Monday Morning Faith

Faith for Tomorrow: Living Justified Every Day

Bible Passage: Galatians 2:15-21

Moses, Jesus, and a little old man are playing golf. They get to a particularly difficult hole which requires them to hit the ball onto a little island in the middle of a lake. Moses goes first and hits his ball into the water. He then puts his staff into the water, parts it, walks over to his ball, and hits it into the hole on the island. “Two!” he says. Next it is Jesus’s turn. He hits his ball into the water. Jesus walks out onto the water, and hits his ball into the hole on the island. “Two!” he says. Finally it is the little old man’s turn. He hits his ball into the water. A fish swims down, eats the ball, swims to the surface, spits it up, an eagle catches it, flies to the island, drops it into the hands of a squirrel, and the squirrel deposits the ball into the hole. “One!” the little old man exclaims. Moses then turns to Jesus and says: “Man, I hate playing with your dad.”

If you have your Copy of Gods word with you today id invite you to turn to The book of Galatians chapter 2, we will be in verses 15-21, but before we get into that we will look at a little bit of context about this book.

Paul is the author of Galatians, and the letter was likely written around AD 49, though some scholars date it later in the AD 50s.1 The timing is closely tied to the Jerusalem Council, which occurred around AD 48.

Paul wrote Galatians to guard the gospel, passionately defending justification by faith alone in Christ alone after learning about a dangerous situation developing in Galatia. Some Jewish Christians from Jerusalem had visited the area and, influenced by their Jewish background, were insisting that Paul’s converts needed to be circumcised AKA try to fulfil the law, to truly please God. These false teachers were teaching that Gentile Christians needed to observe Jewish law and be circumcised, arguing that simple faith in Christ was not enough for salvation. Most Galatian Christians were Gentiles, and requiring them to submit to circumcision would effectively negate faith in Christ as sufficient for salvation. Paul forcefully presented his position that justification comes by God’s grace, through faith alone in Christ. He argued that relying on observing the law demonstrates a lack of faith that Christ alone is sufficient for salvation. When Paul heard about this situation, he wrote a strong letter expressing his shock at their departure from his teachings, emphasizing that there is only one gospel and that anyone preaching another gospel should be cursed

Now when we read just these first two verses in our text here, you will see how this directly goes hand in hand with why he wrote it. lets read

1. Faith, Not Flesh

Galatians 2:15–16 “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.”

One of the first things that came to my mind when I read this verse was Matthew 5, where Jesus makes a surprising and almost a hope killer statement. he says in Matthew 5 verse 20, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

The Pharisees were an ancient Jewish group that existed from the second century B.C. to the first century A.D. They were one of the chief religious groups among the Jews during Christ’s ministry.

Known as the “separated ones,” they were characterized by their strict observance of God’s law as interpreted by scribes, and they actively resisted Hellenistic influence in Jewish religious practice. Their religious approach was guided by detailed traditions about the meaning of Moses’ laws. Keep that last part in mind,

So they were religious elites that followed the Law of Moses to almost a T. You know it was actually quite normal for this group of people to have memorized the torah by age 10. That's the first 5 books of the bible. You know what I was doing at ten years old? My fat self was walking back from pawpaw and grannys with a can of pringles and a tostinos pizza granny cooked for me back to my house to play my playstation while I could barly pass our PE class in school!

The Law is there to show us that we will never be able to live up to it! Like Paul tells us, its not by works of the law, but through faith we are justified.

Just earlier in that passage I just read to you in Matthew 5, Jesus says for I didnt come to abolish the law, I came to fulfil it. We could never fulfil the law so Jesus came and lived the sinless life for us and He fuflled it.

The Religious elites in the Pharisees might have been Good on the outside, But it was on the inside where they had it all wrong. They were too worried out trying to please God with actions and religion rather than having a real genuine relationship that leads to both doing good works and having faith.

Now before you start jumping to conclusions on me No im not telling you that since we arent saved by good works means that you can go live however you want, no im not telling you that since we can never live up to the law then we shouldnt even try and go out and have fun and live in sin. However I will tell you this, Faith without works is dead. Why?

Faith without works is dead because it reveals an unchanged life. Works are not the cause of salvation, but rather the evidence of salvation. True faith in Christ always results in good works. The contrast is fundamentally between dead, useless faith and living faith. Works are not an optional addition to faith, but a necessary part of it - without works, faith is merely a shadow of true faith.

I will touch into that in a little bit just hang with me, don't go to sleep yet, maybe if I move around enough up here it will keep your heads moving

joke about my mom

I laid it out to you right there, knowing that we will never live up to the law, knowing that we will never live the perfect life. But know that Jesus did, and having the faith that Christ ensures righteousness. This truth should fill our spirit to the brim, that we get to begin each day grounded in our identity that we are justified by faith, to get up that Monday morning when we are outside of the Church walls where unlike in here its not as easy to have faith, but to be free from the pressure to earn Gods approval.

2. Grace, Not Guilt

Galatians 2:17–18 “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.”

We see Paul asking a rhetorical question where he addresses the misconceptions about grace leading to sin.

One commenter put it That “The opponents to this message of grace argued that if people aren’t under law then they will freely sin. They reasoned that people could believe in Christ but then live as they wanted and by their sinful actions make Christ a promoter of sin. Paul answers this accusation with an emphatic, “No!” Grace leads to freedom from sin’s slavery to obey God, not license to disobey him.”

If we run right back to what killed us in the first place what does that do for us! If you rebuild what you tore down, what does that make you!

going back to what the commenter said, This is exactly right, Paul answers that question with a huge no, I mean thinking that we will never be able to live up to the law (which we wont) just gives us a free “well oh well Ill never be good enough so I guess I will just sin and live however I want.” Ill tell you how Paul told us NO!!

If you think and believe that way, then answer me this one, what did Jesus die for? Our sins right? so do you think he died and suffered on that cross for you to continue in sin? Ill tell you again how paul told us, NO!

And he also didn't die for you to go out on a Monday morning for one to be quiet about your faith and not living it out, but TWO to try to earn your salvation for doing your “one good deed for the day” or “I was nice to my coworker today when I didn’t have to be” Newsflash that coworker or that whatever person that you were nice to when they didn't deserve it just that one day is nothing compared to Jesus being nice to you on that cross when you didn't deserve it.

Listen, Paul was probably more worried about people saying they were good with God and think they were following the law on the outside and yet being so far from them on the inside, this goes right back to Matthew 7 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

on the flip side of that, we don't need to abuse God's grace and live in sin

I went golfing the other day,

Three man scramble golf illustration

3. Transformed by Trust

Galatians 2:19–20 “For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 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.”

Now this one probably my top 3 verses in the bible.

Paul describes his life of faith as being “crucified with christ” showing and signaling a transformation that aligns his life with Christ’s purposes. this union that Paul tells us he has allows us to redefine daily existence, living by faith in the one who loves us. Let me remind you, I said daily, not just in here, not just within these walls, not just around other believers, but out in the world, out on that Monday morning when life probably hits you the hardest.

This reminds us that we don’t have to carry that tole, that weight, of “How will I earn Gods approval today” Not just on Monday mornings, but EVERY SINGLE DAY, we are free in Christ, Christ came and lived the sinless life! Christ lives in him, you know what that means, HE IS GOING TO STRIVE TO BE LIKE HIM! NOT LIVE HOWEVER HE WANTS, IF YOURE TRUELY AND GENUIENLY A FOLLOWER OF JESUS AND YOU TRUST HIM, YOU DONT WANT TO LIVE IN SIN, TRUE SPIRITUAL CHANGE SHOWS TRUE PHYICAL AND MENTAL CHANGE. NOT ME, NOT MY FLESH WHO LIVES, BUT CHRIST. You wake up tomorrow Moring and the next day and the next day like that, your relationship with the lord will increase.

The life paul lived in his flesh, he now lives by faith in the son of God.

4. Grace Grants Growth

Galatians 2:21 “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.”

Let me simplify it for you, if it was up to us to get to heaven, what did Jesus die for? it goes almost right back to what I said earlier. When you try to focus on you and yourself and the Law, you water down the Gospel, you water down and what Paul said, you nullify it, you make it seem less. And I can promise you, it's not less.

As I begin to close, I want to wrap this all up, some of the biggest reasons Paul wrote this passage is all of the reasons I just gave you hear this morning, but one big one I left out was mainly where I got the title of this sermon this morning. The fact that these people in this time where so focused on there self and how high and mighty and holy they thought they were that they basically were worshiping themselves, and they forgot who to truly worship.

Go back to that video they played at the beginning of the service, did you worship God out there? when Was the last time you honestly worshipped God? Was it in here? Will this be the last time you worship God until next Sunday when we are all piled up in here again? Or were you too busy focusing on your own actions rather than giving it to God and worshiping him and trusting him regardless of where your at or who your around or if you messed up or if you did something you weren't supposed to do or said something you weren't supposed to say or you were just too focused on your own actions rather than having faith and trusting and believing Christ died on that cross for a reason.

The very next day after today is Monday, it's the first time you will be away from Gods people for the most part and the first day you will be out of these walls of this church. It will be the first real challenge of your faith because like I said, its easy to have faith in here, but out in the world of sin and flesh, its a whole different story. When you try and live holy to your standards and get to heaven your own way, it takes the focus off of God, and when you take the focus off of God, you drift away, and it leads to sin and It leads to death, But on the bright side, When we put the focus back on God and HAVE FAITH, your spiritual relationship will get better with God and better and closer to God leads to less of a desire to sin and more of a desire to let go and let God work and MORE OF HEART OF WORSHIP ON THAT MONDAY MORNING!

We can face each day with assurance and grace, knowing that we are justified by faith in Christ and we should keep that Monday morning faith, we need to focus on worshiping God where we are at, and not care who's around us rather than by our own actions or adherence to the law.

I want to read you some of the lyrics of my favorite worship song

Its called Monday morning faith, Crazy right?

And Hell's not scared of a Sunday faith If it only leads to empty praise. What really makes darkness run Is when the saints arise and praise in quiet On Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday To know you, to love you, to choose you first (we sing)

Thursday and Friday and Saturday To see you, behold you in worship, singing Hallelujah, holy, holy Glory to the King of Kings And hallelujah, holy, holy All honor and glory belongs to you

If you do not know who to worship and you don’t know Jesus, this alter is open and I would sure love to point you in the right direction, if you dont know the Lord today, seek him and find him, he worthy of all our praise and nothing less.