagine

Everybody's great surprise

The night Toby came to Jesus--

They could scarce believe their eyes.

But it's not quite so amazing

As it might appear to be.

You see, Toby had some teachers

Who had guided faithfully.

Through the years they'd helped to mold him

To the man he would become,

And the best part of this story

Comes a few years later on.

In the Junior Boys' Department

Of the church at 5th and Rone

Where a young man says, "Good morning, guys!

I'm your teacher, Toby Jones!"

--Judi Braddy, "Glad Tidings"

(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, January 17, 2011)

The Truth About Grace:Galatians

The Truth About Grace:

NO ADDITIVES

Galatians 1:1-10

At the beginning of a New Year, many of us resolve to lose some weight or to eat healthier. Sometimes that involves searching for food with no additives meaning as little artificial preservatives or chemicals as possible.

I don’t know that all additives are bad. Have you heard about the 2 cows out in the field and a milk truck came by advertising milk by saying, “All natural, pasteurized, homogenized, vitamins added.” One cow said to the other, “Kind of makes you feel inadequate doesn’t it?”

In the book of Galatians, Paul is speaking about grace and the gospel of Jesus Christ and how we should not add anything to the grace of God.

How would you fill in this blank? “A Christian is someone who is __________________.” What words best define a Christian? Would you use the words, “Loving” or “humble” or “a regular church attendee” to complete the thought?

All of these words certainly describe what a Christian should do, but they do not define what a Christian is. Many people stumble over the gospel of Jesus because they confuse these 2 concepts: what a Christian should do and what a Christian is.

The book of Galatians clearly defines what a Christian is. A Christian is someone who has trusted Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.

In the year 47 A.D., 14 years after Jesus died and rose again, Paul and Barnabas hiked 100 miles up the mountains of what is now eastern Turkey to the Roman province of Galatia. As soon as the Sabbath came around, they went to the local synagogue. As a visiting rabbi, Paul was invited to bring a word and so he did.

In Acts 13, it tells us what Paul said, “We bring you good news. What God has promised our fathers, he has fulfilled for us by raising up Jesus. Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you and through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the Law of Moses.”

This was amazing news! Paul was saying, “You’ve been laboring in this religious tradition for so many years. But even with all that labor you have never felt you were totally right with God. The good news is you can be right with God through belief in Jesus who died for your sins and was raised from the dead.”

People left thinking, “Are you kidding me? I can have my sins forgiven? I can be put right with God? I can live without any sense of shame?” The Gentiles who hung around the synagogue in particular were amazed. “I’ve wanted to be connected to the one true and living God but I thought in order to do that I had to first become a Jew. I thought I had to go through the painful rite of circumcision, keep the kosher food laws, observe the new moons and festivals and each Sabbath. I didn’t know if I could live under that kind of burden, but now you’re telling me that childlike faith in the gracious provision of God in Jesus Christ will set me right with God?” That’s exactly what Paul and Barnabas were saying.

Many people believed and wanted to learn more but the leaders of the synagogue saw people leaving for these new guys so they ran Paul and Barnabas out of town.

Paul and Barnabas hiked 90 miles to the next city and the same thing happened. Then they hiked 18 miles to the next city and same thing happened. 60 miles to the next city and the same thing happened before they got on a ship to head home.

However, soon after Paul and Barnabas left, guest teachers came into these new assemblies of Christians and here’s what they said. “It’s great that you believe Jesus is the Messiah. So do we! But let’s not go crazy here, friends. That doesn’t mean you can just throw off 2,000 years of God’s revelation, and the practices associated with the covenant to our forefathers. You don’t think you’re better than Abraham do you? No! It’s faith in Jesus and the historic God given practice of circumcision and the observance of new moons, festivals and Sabbaths. That’s how you’re put right with God. Faith is great. But remember it’s not just grace and faith. It’s grace and faith and circumcision and the observance of the festivals. That’s what it takes.”

When Paul heard about the “grace and” message being preached by these guest teachers, he wrote them all a letter – what we now call the Book of Galatians…and Paul is very angry!

Perhaps you’ve notices that in most of Paul’s letters his wind-up is usually a little slow. He starts with a prayer or a blessing…something like, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. I just love you all so much. May God bless you!” In Galatians, he doesn’t take time for the niceties. He jumps right in. “I am astonished! I just cannot believe you have so quickly deserted the one God who called you by the grace of Christ. What are you turning to instead? You’re turning to a

different gospel, which is really no gospel at all! You think you are enhancing the message but your little add-on are destroying the gospel and desert God!”

At this point you may be thinking, “Okay, that’s all nice and good but what does that have to do with today? Why take my time to consider this book at all?” We need to hear this message again and again because it is our nature to fall into a system of merit, achievement and reward and put additions on to the gospel of grace.

Depending on what church you grew up in, you may have heard something similar. Maybe you grew up in an evangelical church and the message was, “It’s grace AND a daily quiet time. That’s how you’re put right with God.” Maybe you grew up in a Roman Catholic Church, and the message was, “It is grace AND weekly attendance at Mass. You better not miss because that’s how you’re put right with God.” Maybe you were part of a fundamentalist church and the message was, “It is grace AND certain cultural boundaries like your hair and how you dress and not drinking and so forth. That’s how you’re put right with God.”

The list seems endless because the human mind is endlessly creative in devising ways to please a God it cannot see or understand. Do good, try harder, go to church, obey the Golden Rule, offer a sacrifice, do what your priest tells you, light a candle, say the Hail Mary, meditate, give.

                                                                                               

The problem is it fails in the end because you can never be sure you’ve done enough. If one prayer is enough, would 2 be better? How many candles should I light? How often should I go to confession? If church attendance once a week is good, shouldn’t every day be better?

So in this first section, Paul jumps right in and tells us why we shouldn’t add anything to grace through faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.

Body

I.                   GRACE EMANCIPATES. (vs. 3-5)

Grace means men and women are free because of God’s action and not because of their own will, disposition or intelligence.

Paul jumps right in telling them that grace, God’s special favor made available through Christ and peace, the state of favor made available through Christ both come from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace is the reason we have the gospel. Peace is the result of the gospel, because Jesus gave Himself to rescue us.

Every religion of every age attempts to answer the basic question of life: “How can I be rightly related to God?”

One answer is the RITUALISM of ancient Israel. This says we can be rightly related to God if we follow the proper ceremonies.

Another answer is the LEGALISM of the Pharisees. Legalism says we can be rightly related to God if we follow the proper laws.

Yet another answer is the ASCETISM of many of the far eastern religions. If we make the proper sacrifices, we can be rightly related to God.

Then there is the ACTIVISM of Islam which says we can rightly relate to God if we perform the proper works.

Every one of these emphasizes what we can do for God. The Gospel places the emphasis on what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.

Our relationship with God is not established through the rituals we follow, the laws we obey, the sacrifices we make, or the works we do. It is only possible through His amazing grace.

When you take a flight, the airline’s final announcement when you land is usually something like this: Thank you for choosing our airline. We know you have a choice when you fly and we hope you decide to choose us again. In so many areas of life, we have good options. When it comes to the gospel, there is only one way to God.

Martin Luther said that the entire letter of Galatians is compressed in verse 4.

Paul emphasizes the death of Jesus was VOLUNTARY – He gave Himself. They did not drag Jesus kicking and screaming to the cross.

The death of Jesus was VICARIOUS – for our sins, or in our place…like a pinch hitter. In those days, many people were illiterate. They had professional letter writers. They would write a letter for you then at the bottom say, “I so and so write this letter for _____.” Jesus was dying in your place you should have died.

The death of Jesus was VICTORIOUS. To rescue us from the present evil age. Jesus died to set us free – free from sin, free from fear of death, free from do-it-yourself religion, free from pleasing men, free to live as a servant of Christ and free to answer the call of Christ!

The gospel of grace is a rescue operation. The same word was used of the Children of Israel when they were delivered from Egypt or Joseph when he was delivered from prison. It is like a man drowning and another man jumps in the water and rescues him. It like when those miners in Chile were trapped and were rescued.

We are rescued from this present evil age – the moral atmosphere of this world. We live in a dirty, evil, vicious, and cruel world. Many things are better than they were. We have better plumbing but not better people. We have better clothes but not better character.

The wonder of grace is it emancipates – frees us – by saving us. It is hard for people to accept a free gift. We want to earn salvation so we develop a code or a ritual to justify ourselves.

We are taught, “You have to reach down real deep and pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. You can make it on your own. You can endure whatever. Nothing is out of reach.”

 We have to decide. Is it, “Jesus Paid it All. All to Him I Owe” or “Jesus paid 9//10ths. 9/10ths to Him I owe”?

You will never be smart enough, pure enough, kind enough, generous enough, affectionate enough or religious enough by yourself to deserve God’s forgiveness.

Grace emancipates.

II.                 GRACE IS EXTENSIVE. (vs.6-7)

Again, there is no word of thanksgiving and no prayer for them. Paul gets right to the point. “I am astonished…I am bewildered…I am dumbfounded…I just cannot believe it.”

They had been taught by the greatest teacher the church has ever known apart from Jesus Himself, yet they quickly lost a firm grip on the central truths of the gospel and were deserting God by deserting the gospel of grace. It is the same word used of military desertion…of being a turn-coat.

There are 2 ways you can desert the gospel of grace:

1.      Jude 4 speaks of those turning the grace of God into lasciviousness…turning away from the grace of Christ into a lifestyle that says, “I’m saved so I can live any way I want to.”

2.      Or you can turn from the grace of Christ to legalism. That is what they were doing. Galatians 5:4 he says, “You have fallen from grace.” He doesn’t mean they have lost their salvation. It meant they have turned away from the grace of God to legalism – a performance based life.

Keep in mind God’s grace involves more than salvation. We are not only saved by grace, we live by grace, we stand in grace (it is the foundation for the Christian life), grace gives us strength, and grace enables us to suffer without complaining. When you turn away from living by God’s grace, you must depend on your own power and that leads to failure, disappointment and guilt.

One writer described it as the County Fair. On the midway would be rides, cotton candy and many games. One event that always intrigued and challenged was the bell ring. The purpose was to slam down the hammer with such force that the bell would ring at the top of the bar.

The writer said he would grip the hammer, eye the striking block and put every ounce of strength into ringing the bell. Time and time again he would grunt and strain trying to accomplish something that was greater than he was. Finally, with a last burst of adrenaline and frustration, he would hit the mark as hard as he could, but to no avail. It was impossible for him to ring the bell.

Religiously, many people have the same problem. They try to “ring God’s bell” by performing various rituals in the church. However, no matter how great the effort, we cannot work our way into the kingdom of God. All the religious grunting and sweating in the world cannot bring us into favor with God.

That is why there is grace. Grace is God doing for us what we are trying to do but cannot. That is why Paul declared, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not as a result of works, that no one should boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9)

It is easy once we enter a relationship with God, to turn around and strive to perform all the more to gain God’s favor! We thrive on performance in our society! We expect our kids to behave, our dog to do tricks and not bite the neighbors, and our employees to be on time.

We dish out or withhold pats on the back, privileges, or raises based on performance. So it is natural that many Christians become right with God through faith and then turn around and perform all the more.

Churches are structured to perform. We take a new believer, put them on committees because the externals become so important. Most Christians live their lives as though we are going to be graded once a year by God who stands there frowning, with His hands stuck in the pockets of His robe. Glaring, He says, “Well, Harner, that gets a C-.” “You ought to be ashamed!” “That’s not bad, but you could’ve done better.”

Paul would say, “That is not the gospel.” Grace is extensive. If the Father is satisfied with His Son’s full payment for sins and we are in His Son, by grace through faith, then He is satisfied with you and me.

There will forever be those who give you lists and more for you to live up to. They will make you feel guilty if you miss one day of your quiet time or if you buy gas and fail to witness to the attendant, they will make you feel ashamed. God assures us that we are accepted in Him.

The catch is the joy of His grace makes us want to share.

David Seamands in Healing Grace, tells of counseling a church member who was deeply committed, but felt guilty. They would read the Bible and pray but still said, “I feel like I ought to do more. I should do more. I could do more. And I honestly try, but I never seem to do enough.”

That is why Paul was so shocked. To leave the gospel of grace to live on the basis of a list of things I do is to leave God. You can do all the things on your religious list and not have a personal, growing, intimate relationship with God.

III.              GRACE IS EXCLUSIVE. (vs.7-9)

There is supposedly a true story of a man working in his garage. He was the kind of person who didn’t like being interrupted while engaged in a project. Knowing this, his wife walked into the garage and stood quietly at his side for several minutes, waiting for the proper time to speak. At last, her husband looked up, the signal that she was free to say what was on her mind. Very calmly and without a trace of panic, she said, “Honey, the house is on fire.” There is a time to forsake the customary, polite, social graces and bluntly state the problem. That is what Paul does here.

Paul’s hope is that they will not be swept away from the essential notions of the gospel simply because something new has come along. Like them, you and I are sometimes guilty of throwing away what we have known and believed because we think it is obsolete or outdated. Paul warns them of the danger of PERVERTING THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST.

PERVERT the gospel is used only 3 times in the New Testament. It means to reverse, to turn about, or to change into the opposite character.

The result is it troubles you or throws you into confusion. Paul ends this section by saying that no matter who it may be, if he preaches another gospel from the one Paul brought them, may the curse of God be upon them.

Yet people seem to love the “grace and” message. It is always popular. Why?

1.      This “grace and” message is clear. Faith in God’s grace in Jesus Christ is, in many ways intangible. When someone comes along and sets out exactly what we need to do in order to be saved, it is clearer to us. We see a to-do list and that is easier. “Just come to Mass. Go to confession. Avail yourself of the sacraments and you will get grace. There is a list I can check off.

2.      This “grace and” message puts us in control. With grace in Jesus Christ, we come “just as we are without one plea”. We are not in control. We are just a repentant sinner seeking grace. With a to-do list, though, we are in control. We can check things off. Faith in Jesus? Good. Circumcised? Good. Go to the new moon festival and Sabbath? Good. Don’t go to R rated movies? Good. Give money? Good. The very essence of the gospel is to accept there is nothing I can do to improve my status with God. It comes through Jesus and Jesus alone.

3.      This “grace and” message allows you to compare yourself to others. With a message of grace, who’s to say who’s better than everyone else? With grace, we are all being saved through one Lord. But a grace and message makes it clear who’s getting it right and who isn’t. That allows me to compare myself to others. “Well, I didn’t do that, but I noticed you did, so I’m a better Christian than you.”

His point is that grace is exclusive. Paul could be flexible on many things. When it came to evangelism and how he was going to relate to people outside the faith, he said, “I become all things to all people.” In other words, “I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll lay down my comfort zone, to get in your comfort zone, to bring you the gospel of Christ. That’s how much I love you in the Lord.”

Think how he approached issues related to the Christian lifestyle. In Romans 14, Paul insists that we love each other enough not to insist on our own private convictions becoming public law for everyone else. But when it came to the truth of the gospel, he would not budge because when someone takes

the core of the gospel and tweaks it, they add to it and destroy it.

Paul was narrow minded about the one who saves us. Jesus did not say, “I am one of the ways” or “I will help you find the way. He said, “I am the way. No one comes to the Father but by Me.”

Paul was narrow minded about the way He saves us. The Bible does not say we are saved by faith plus baptism, or faith plus church membership or faith plus works or faith plus anything else. God has done everything that needs to be done that we might be saved in Jesus Christ. That is grace. All that we can do is receive it. That is faith.

Back in 1982, someone walked into a convenience store in the Chicago area and bought a bottle of Extra Strength Tylenol. The next day they were found dead. They had been in perfect health. All they had was the flu. When the coroner ran an autopsy, they found the person’s body was filled with potassium cyanide.

It happened again. 6 or 7 people were murdered in the Chicago area because someone had gone into stores, purchased bottles of Tylenol, very carefully taken off the cap, pulled out the cotton, took out the capsules, pulled them apart, knocked out some of the acetaminophen and replaced it with potassium cyanide. They then carefully closed the capsules, put them back in the bottle, put the cotton back in, put the lid back on, and put the bottles back on the shelf.

In this passage, Paul is saying that when someone adds to the core message of the Gospel, they poison it. They take the Good News and turn it bad. They burden people with all these extra requirements, rules and regulations, saying they are necessary for God to smile on them.

A “grace and” message, putting additives on the message of grace, doesn’t just destroy the gospel; it causes you to desert God. God says, “I gave you everything. I gave you My Son. I gave you the heart and essence of our community of love in the Trinity. I poured out everything for you. And that’s not enough? Are you really going to say, ‘God, Your grace is not enough?’ Are you really going to say, ‘The sacrifice of Your Son on the cross is not a perfect sacrifice for the whole world? Are you going to say, ‘It’s just not enough? It’s a good starting place, but I need to add on this and this to really be right with you’?”

When you embrace a “grace and” message, it is like God has given you a beautiful engagement ring, and it’s not shiny enough for you. So, in an effort to make it shinier, you wrap it in tinfoil. Don’t you see how that’s a personal insult? That is why Paul spends his time in this chapter trying to convince people of his message of grace.

How do you know if you’ve been taken in by the false message? Those who are the most susceptible are the people most earnest – people who care, show up, and want to be right with God. It is easy to fall prey to this message, because all the things being added to the gospel are often not bad things. They are good things!

Here’s an early warning indicator – a light on your dashboard. When this light goes off, you should pause and ask, “Am I slipping away from the simple message of the gospel of grace? Am I somehow destroying the gospel and deserting God?”

Here’s the warning indicator. It’s when you think to yourself, “I’m not a very good Christian.”

Let’s say you haven’t had a quiet time for 3 weeks. You think to yourself, “I’m not a very good Christian. I’m busy at home. I’m busy at work. I’m trying to survive. I never have time in the Bible. I haven’t had time to pray. I’m not a very good Christian.” Aren’t you really saying in that moment that what matters for you to be right with God is not just faith in Christ, but also you having a quiet time? God’s grace extended to you in Christ didn’t go away for 3 weeks when you stopped having a quiet time. It was still there. But now you think that’s not quite enough. When you find yourself thinking along these lines, a warning light should go off in your mind.

The other reason you don’t feel like a very good Christian is because you fell into sin, which leaves you thinking, “I can’t believe I did this. This was the sin I told God I wasn’t going to do again. I swore this off. I thought I was done with this and now I did it again. I hate myself. I’m not a very good Christian.” The whole message of Christ crucified on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins speaks to this very situation you’re experiencing pain about. Jesus died for all your sins. Jesus died for your repeated sins. When you don’t feel like a very good Christian because of those sins, come back to Him in faith and childlike trust and say, “God, just as I am without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me.”

You don’t understand God’s grace when you:

·         Live with a vague sense of God’s disapproval.

·         Feel sheepish bringing your needs before Him when you’ve just failed Him.

·         Think of His grace as something that makes up the difference between the best you can do and what He expects from you.

·         Feel you deserve an answer to prayer because of your hard work and sacrifice.

·         Assume that 1 John 1:9 no longer applies to you now that you’ve sinned so many times you’ve used up all your credit.

·         Feel more confident before Him if you’ve been “faithful” with your Christian disciplines.

·         Can’t honestly say you see yourself as “blameless” before His eyes.

·         Don’t really believe He likes you.

·         Shy away from asking Him for things because you think it annoys Him.

·         Assume you can do something to make Him love you more or less.

Thousands of Dutch residents spent time digging through their garbage after they learned they might have thrown away a diamond. A local jeweler sent 4,000 clients a mailing marking the 10^th anniversary of the store. 200 of the envelopes contained a small diamond, while the others contained cubic zirconium, a cheap substitute used in costume jewelry. Many people who received the letter ignored it, thinking it was junk mail and threw it away without looking inside.

When only a few people responded to the mailing, the jeweler called several clients and learned most had discarded the mailing without looking at the contents.

Perhaps the mailing seemed too good to be true to those who read the letter so they threw the contents away after glancing at the letter. But others didn’t even both to open the package. That’s a shame.

But a great tragedy is the number of people who never bother to listen to God’s message of grace. You have heard. The only question remaining is what will you do with the offer God has made to you.

Unlike the one the jeweler made, God’s grace is real every time. He doesn’t offer cubic zirconium grace to anyone, yet everyday people turn down His offer and throw away their opportunity at eternity. What will you do today?

Gary Harner, sermon, “Gospel of Grace”

John MacArthur, Galatians

J.R.W. Stott, The Message of Galatians

Keith Miller, “How Christians Abandon God”, PreachingToday

Jerry Bridges, Transforming Grace