One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Today is a glorious day in the life of our church. Not only is Pentecost considered the birthday of the church, when 3,000 people came to know Jesus at the preaching of Peter during the festival in Jerusalem. But today, we celebrate these many who have made decisions to join our fellowship and reaffirm their faith in Christ. Some have been baptized. And we will also celebrate communion in a few minutes.

All of these are signs of spiritual progress.

But when there is regression in our lives, sometimes we use the phrase, “One step forward; two steps back.”

"One step forward, two steps back" has been another one of those figures of speech, that maybe we use without considering where it came from.

The phrase illustrates situations where efforts to advance are met with obstacles that negate progress. It describes progress that is quickly undone by setbacks, leaving a person or project further behind than before.  

It is one thing to digress in losing weight or making a grade in a class. Such things are a part of life and we learn from our challenges. But it is something altogether different if we lose spiritual progress because of believing the wrong tenets. We want to advance several steps and lose no ground.

Paul the Apostle, after visiting the churches in southern Galatia on an earlier occasion, now communicates great concern that his work has been in vain and they have regressed. Must one become a Jew before he/she becomes a Christian? Or can one be in right relationship with God through faith and repentance in Jesus Christ alone?

So let us learn the following lessons on this Pentecost Sunday. For one...

First, we learn that the purpose of the Old Testament law is to remind us of our need for a Savior, the Lord Jesus.

In Paul’s argument of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, chapter four explains that the law functioned as a guardian until Jesus came for our redemption. Galatians 4:1-3

Galatians 4:1–3 ESV

1 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.

To fully understand chapter four, we must go back up to chapter three and discover the role of the Old Testament law in our lives. It is given to us in Galatians 3:22-25

Galatians 3:22–25 ESV

22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian...

In the writings of Paul, we see that there are three uses of the law. For one, the Old Testament law reveals our need for a Savior. This is also known as the pedagogical use of the law. We read the ten commandments and quickly learn we fail the test. To break one commandment is as if we’ve broken them all. James 2:10 tells us.

James 2:10 ESV

10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

Moreover, Jesus said in John 15:5:

John 15:5 ESV

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

And so we see that each of us needs a Savior, who has perfectly kept those commandments, if we are ever going to see God.

Secondly, the Old Testament law functions as a restrainer of sin. This we know as the civil use of the law. Paul wrote about it in Romans 7:7-8

Romans 7:7–8 ESV

7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.

If the sign reads: “Stay off the grass!”, most of it read and obey. But some do not and suffer the consequences.

And finally, the Old Testament law is a moral guide to show us a life that glorifies God. We also call this the normative use of the law. We are not allowed to make things up as we live for God. We must receive our definition of right and wrong from Him. We are to do as Micah 6:8 says:

Micah 6:8 ESV

8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Next, we see that...

Christ redeemed us in order that we could be adopted into God’s family and given all the rights and privileges afforded to sons and daughters.

It is summed up in Paul statement in Galatians 4:4-5

Galatians 4:4–5 ESV

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

There are certain blessings associated with the redemption secured for us by Jesus. For one, we have His Spirit. By Spirit, Paul is undoubtedly speaking of the Holy Spirit; that same Spirit that was poured out upon both Jews, on the day of Pentecost, and Gentiles at Cornelius’ house in Acts 10.

That same Spirit that enables us to refer to God as “Abba” or “Daddy;”

That same Spirit that transforms us from being rebels and enemies of God, to being His sons and daughters;

That same Spirit who brings transformation into our lives with His fruits, which you will hear about next week as Roger Wambold will bring the message.

It is a glorious thing that God redeems us and gives us His Spirit to reside in our hearts. He redeems. He adopts. He transforms.

My missions professor in seminary, Dr. Peter Kuzmic, used to say: “Jesus is the missionary par-excellence!” In other words, Jesus, according to Philippians 2:5-8, in many ways portrayed a missionary to the human race.

left His throne of glory,

humbled Himself & came to this earth,

preached the good news,

lived a sinless life,

died as a criminal, in order that we, the true criminals, could be reconciled to His Father through faith.

And so we must understand that the Old Testament anticipates Jesus; the New Testament reveals and explains Jesus.

This is why Jesus appeared in His glory with Moses and Elijah, two figures that represent the law and the prophets in the Old Testament, and a thundering voice was heard by the disciples: “This is my beloved Son; listen to Him!” (Matthew 17:5)

Jesus is the center of your faith.

So why would the Galatian believers revert back to something that only brought death, sin and frustration, the keeping of the law as a means of justification? Because...

We are prone to rules and self-imposed standards that lead to nothing by hypocrisy and isolation.

They were turning back to slavery. And it was like as if they were moving one step forward, then two steps back.

Galatians 4:8–11 ESV

8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years! 11 I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

And so we understand that our salvation is not based on an ardent keeping of rules, but of faith in Jesus Christ that produces authentic and genuine change.

Some would argue that we never got this completely straight throughout Christendom; that there was always a competing idea of works over faith.

E.J. Carnell, former president of Fuller Seminary and a gifted theologian, said:

“The Roman church began to crystallize its traditions before the epistles of Paul had been thoroughly circulated and studied. As a result, the full import of justification by faith was not comprehended.” (E.J. Carnell, The Case for Biblical Christianity, 14).

And we’ve been trying to play “catch-up” ever since. And so we struggle with understanding this critical doctrine of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, for the glory of God alone.

Galatians 2:20 ESV

20 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.

It is under the shelter of Jesus, that our lives rest, for He has perfectly kept the law of God and gave His life, so that we might live.

Stephanie is a lady with whom I went to high school with. She lives near Joplin, Missouri and was in the tornado that struck that community in May of 2011. She recently reposted this.

“This staircase is where we hid and cried and prayed (fifteen) years ago today. It is the spot in our home that stayed most like it was before the storm hit. A safe hideaway (still above ground), that held us, and after the storm had passed, (TWICE.... we were in the eye),  we emerged, our whole world was changed.

162 lives were taken from our small community that day. My heart mourns them. After a month of clearing the rubble that was once our home, we tore out the staircase and drug it to the curb. I had such an attachment to it. I could hardly bear to leave it. God used this spot, after all.

Little did I know, the sensitive people of God that were helping us, took the whole staircase home and had a shelf built out of the exact wood. The precious carpenter carved a beautiful scripture into the wood.

Psalm 18:2 ESV

2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

This, along with the home God miraculously blessed us with, are my families greatest tangible heirlooms.”