Bragging Rights: How To Show Off Like A Believer

Introduction: Bragging Rights

How many of you all are familiar with the term “bragging rights?”

When my children were smaller they would always run to see me at the door as I returned from work. They would run and scream “daddy’s home!” The excitement was electric and heart-warming.

However, as they got older, each sibling tries to beat the other sibling and scream “I win!” Because no one likes to lose, they would then say, “1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place.” Though Jeremiah would generally win first place, every now and then, Brielle who we call the 2nd place queen would win first place—becoming first place queen. For that moment, she would win over her older brother who is known as 1st place king—leaving Layla to as 3rd place queen.

Notice, how a warm and familial activity became overpowered by competition and rights to brag.

Point: Sometimes, churches behave like my children! They don’t want to see souls saved, they don’t people to know the truth, they don’t want to see people transformed by the Spirit of God. They simply want bragging rights!

Today, I want to talk to you about the gospel and the appropriate way a believer is supposed to brag.

What Is the Gospel?

If we were to survey certain denominations within Christianity, we would encounter great difficulty finding individuals who could explain the gospel. They would scramble and share something they heard their church say or proclaim. Therefore, before defining the gospel, I want to share with you what the gospel is not:

a doctrine about holiness or holy living

a doctrine about the oneness of God

a doctrine about repentance

a doctrine about the baptism of the Holy Spirit

a doctrine about water baptism

a doctrine about how we get to heaven when we die

All of these things are doctrines of the church. However, none of these things are the good news Jesus or the apostles spoke of.

The term gospel comes from the Greek term euvangelion and it simply means good news or good story or message.

Paul provides a clear definition of the gospel in Romans 1:3.

Romans 1:3–4 “3 The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, 4 and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Here we find the following points about the gospel:

The gospel is about Jesus, the Son of God.

The gospel is about Jesus’s ascent to the royal throne of King David.

The gospel is about Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection.

The gospel is about the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

A simple definition of the gospel: It is the message that the Son of God has ascended to the throne of David, suffered, died, and rose again proving His Lordship over all.

We must get this right, because the gospel should be the loudest and most heard message from the church. It is the gospel that saves. It is not our church doctrine or theology that saves and transforms. Rather, it is the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ that saves man from their sins! (We cannot miss this! This is critical to our faith!) This is why Paul states,

Romans 1:16–18 “16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. 17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” 18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.”

When the gospel is not the loudest and most heard message from the church there are three reasons for this (see Galatians 6:12-13):

Individuals want to look good to others.

Individuals are afraid of persecution.

Individuals are trying to claim disciples for themselves.

None of this makes sense unless we acknowledge the important enemy of the gospel: legalistic religious systems.

Galatians and Legalistic Religion, the Enemy of the Gospel

[Circumcision] Legalistic religious systems are some of the greatest adversaries of the gospel.

The book of Galatians is Paul’s refute against those Jewish Christians and leaders who believed they should add to their faith the works of the law. That is, they believed once a Gentile Christian believes, they should participate in the Jewish traditions in order to truly be saved. Paul refers to this as circumcision. By this time, the term circumcision had become a term to define culture, tradition, and ritual commitment.

Unfortunately, the church in Galatia had fallen to this doctrine and believe they must add to their faith. Paul’s response is the book of Galatians:

Paul does not see the doctrine of circumcision as a slight modification of the gospel. He sees this as a totally different gospel, because his gospel came straight from Jesus (see Galatians 1:11-12).

Galatians 1:11–12 “11 Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach is not based on mere human reasoning. 12 I received my message from no human source, and no one taught me. Instead, I received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ.”

Paul taught one is made right through their faith in Jesus.

Galatians 2:16 “16 Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.””

According to Paul, two things happen when the gospel is declared and believed:

We become God’s children

Galatians 3:26 “26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”

Galatians 4:6–7 “6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” 7 Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.”

We receive God’s Holy Spirit

Galatians 3:2 “2 Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ.”

Galatians 3:14 “14 Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.”

**Talk about how a legalistic system can never lead to the transformation God talks about—only the Spirit can do that. (see Galatians 5:16-26).**

How To Brag: Galatians 6:14-17

When Paul began to talk about his boasting, he is contrasting his boasting to that of the circumcised.

Boast in the cross of Jesus- Galatians 6:14a

Boast about inward transformation- Galatians 6:14b

Boasting in my disconnection from the world and the world’s disconnection from me

That is to say, I have switched from being concerned about what’s seen (outward) to being concerned about what’s unseen (inward).

Boast in new creation as the real people of God- Galatians 6:15-16

New creation is legal and political. God had to legally purchase us and declare his right to rule over a government. He did that through His Son.

We are reborn with new citizenship

Our old debts are paid in full in the Day of Atonement and Year of Jubilee.