The Big Difference: Grace

Prayer

The Big Difference is Grace

We’re in the second week of our Lenten sermon series, Good News People. The question we’re looking at what does it mean to be good news people, people who trust in Jesus Christ and have experienced the joy, the peace, the life of the good news, the gospel, of Jesus. Today we’re going to look at what makes the big difference in the gospel. What makes it so good, so beautiful?

Now as we’ve made our way through the story of the Old Testament, we’ve gone through a lot of stories about a lot of God’s people. I want to remind you of some of these people and what they did - not the good that they did, but the bad, their sin.

Right off the bat, first two humans, Adam & Eve, lived in a perfect paradise, everything was good and beautiful, everything. And yet somehow it wasn’t enough, so they disobeyed the one commandment God gave them, the one thing they were forbidden to do, ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Abraham and Sarah, the couple that God planned to build his nation through - Abraham lied multiple times, they didn’t trust God to bear them a child so they came up with the plan to have Sarah’s handmaiden, Hagar, bear a child on Sarah’s behalf. It did not go well.

Two generations later, we have Jacob, who stole his brother’s blessing. Then Jacob’s sons planned their own brother, Joseph - instead they sold him into slavery. Moses, the one who led the people of God out of slavery in Egypt, murdered a man. David, the great king, was an adulterer, he abused his power as king, he was a murderer. The list goes on.

Here’s the thing, these were the best of the bunch. Biblical heroes. If you go to Hebrews 11, you’ll find a chapter that is often described as the Faith Hall of Fame, a listing of those people who trusted the Lord through difficult circumstances. Almost all of those people are listed in there.

We haven’t even talked about the average Israelites and their constant failure to be faithful to the God who made them his own, who rescued them, made them into a nation, gave them a land that was fruitful. So many stories - their travels in the wilderness, their constant complaining, rebellion - there’s a reason the Lord calls them stubborn, stiff-necked.

Book of Judges, if you remember, was literally the repeated cycle of everything going well with the Israelites, then they start straying from God, following the gods of the neighboring nations, God punishing them by sending those nations to oppress them, ruling over them. Until they repent, God raises up a leader, a judge to give them victory over their oppressors, then they’re faithful for a while. Then the cycle starts all over again.

What the Old Testament, old covenant, teaches us, is that we are, on the whole, unfaithful. Like those Israelites, we are stubborn and stiff-necked. What these stories teach us, over and over again, is that there is something fundamental wrong with our hearts. We are inclined towards sin. This is so important because it sets the predicate for the new covenant - the gospel - the agreement God offers us in Jesus Christ. The covenant that replaces the old covenant, which is based on following the law of God.

And what is this new offer? What is the big difference between the old covenant and the new covenant? For that matter, the difference between every other religion and the Christian faith, because it is one and the same. Philip Yancey tells a story in his book, “What’s So Amazing About Grace?” that reveals the answer:

During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith. They began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of gods' appearing in human form. Resurrection? Again, other religions had accounts of return from death. The debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis wandered into the room. "What's the rumpus about?" he asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity's unique contribution among world religions. Lewis responded, "Oh, that's easy. It's grace."

After some discussion, the rest of the conferees had to agree. Grace is God’s unconditional love, his gifts freely given. Unmerited - unearned favor. We receive what we do not deserve, it’s simply given out of love, no strings attached. And it is an essential part of the good news - it’s what makes the good news, good! Grace is what makes the gift of eternal life available and accessible to anyone and everyone, which is a beautiful, beautiful thing.

And because it’s so essential, so central to the gospel - and therefore helps us what it means to be good news people, we’re going to take time this morning to look at how the early church - specifically Paul - fought to keep it at the center of the gospel.

Grace in Galatians

Last week, as we began our sermon series looking at the very basics of the gospel, we were in 1st Corinthians, where the church in Corinth was doubting the reality of bodily resurrection, Paul had to challenge them, don’t give up the gospel! But here we find the believers in Galatia (modern-day Turkey), forsaking the gospel in a different way, by abandoning grace. Paul, of course, isn’t having any of it.

We’ll start with the very beginning of Galatians, Galatians 1:1-5, Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers and sisters with me, To the churches in Galatia: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Paul starts his letter with the traditional formula - that is, beginning with himself, as the author of the letter, an apostle send not by man but by Jesus Christ and God the Father (notice how he throws in this little nugget - who raised him from the dead, a reminder of the truth of the resurrection). Next, comes who the letter is written to - the church in Galatia.

Then there’s the blessing - it’s almost always the same, grace and peace. You’ll see it over and over again, this is what the early church prayed for each other, the experience, the knowing of the grace and peace of Jesus, that our lives would be filled with these two. Finally, it’s almost as if Paul can’t help himself, he reminds them of the gospel - talking about Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age (age before Jesus returns in full). Paul is absolutely centered in the gospel, always. And because he is, he can’t help but praise the Lord, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen!

In the next several verses, Paul lays out his gripe with the Galatians, 1:6-9, I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!

What’s remarkable about Paul’s letter here is that normally, at this point in the letter, the writer would offer words of thanks or encouragement to his audience. You go to Paul’s other letters and you’ll see exactly that. But not here. Paul is not happy - he lights into them immediately, no time to waste - I am astonished, I’m amazed, I can’t believe that you would be so quick to desert the one who called you to live in what? The grace of Christ. The unconditional love of Jesus, freely given. You gave it up so quick, didn’t fight for the truth.

Instead, you turned to another gospel - a different version of the good news. Catch this - which is really no gospel at all. What you’ve embraced, there’s no good news here. Because instead of relying on the grace of Jesus, they are returning to obedience to the law as their foundation, that’s what they were trusting, their ability to follow the covenant regulations. Problem is, there’s no good news in that. Because as we looked at before, sin has a grip on us. We are incapable of doing this.

Paul emphasizes this point by saying that it doesn’t matter who the messenger is - whether it’s me or another church leader or even an angel from heaven. If the message is different, let them be under God’s curse (he says this twice). They ought to be condemned - Paul is not mincing words here. I want you to hear how vital this is to Paul, that they hold on to THE gospel, the good news he shared with them.

Paul lays out this grace in Galatians 2:15-21, “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles 16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified. 17 “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker. 19 “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

Paul here is seeking to persuade the Galatians by reminding them that trying to be justified by obeying the law doesn’t work - it never has. When Paul uses the word “justified” here, he’s using legal language - in a court of law, you want to be found just, justified, innocent of any wrongdoing. We use the word when referring to ourselves, trying to justify our actions - I had a good reason for doing what I did, I was justified in doing that.

But again, you will never be justified by the works of the law, by trying to be perfectly obedient. If you’ve ever given this a serious try, you know how true that is. Usually we try to justify ourselves by comparison - we look at our lives in comparison to others (usually the people “worse” than us) and we think, we’ll I’m good, compared to them I’m a good person. But that’s the wrong comparison - compared to God, in his perfect goodness, we fail utterly. We are continually unfaithful.

Our trust, then, is not in ourselves, but in the faithfulness of Jesus. He was absolutely faithful. Sinless. So Paul says I’m done with the law, I died to it. Now, to be clear here, Paul isn’t saying he disregards the law, I can do whatever I want. Paul is making the point that he is no longer trusting his salvation through obedience to the law. Instead, he lives for God.

It all comes to this beautiful summary in Galatians 2:20, this is such a perfect picture of grace. I have been crucified with Christ, I’m joining in dying to sin with Jesus, I’m trusting myself to his death, his dying on the cross for my sins. I no longer live, my old self, that sinful nature, that’s been put to death with Jesus.

And now, I have this new life - not just through Jesus, but in him. Christ lives in me. Think about this for a moment, Jesus lives in you. He’s pleased to make his home in you, to unite himself with us. Think about what this says about God’s desire for us to be with him - and for him to be with us.

All made possible through Jesus, who loved me and gave himself for me. That is grace. Jesus’ loving you. Jesus giving himself for me. Freely, willingly. That’s why Paul makes the declaration, this life, the one I’m living right now, in this body, is rooted in faith in Jesus, in the Son of God. I will not put my trust elsewhere, only Jesus and what he did, what he does, for me.

Paul makes the statement at the end that makes clear where he stands: “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” And he’s absolutely right - if we could become righteous, in right relationship with God, reconciled, the debt of sin no longer between us, on our own, through our adherence to the law, why did Jesus die on the cross? All Jesus suffered and endured would be just a tragic, unjust death.

But it’s the other part Paul says I want to draw your attention to: I do not set aside the grace of God. In the Good News Translation, I refuse to reject the grace of God. When Paul says that, he’s saying the good news of grace isn’t a one-time thing, it’s not as if we come to Jesus through grace and then the rest of it is on us.

The entirety of our relationship with Jesus is based on grace. We never stop relying on, depending on his unconditional love for us. Thankfully, he never stops giving it. God gives and gives - not because we deserve it, we’ve earned it somehow, but because that’s who He is. The good news is good because Jesus is so good.

As we pursue the way of Jesus, seeking to, as Paul writes, life by faith in the Son of God, we do always through grace. Always by his unconditional love for us. This is what it means to be good news people. We don’t set grace aside, instead, we rest in the grace of Jesus. It does not we’re not active, pursuing him, seeking to be faithful, intentional about spending time to be with him and seeking to grow to become like him, to follow in his way. It means that we don’t do it out of fear. Or guilt. Wondering if we’ve done enough. Wondering if he’s pleased with us. He’s already made that clear. You didn’t do anything to get Jesus to die for your sins, he did it because he loved you. That love does not stop. The big difference, grace, is Jesus’ constant heart toward us.

Spiritual Disciplines - So, how do I become a good news person, a person who doesn’t set it aside, but, rather, whose life is centered in Jesus Christ and his grace.

Recognize that we resist grace, there’s a strong tendency to set it aside. It’s that same impulse - we don’t want to be a burden on others, or if someone gets a gift we feel obligated to get them one in return, or I can manage on my own. There’s pride in there. Grace requires humility - the only proper response to grace is to receive it gratefully. Thank you, Jesus, for this precious gift. I am forgiven. I have been made new - I didn’t do it, it was a gift from God. Jesus loves me. He gave himself for me.

So you may need to practice receiving grace. Practice humbly coming before Jesus and thanking him for his love, his forgiveness, for his willing sacrifice on the cross. The discipline of silence, of Sabbath, both can be really helpful here. Because in both of these, there’s no doing for God. We simply come before him to be with him, trusting that’s not only enough, but that Jesus is delighted that we have!

By the way, a sure sign that we are learning to live in grace - we will readily acknowledge our wrongdoing. Grace is a trust that I am loved by Jesus as I am, not for how well I’ve performed. Therefore even - especially when I’ve been selfish or stubborn or prideful - I can freely admit that, ask for forgiveness - from Jesus and from others. I know I’m living in grace.

Here’s another thing - practice offering grace to others. To stand in grace is not simply to receive it, but to offer it to others. That’s the whole basis of prayer Jesus taught us to pray, Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

The other day my brother was telling me a story about a trip they just made, skiing in New Mexico. One evening they’re relaxing in the hot tub at the place they were staying and this group of men come, in their 30’s. Athletic guys, tattooed all over, a little disappointed the nightlife in Red River wasn’t what they were hoping it might be. One of the guys wasn’t with them - apparently he’d had too much of a good time, involved drinking lots of alcohol. Next night they run into these same guys at one of the local restaurants - this time the one guy is with them. These guys start showing off their tattoos - they’re pulling their pants down in order to do this. One guy who’d been drinking so much, turns out he has this massive tattoo of Jesus on the cross - except it’s a super muscular Jesus. Back of his neck another tattoo that read “Glory to God.”

I tell you that story because my initial reaction was - what the heck? How can he have those tattoos, showing them off? And be out there getting wild, drinking lots? Something ain’t right there. Alf made the best comment, I would have loved to hear his story. Gut punch moment - in my mind I was immediately being judgmental - not gracious - to this guy. I’d already decided what his story was. Lord, forgive me for not offering grace toward others. It’s something I need to continue to practice.

Let’s be people who center our lives in the grace of Jesus, receiving it gladly - and offering it willingly to others.