All God All the Way

Series Introduction

During the course of the next several Men of Grace Breakfasts, we will consider what it means to be men of honor. I expect that our consideration of that term brings up certain ideas, before I mention any explanations or definition of terms. I expect that the idea of integrity comes to the forefront. Perhaps responsibility, consistency, dependability, leadership, faithfulness might all be connected to what we may imagine we mean by being men of honor. And certainly all of those ideas and others are connected. I want us to gain our understanding of what it means to be men of honor from the scriptures, and one place I think we can go is

1 Corinthians 16:13–14 ESV

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.

The first 4 imperatives or commands cast the image of a soldier who is alert, steadfast, courageous and strong. We can imagine these commands being issued by a general to his troops before battle.

This is a call to steadfastness and watchfulness. There does seem to be at least an echo of the common OT exhortation to be strong and courageous (Josh 1), which is also a call to not be cowardly. And keeping in mind the context into which Paul is speaking. Corinth was a pagan society, and the church faced extraordinary pressures to go along with what the culture was demanding of the people.

You and I are familiar with this kind of pressure. We know what it is to face the pressure to give in. To contradict biblical conviction. The reality is, anyone who possesses biblical convictions, and seeks to maintain them in the face of opposition to those convictions will experience significant testing. The pressure is enormous.

And I’m suggesting that being watchful, standing firm in the faith, acting like men and being strong are honorable commitments to make in our hostile world. But that’s not all we are to do. Verse 14, let all that you do be done in love.

Being men of honor is not just a willingness to endure the unwanted consequences of maintaining our convictions. It’s living the way Paul outlines here out of a love for God. Men of honor love God, and express this love by maintaining this watchful, steadfast commitment to Christ.

Now, what we will consider today and during the next several breakfasts are some particular challenges to maintaining our commitment to being men of honor. The challenge we will consider comes out of perhaps an assumption that can end up influencing much of how we approach our lives. In fact, when it comes to considering being men of honor, this particular assumption can be very much a part of the image we have in our minds when it comes to being a steadfast man. But what’s important to for us to see is that the strength that is inherent in being men of honor is not our own strength. In fact, fundamental to remaining steadfast in our faith out of a love for Christ is to recognize our dependence upon Him.

Men, many of us are inclined to rely on ourselves to be men. We can, if we’re not careful, even subtly assume that our ability to be men of honor acquires its strength from within… from relying on self. Are you inclined to rely on self? I’m sure all of us are to varying degrees. Being the kinds of men that God calls us to be cannot happen as a result of self-reliance, so what I want us to think through this morning are some keys to guarding against our inclinations to self-reliance.

What must we remember in order to fight against the illusion of self reliance?

Remember the cross (1)

Paul is broken-hearted because of the error of the Galatians

He addresses them by name. He isn’t appealing to them based on some set of generalities. We are familiar with this dynamic. When we are in discussion with one another, we will use each others’ names to emphasize the importance of what we’re saying.

He also calls them out and expresses his exasperation. foolish Galatians! Paul is saying, what happened? I’m confused by you. What went wrong?

But I want us to see the emotion here in verse 1. Notice how Paul begins his sentence: O. This particle expresses emotion. Paul is frustrated and concerned for this church. For these people. This is not insignificant to him. He deeply cares for this church. His heart is broken of their error.

And what is their error?

They lost sight of the fact the Christ crucified is everything.

Who has bewitched you means who has cast this spell on you? Someone has lead them astray, and they were now deficient in understanding and judgement. They were vulnerable to evil forces at work. In fact, the who in Paul’s rhetorical question (who has bewitched you) is singular so the who could very well be a reference to Satan.

To loose sight of our need for a Savior is a serious thing. Men, rest in the fact that Jesus went to the cross for our sins. He paid the price. If you are in Christ, you are forgiven. So now, it’s not on you to figure out. We want to be men of honor, but we pursue this on the merits of Christ’s death and resurrection.

We don’t stand firm in the faith in the face of the world’s and the devil’s opposition be relying on self, but by relying on the Savior who died on the cross for sinners.

This is what Paul taught the Galatians. Verse 1: It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publically portrayed as crucified. I think Paul is referencing his own preaching to them. He proclaimed Christ crucified to them, and now he’s urging them to return to this truth.

The Galatians got swept up and swept away by false doctrine. They presumed they could add something to the cross-work of Jesus. Self-reliance. Men, we have a Savior, who died in our place. Don’t loose sight of this.

Fighting against the illusion of self-reliance, we also need to

Remember the gospel (2)

Really, the gospel has already been expressed as we thought through verse 1 together. But notice what Paul says in v. 2

Did you receive the Spirit by your works and by hearing with faith?

Something we should note about the gospel can be seen in something else Paul wrote”

1 Corinthians 15:1–2 ESV

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

The gospel must be preached, it must be believed and it is the only message that can be used by the Spirit of God to bring salvation to sinners.

And what Paul is doing here in Galatians is urging them to remember the message they believed. They did not believe a message that called them to perform certain works to gain God’s favor. They did not believe a message that taught that the way the Spirit of God comes to dwell in a person is through people’s effort.

Focus on the last phrase of verse 2: by hearing with faith. This is how the Galatian Christians and all Christians receive the Spirit of God. And just so we’re clear, to have the Spirit is to be born again.

Romans 8:9 (ESV)

… Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

God’s design is that His people would hear the gospel. That they would hear that Jesus died in their place on the cross, taking on their penalty of their sins on Himself and 3 days later rose from the dead and later ascended to heave where He reigns today. And as we hear the gospel, the Spirit grants understanding and we are able to place our faith in Christ for salvation. This is the hope we have. There is no other hope. God supplies the Spirit by hearing with faith.

So men we need to pray that we would hear the truth of God with faith.

Loving our wives as Christ loves the church cannot be done through self-reliance. We have a Savior who demonstrated His love for His bride, and has now supplied His people with His Spirit so that we can love our wives with this same love.

Being a man, being strong, being a leader in our homes, being men of conviction.... this isn’t mochismo. This is the work of the gospel. Hearing the gospel, preaching the gospel to ourselves. Fundamentally, we are men in need. But, what’s good news is that the need has been answered in Christ. Remember the gospel.

Doing away with self reliance, we need to

Remember the means of our growth (3)

After referencing their foolishness again, Paul asks another question: Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? And of course the answer is no. But what’s Paul’s point?

being perfected is passive. It means to be made complete, and only God can do this work in people. It’s His power.

As much as it is true that we are not saved by our works, it is equally true that we cannot live God-honoring lives by means of our own strength and wisdom. To live as if we can, Paul says, is foolish.

So men, I am seeking to encourage us to answer the call to be men of honor. Men who are steadfast in our faith and strong out of a love for God. And Paul’s point makes how this is possible:

if you began by the Spirit through faith, we continue to live by the Spirit through faith. We continue as faithful men of God the same way we began, and the way we began has nothing to do with self-reliance.

Men, think through how you account for your personal spiritual growth:

If you are a more patient person than you once were, where did that patience come from?

If you are more self-controlled, where did that self-control come from?

If you are a leader, possess significant intellect, gifted with your hands, smart with money we need to be clear from where those qualities come.

Of course, we participate in our spiritual progress, but God grants the increase.

We’re tempted to think of our maturity in Christ like we do other areas of our lives. During my seminary years, I worked as a custodian in a hospital at nights, and my main responsibility was to refinish tile floors throughout the building. Take the old wax off and put new wax down. Now, I worked the night shift (10 PM - 5 AM)… So sometime the earlier shift would begin a project, and then I would pick up where they left off. Perhaps without realizing it, we approach our lives as followers of Christ the same way. We think we pick up where God left off. He saved us, now we take our lives and strive to make something of ourselves. God does not leave off. He does not stop working our salvation out.

Men, we have begun by the Spirit and now we are being perfected by the Spirit.

So being a man of honor requires that we dispense with the illusion of self-reliance. We do this by remembering

The cross

The Gospel

The means of our growth

And finally, we must

Remember our treasure in suffering for Christ (4)

As noted before, striving to be men of honor in a world that is not honorable… that hates God will put us to the test. We are familiar with the unpleasant consequences of faithfulness to God in this world.

It’s not unjustified to suspect that the Galatian Christians suffered persecution. Harassment, threats as a result of embracing the gospel. The false teachers were certainly seeking to change their minds about the gospel. It’s possible that part of why they were beginning to accept circumcision as necessary to be right with God again was to avoid some of the persecution.

As they face exclusion from the society, rejection from friends and family, threats of violence, they might have asked themselves, is this worth it?

Do you ever wonder that?

I was talking with one brother the other day about the difficulties he experiences at work as a result of his commitment to Christ. And I know his story is, for many of you, your story. Living faithfully to God demands sacrifice. So when we are falsely accused by someone at work, our response must first and foremost be governed by a concern to honor Christ in that moment. That means we will have a distinct love for our enemy, an enduring humility, a firm commitment to what is right despite the pressure or even internal inclination to indulge what is wrong.

Believing that being faithful to God is always better than disobeying Him is key to seeing our suffering for Him as a treasure. When we believe this, our sufferings for Christ will seem like the small price it is to pay.

Our sufferings for Christ are never in vain. Never for no reason, never futile.

Suffering is part of God’s work of sanctification. Paul is saying to the Galatians and to us, having suffered so man things for Christ are you now going to accept a practice that would have spared you this suffering in the first place? And if there ultimate answer is yes, then their suffering would have been in vain.

Men, we want to remain strong, be men and stand firm in our faith, but doing so demands sacrifice. Small price to pay, if God is glorified.

Conclusion

So men, my prayer for us is that we would strive together to be men of honor. I look forward to what is ahead as we continue to consider this further in the upcoming months. Men who are rock-solid in our commitment to Christ out of a deep love for Christ. We can’t go it alone, so please men, let’s commit to supporting one another as we strive to honor God in who we are and what we do.