The Only Life God Accepts

Intro: Theme/Topic (What’s the problem, the question, etc.)

Yesterday, our country turned 250 years old!

And I want you to think about what the Declaration of Independence actually was — because before it was a statement of ideals, it was a legal declaration.

It was a formal pronouncement that changed the status of every person in the thirteen colonies.

Before that document was signed, they were subjects of the British Crown. After it, they were citizens of a new nation. Their status didn't change gradually. It changed the moment that declaration was made.

Now, this is an imperfect analogy — those were imperfect men building an imperfect nation, and I'm not up here trying to baptize the American experiment.

The reason I bring it up is because the logic of that moment is what God's Word presses on us this morning.

A declaration that changes your status.

Because in our lives as Christians, as we seek to live lives pleasing to God, many of us often wonder:

How do we actually do this? And how do we really know if God is pleased with us? Is it by what we do for Him — our effort, our performance, our record of obedience? Or is it something else entirely?

This is the question I want us to wrestle with today as we work through our text:

How do we live lives acceptable to God?

This morning, we’ll see Paul answer this question in one of the most theologically dense paragraphs in all his letters.

If you have your Bible, I invite you to turn with me now to Galatians 2:15–21. If you need to use one of our pew Bibles you’ll find it on page 1155.

While you’re turning there — remember back to last week: Paul has just confronted Peter to his face for withdrawing from eating with Gentile believers at the church in Antioch. Paul told him his actions were hypocritical and not in line with the truth of the Gospel.

Now, as we pick up here in verse 15, Paul is still talking to Peter. And he pivots to give us the theology underneath that confrontation — and it answers our question directly.

Now, I invite you to please stand with me if you are able out of reverence for God’s Word and follow along with me as I read...

Scripture

Galatians 2:15–21 ESV

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. 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. 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. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

This God’s Word!

Prayer

Father all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for us. May Your Word be our teacher this morning. May it correct us and train us in righteousness, that our joy in Christ would grow deeper and more satisfying. We ask all this in Christ’s name — AMEN!

Intro: Formal (give context to passage, setting the scene, big idea)

So Paul has just laid out one of the most important paragraphs in all of Scripture. And I want you to notice something — Paul is answering our question.

How do we live lives acceptable to God?

And his answer might surprise you, because he doesn't start with a to-do list.

He doesn't give us five steps to a more faithful life. He starts with a declaration — a verdict that God makes over us.

And then he shows us that the same faith that receives that verdict is the same faith that sustains the life that follows.

That's what I want us to see this morning. Here is our Main Idea — and if you're someone who likes to write things down, this is for you:

The life acceptable to God is one that is both received and lived by faith in Christ.

Not earned. Not performed. Not assembled out of our best religious activity. Received and lived — by faith in Christ.

And Paul unfolds this for us in three movements.

In these verses Paul shows us that the life acceptable to God is

Received by faith

Freed by faith

Lived by faith

From beginning to end, the only life God accepts is the one whose faith is in Christ alone.

Let's begin by looking at the first movement together in vv. 15-16

Received by Faith

Paul continues his rebuke of Peter here in verse 15 by pointing to their common ground. He says, "We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners."

Now, Paul isn't denying that there were real advantages to being Jewish.

They were born under the covenant. They were given the law of God. They were set apart from the pagan nations.

These are real privileges. But Paul names them here only to strip them of any justifying power in verse 16.

And when Paul calls the Gentiles "sinners," he's not claiming that he and Peter were sinless. He's likely borrowing the false teachers' own language and turning it on its head.

"Gentile sinners" was their derogatory way of saying that Gentiles were outsiders — they were outside the laws and customs of Israel.

So, Paul takes their label and says: fine — even with all our insider privilege, look at what we Jews still had to do. Verse 16:

Galatians 2:16 ESV

yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ…”

Do you hear what Paul is saying? It doesn't matter what advantages we had or what disadvantages they had. Our Jewishness was a real privilege — but it came with zero justifying power.

Now, we need to slow down here because this word "justified" is so central to the Christian faith that if we miss it, we miss everything. Paul uses it four times in just these two verses. That's not an accident.

"Justified" is a legal term. It literally means "to be declared righteous."

And I want to make sure we understand what "righteous" means in the Bible, because in everyday English we hear "righteous" and we think it means "good."

And while we could say a Christian is good, that’s not what this word means — And more importantly, that's not what it means to be a Christian. There are plenty of people who are good who are not Christians.

In the Bible, "righteous" is a relational word. It means to be right with someone.

If you haven't paid your electric bill… you're not right with the power company,… and they will turn your power off.

If you're unkind to a friend or you mistreat them… you're not right with them,… and you could lose that friendship.

The Bible says that every single person, without exception, has been born into this world not right with their Creator. Not acceptable.

And this is the most fundamental need of every human being…

not self-improvement,… not more religious activity… but to be made right with God.

And here's what you need to know about this word "justified"…

It's a judge's verdict that declares something. It is not a doctor's procedure that changes something.

When you are justified, it doesn't change YOU. It changes how YOU are seen.

God looks at you and declares you right with Him… Not guilty. Acceptable.

And so Paul reminds Peter: you were declared right with God the moment you put your faith in Jesus.

Not after a lifetime of obedience. Not after proving yourself. But the moment you believed.

Just like the status of those colonists changed the moment the Declaration of Independence was signed — not gradually, not after they proved they could govern themselves —

So, your status before God changes the moment you receive it.

And the way you receive this declaration is by faith — which simply means to believe, to trust in Christ and what He has done for you.

Now notice something remarkable. In one verse, Paul repeats this truth three times. He's not making three different points. He's making the same point three times — like driving a stake into the ground — because he knows how hard this is for us to believe.

And think about why it's so hard. Think about how unbelievable this sounds to our natural instincts.

How can someone be declared right with God just by believing?

Everything in us is naturally suspicious of anything free. There's always a catch. There's always a string attached. There's always something you need to do. If it sounds too good to be true — it probably is.

And everything in us wants to scream at Paul: "Show me the fine print! There has to be something I need to do!"

To which Paul says — three times:

You are not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.

We 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.

Church, he makes the same point three times because he knows how stubborn we are.

Now, some of you might feel like you have an advantage — just like Peter did.

You grew up in the church. You were baptized at a young age. Your parents are serious Christians. For some of you — your dad is the pastor.

And just like Peter and Paul, those are real privileges — but they carry zero justifying power.

For the religious person in this room — your spiritual resume:

your attendance record, your Bible reading streak, your tithing, your ministry involvement — all good things.

But not one of them makes you acceptable to God.

And on the flip side — and please hear this — this is the best news in the world if you feel like a moral failure this morning.

Because if the verdict doesn't rest on your performance, Then your worst days can't disqualify you any more than your best days could earn it. Because the ground of your acceptance is Christ, not you.

So Paul has established the foundation: we are declared righteous by faith in Christ, not by works.

Next, in verse 17, Paul anticipates an objection. If we set aside the law as the basis of our standing before God, won't that just encourage people to sin? And wouldn’t that make Christ a promoter of sin?

Paul knows this objection is coming — and he meets it head on. That's where we turn next.

Freed by Faith

Here’s the objection that Paul anticipates:

If Jews like Peter and Paul set aside the law to be justified in Christ, and in doing so start living like "Gentile sinners" — eating with them, disregarding food laws and customs — then hasn't Christ actually led them into sin?

If all you have is grace with no checklist, won't people just do whatever they want? Isn't this just a license to sin?

Now, whenever someone raises this objection, it reveals that they don't understand how radical grace really is. The gospel of grace should sound dangerous. If it doesn't, we haven't really understood it.

Paul's response to this objection? "Certainly not!" The idea that Christ would promote sin is abhorrent to him. And what Paul does next is brilliant — he takes their objection and flips it completely on its head.

His opponents are saying, "You tore down the law — which will lead to rampant sin!"

But Paul says, "No — rebuilding the law as a means of justification — that's the real sin."

And this is clearly aimed at Peter. Remember, Peter had been eating with the Gentile believers. He had rightly laid aside the law as the basis of his acceptance before God.

But when the men came from James, Peter got scared and withdrew and separated himself.

And when he did this, he was rebuilding the very wall that grace had torn down. Paul says: that is the real transgression. Not in abandoning the law, but in going back to it as though Christ were not enough.

Just imagine a colonist who signed the Declaration of Independence on Monday — declaring independence from the English Crown — and then on Tuesday goes back to paying taxes to King George, flying the British flag, and swearing allegiance to the throne. That's not loyalty. That's treason — treason against the very declaration he signed.

This is what Paul is telling Peter. You received the declaration of grace. You tore down the old system. And now you're rebuilding it? You're not being faithful — you're being a traitor to the gospel.

And church, we do this all the time. We sing from our hearts about being justified by faith alone in Christ on Sunday morning — and then Monday through Saturday we quietly rebuild the old system…

Measuring our standing with God by how many times we prayed, how consistent our Bible reading was, how well we parented this week.

And when we think, "God must be more pleased with me this week — because I did better." That's rebuilding. That's going back to the very system grace tore down.

So, if you feel distant from God this morning and your instinct is to double down —

More discipline, More effort, More performance —

Paul would say: don't rebuild what grace has torn down. The answer to your distance from God is not more law. It's returning to Christ by faith.

So Paul has shown us that the life acceptable to God is received by faith and not works. And he's shown us that going back to the law isn't faithfulness — it's the real transgression.

But that raises a question we all need answered: if the law can't power the Christian life, what does? Where do we find the strength to actually live for God?

Paul answers that in verses 19 through 21 — in some of the most personal and powerful words he ever wrote.

Lived by Faith

Before we get to verse 19, we need to return to something I said in my first point. Remember that justification is a judge’s verdict that declares and NOT a doctor’s procedure that changes.

God declares you righteous and it changes how you are seen.

But this should raise an uncomfortable question in your hearts…

How can God declare someone righteous who isn’t actually righteous?

Listen to what the Old Testament says about such a judge in Proverbs 17:15

Proverbs 17:15 ESV

He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord.

So, how can God do the very thing He condemns in human judges and still be good and just?

And if justification only declares us righteous and doesn’t actually make us righteous, how does the gospel change us?

Paul answers both of these questions in verses 19-20.

He says in verse 19: “For through the law I died to the law.”

What does this mean?

First, the law looked at Paul and pronounced a verdict: Guilty! — The law condemned Paul to death.

And Paul is saying that this sentence was carried out…but not on him directly (stay with me)…

It was carried out on Christ — The death the law demanded from Paul was paid by Christ on the cross and credited to Paul.

So, when Paul says, “I died to the law,” he means: the law’s claim on me has been fully and finally satisfied…

Not dismissed. Not overlooked. Not swept under the rug. SATISFIED!

Paid in full by another, on my behalf,… And credited to my account.

Now Paul explains this concept more in Romans 7 where he uses the analogy of marriage.

He explains that a wife is legally bound to her husband as long as he lives.

But if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. She’s free…

Not because the law was wrong — or the marriage was bad… But because death has satisfied the legal bond… The law of marriage has no more claim on her.

This is exactly what Paul is saying in verse 19:

Through Christ’s death on our behalf — we have died to the law, in the sense that its legal claim on us has been fully and finally satisfied…

The debt has been paid! The bond has been released!

The law looks at you now in Christ and has nothing left to demand…Because its demands were met in full at the cross!

And this is how God can declare the ungodly to be righteous without being a corrupt and wicked judge.

He doesn’t ignore the laws demands — He satisfies them for us in Christ.

The law got its death… Justice was served… And Paul walks free…

Not because the verdict was unjust but because the sentence was executed on his substitute.

This is why Paul says at the end of verse 20 that: Christ “gave Himself for me.”

Next, look at the second half of verse 19 — Paul gives us the reason for all of this… “So, that I might live to God.”

Notice two things here:

First, Paul isn’t actually dead…he’s only dead in a legal sense as it pertains to the law. The law’s claim is finished, but Paul is very much still alive.

Second, and don’t miss the irony here…

All those years of law-keeping… And all that zealous obedience…

Through it all, Paul thought he was living for God but he wasn’t. He was really living for himself.

Every act of law-keeping was an act of self-justification… All of it oriented inward… Feeding his own pride… Building his own case before God.

But when Christ satisfied the demands of the law for Paul — He was set free to live for God and not for himself.

The focus shifted from Paul and his performance… To Christ who did it all for him… And now for the first time in his life Paul could begin to truly live for God!

Now in verse 20, Paul explains how this is possible.

He says, “I have been crucified with Christ.”

In other words: When Christ died, Paul died… Not metaphorically… Not aspirationally…

Paul is saying that he is so united to Christ that Christ’s death counts as his death!

And this is the answer to our unresolved question: How does the gospel change us if justification on declares us to be righteous?

It’s because justification doesn’t stand alone — it comes packaged with UNION!

By faith in Christ, you are both justified AND united to Christ…

And just like Paul, His death becomes your death… The law’s penalty, is paid by Christ, and credited to you!

But His life also becomes your life! And the basis by which God can declare you righteous!

Now Paul isn’t saying that the old self vanishes as if it never existed.

We all know from experience, that our old desires, and patterns, still have a gravitational pull on our hearts.

What Paul is saying is that the old self’s reign over you is broken!

You have a new engine New desires, New power, A new orientation!

In a profound and overwhelming mystery, Paul says that Christ Himself lives in you!

The old self no longer sits on the throne of your heart — Christ does!

This is the great mystery of the Christian faith:

You are still you — living in the same body and with the same personality.

But your power source has changed. You are no longer driven by self-justification…

You are driven by the risen Christ, Who loves you, And who gave Himself for you, And who now has taken up residence in you! — WOW!

Now appreciate how Paul grounds all this in everyday life. He says: “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.”

Paul is not describing some mystical experience — He’s talking about Monday morning!

Going to work… Going to school… Relating to your family… Navigating conflict… The ordinary flesh and blood life everyone in this room is living…

But now powered by a different source!

And Paul says the way we tap into that power — that engine — is by faith in the Son of God who loved us and who gave Himself for us.

Don’t miss this. The same faith you exercised to receive your justification in verse 16, is the same faith that unites you to Christ and keeps you going!

The Christian life runs on the same fuel from the first day to the last!

But what does this look like in the day to day reality of our lives?

It looks like trusting that you really are united to Christ… Trusting that His death really did pay your debt… Trusting that His righteousness has really been credited to you… Trusting that His life really is at work in you — right now, in this very moment!

Church, the Christian life is not powered by trying harder… It’s powered by trusting deeper!

And to put it negatively:

We fail to live for Christ, when we forget we are united to Him and we relapse in to law-keeping… Measuring our acceptance before God by our performance again, Going back to our old engine.

And when we do this we are forgetting everything that is true of us in Christ.

After surviving Ravensbrück concentration camp, Corrie ten Boom spent the rest of her life proclaiming forgiveness and grace throughout Europe

One night after speaking in Germany, a man approached her. She recognized him as a former guard at her camp. He extended his hand and asked for her forgiveness.

She described that in that moment, her arm felt frozen at her side. She knew what she needed to do, but she could not will herself to extend her hand.

So, she prayed silently: “Jesus, I cannot forgive this man. Give me Your forgiveness.”

She said that when she finally took his hand, it was as if a current passed from her shoulder through her arm and into their clasped hands.

She later wrote that she had never known God’s love so intensely as she did in that moment!

Church, this is what verse 20 looks like when lived out. Corrie didn’t dig deeper into her own moral reserves. She didn’t try harder. She said, “I can’t — You do it through me.” And Christ did.

The life she lived in that moment — In the flesh, In a church in Germany, Face to face with a guard from a death camp — She lived by faith in the Son of God who loved her and gave Himself for her.

Church this is what living by faith looks like:

Not superhuman effort. Not gritting your teeth and being a better person. It’s continual dependence on the living Christ whose power is at work within you.

Your job is to trust Him. His job is to live through you.

So, if you’re here today and you’re an exhausted Christian…

Maybe your faith has become like a second job — A list of obligations you’re trying to meet in your own strength…

Paul would say, that’s your old engine — That’s law-keeping with a Christian label. The real Christian life is powered by Christ in you.

The question isn’t “am I doing enough?” — It’s, “Am I trusting enough?”

For the young believers among us today…

The same faith that saved you is the same faith that sustains you. So, don’t graduate from grace into effort. The gospel is not the first chapter of the Christian life — It’s every chapter!

And for the person here today who’s not yet a Christian…

Hear Paul’s words as an invitation: “The Son of God loved YOU and gave Himself for YOU.”

This is not abstract — He died for YOU!

And the life He offers is not set of rules to follow — It’s a relationship with Jesus — a living person who loves you more than you could ever imagine!

Faith is simply saying, “I can’t save myself — I trust You.” Will you trust Christ to save you today?

Finally, Paul wraps everything up in verse 21, with a bold, climactic declaration that drives the final stake into the ground…

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

Friends, Christ will either do EVERYTHING for you or NOTHING for you. It can never be a mixture of your best effort and His grace.

Imagine that your house was on fire but your whole family escaped safely. Everyone is outside and accounted for. And I walk up to you and say, “Let me show you how much I love you.” And I run in to the burning building and die.

You’d think: what a foolish and tragic waste of a life! Why would he do that? No one was in danger.

But now imagine your house on fire and one of your children is still inside. And I say to you, “Let me show you how much I love you.” And I run into the house and I save your child — but I don’t make it out.

You would think: That man loved us more than his own life.

Friends, the difference is whether the rescue was necessary.

If we could save ourselves — if we could achieve righteousness through our own effort — then Christ's death is a pointless tragedy. A wasted life.

But if we cannot save ourselves — if the law could never make us right with God — then Christ's death means everything!

And we will spend the rest of our lives in joyful service to the One who ran into the fire for us.

Conclusion/Response (Gospel & Repent/Believe)

Friends, 250 years ago, fifty-six men signed a declaration that changed their status forever. And they pledged everything — their lives, their fortunes, their sacred honor — because they understood that once you've been declared free, you don't go back.

But this morning we've seen a declaration that makes that one pale in comparison.

A declaration signed not in ink but in blood. Not by fifty-six imperfect men but by the perfect Son of God.

A declaration that changes your status before the only Judge whose verdict matters for eternity.

We started this morning with a question:

How do we live lives acceptable to God?

And Paul has given us the answer — and it's not what our natural instincts expect. It's not by effort or performance.

The life acceptable to God is one that is both received and lived by faith in Christ.

Received by faith — because no amount of effort, obedience, or religious performance can earn the verdict. Only faith in Christ can receive it.

Lived by faith — because the same Christ who died for you now lives in you. And the Christian life, from beginning to end, is powered not by trying harder but by trusting deeper in the Son of God who loved you and gave Himself for you.

Don't nullify the grace of God church. Don't look at the cross and tell God it wasn't enough. Receive it. Rest in it. And live in the joy of it —

Today and every day until He returns or calls you home!

Let's pray.

Prayer

Father, we confess that we are prone to rebuild what Your grace has torn down. We are prone to trust in ourselves when You have given us Christ.

Forgive us. And by Your Spirit, help us to rest in what is true — that Your Son loved us, gave Himself for us, and now lives in us.

Teach us to trust Him more deeply — not just in this moment, but tomorrow morning, and every morning after that.

And now as we sing together, may these words be the honest confession of every heart in this room — that it is not I, but through Christ in me.

We ask this in Christ’s name — Amen.

Closing Song: Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me

Closing Words:

Church, what we just sang is what Paul lived — "Yet not I, but through Christ in me." That's not just a song. That's the anthem of every person who has stopped trusting in themselves and started trusting in Christ.

Final Gospel Appeal:

And if you're here this morning and you've never done that — if you've been relying on your own goodness and effort to make yourself acceptable to God —

I want you to hear the invitation one more time. Christ loved you and gave Himself for you. He ran into the fire for you. And He's asking you to trust Him. Not to try harder. Not to clean yourself up first. Just to say, "I can't save myself — I trust You."

If that's the step you need to take today, there will be people up front here after the service who would love to talk and pray with you in taking that first step of faith.

Next Steps:

And for those of you who have trusted Christ — maybe today is the day to take a next step of obedience. — Not to earn any more favor with God, but because you already have it!

Maybe you've never been baptized as a believer.

Maybe you've been attending but you've never joined this church family. Membership is how we say, "I'm not just passing through — I'm committed to these people and they're committed to me."

Or maybe God is calling you to take a step into discipleship or service — to stop sitting on the sidelines and start living out the reality that Christ is alive in you.

We’d love to help you take that next step. To do this just scan the QR code or tap your phone to the white tag in your pew and fill out that Next Steps form.

Missional Charge:

Now, as you leave this place — go as people who have been declared righteous. Go as people who have been united to the living Christ. And go not in the strength of your own effort, but in the power of the One who lives in you.

Take the gospel with you — into your homes, your workplaces, your neighborhoods — and live it by faith this week.

Benediction Ephesians 3:20–21

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”